What Can We Know about God?

What Can We Know about God? is a concise introduction to theology proper—the study of God’s nature, attributes, and will—written for Christians and thoughtful inquirers seeking a clearer understanding of who God is.

Part of the Crucial Questions series, this booklet by Dr. R.C. Sproul is excerpted from Everyone’s a Theologian and covers foundational topics in seven brief chapters. Sproul begins by distinguishing theology from religion, arguing that the study of God’s character and nature differs fundamentally from the study of human worship practices. He then addresses God’s incomprehensibility—not as a barrier to knowledge but as a recognition that finite minds can possess real yet limited understanding of an infinite God.

From there, the booklet examines God’s essence and the doctrine of the Trinity, the distinction between incommunicable and communicable attributes, divine simplicity, the decretive and preceptive dimensions of God’s will, and the doctrine of providence. Throughout, Sproul explains how Scripture’s anthropomorphic language conveys genuine truth about God while accommodating human limitations. The discussion of providence includes the concept of concurrence, showing how God’s sovereign governance encompasses all events—even human sin—without making God the author of evil.

The booklet emphasizes that a right understanding of God is foundational to every other area of Christian doctrine and offers pastoral comfort rooted in God’s sovereign care.

Key Themes

• The incomprehensibility of God and the limits of finite knowledge
• Divine simplicity and the unity of God’s attributes
• The distinction between God’s decretive and preceptive will
• Providence, concurrence, and the comfort of God’s sovereign governance

Featured Quotes

“Theologically speaking, God is His attributes.”

“Nothing has the power to sever the relationship we have to a loving and sovereign providence.”