Holier Than Thou: How God’s Holiness Helps Us Trust Him
By Jackie Hill Perry (B&H Books)
“If God is holy, then he can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then he can’t sin against you. If he can’t sin against you, shouldn’t that make him the most trustworthy being there is?” Jackie Hill Perry uses this thought-provoking quote to introduceHolier Than Thou.
In six chapters, Perry walks her readers through a Scripture-based argument for God’s holiness: God’s holiness serves as the foundation for every other facet of his character and nature. God’s “otherness,” she writes, makes possible his moral perfection, transcendence, goodness and justice. Throughout the book, she debunks commonly held views about idols, calling believers to account when directing their worship toward anything but their Creator.
In her final chapter, Perry concludes with a premise based on 2 Corinthians 3:18—“And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” Using the phrase, “You become what you behold,” she describes how believers can reflect the life and nature of Christ by focusing their worship on him, leaving room for worship of little else. This text convicts and convinces its reader that God truly is holier than thou—and holier than I. In his holiness, God is the only one worthy of worship, and godly worship will transform believers who have the courage to truly behold God as holy, holy, holy.
Rachel Smith, student
Dallas Theological Seminary
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