The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith
Week 5: Chapter 4 — God Is Holy
Read Chapter 4 of The Good and Beautiful God. Key Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8; Luke 5:1-11; Revelation 4:8.
Previewing Week 5 of The Good and Beautiful God
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
Holiness is one of the most misunderstood words in the Christian vocabulary — often reduced to a list of rules — but this chapter reclaims its original, blazing meaning and asks what happens to us when we encounter it.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Smith points out that in popular usage, 'holy' has come to mean morally proper or prim — but in Scripture it means set apart, blazingly other, overwhelmingly pure. How has the thinned-down version of holiness shaped the way you've thought about God, or about what it means to live a holy life?
2.In Isaiah 6, Isaiah encounters the holiness of God and his immediate response is not worship but terror: 'Woe is me, I am ruined!' What does it tell us about genuine holiness that the first response it produces is a sense of one's own unworthiness, not pride in one's religion?
3.When Peter witnesses Jesus's miracle in Luke 5, he falls to his knees and says 'Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!' Smith draws a parallel to Isaiah's response. What is it about genuine nearness to God's holiness that produces this reaction? Have you ever experienced anything like it?