The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul
Week 3: Chapter 2 — The Trauma of Holiness
Read Chapter 2 of The Holiness of God. Key Scripture: Isaiah 6:1–8.
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Sproul takes us into the throne room of Isaiah 6 — one of the most dramatic encounters with God's holiness in all of Scripture — and asks what it means that Isaiah's first response was not wonder but undoing. Let the weight of this scene settle on you as you engage these questions.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Sproul notes that Isaiah's vision takes place 'in the year that King Uzziah died' — a moment of national crisis and personal grief. Why might God choose such a moment to reveal his holiness so dramatically? What does the timing suggest about how God uses circumstances to bring us to the end of ourselves?
2.The seraphim cry 'Holy, holy, holy' — a threefold repetition that Sproul explains as the Hebrew superlative, emphasizing that God's holiness is in a category of its own. What is the significance of the fact that it is holiness, not power or love, that the angelic beings proclaim without ceasing?
3.Isaiah, a prophet who regularly spoke for God, cries out 'Woe is me! For I am undone!' when he sees God's holiness. Sproul calls this the 'trauma of holiness.' Why does a vision of God's holiness produce self-destruction before it produces praise?
a.What does it say about Isaiah that even this godly man felt ruined in God's presence?
b.Have you ever had a moment — in Scripture, in worship, in prayer — where you were suddenly, uncomfortably aware of your own sinfulness? What triggered it, and what happened next?
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