The Nature and Character of God [Paperback]

Winkie Pratney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1988

A manual of theology for thought, discussion, and twenty-first century reformation.

Author W.A. Pratney is an internationally known speaker, teacher and writer whose seminars, conferences, campus lectures and books have challenged thousands of young people with the truths of Scripture and the claims of Christ. Out of that ministry was born his desire for a practical, defensible, life-changing study of the greatness and glory of God to help readers think through and apply to their own lives what they understand and believe concerning the person of God. This book, the culmination of eighteen years of personal study and research, is the result.

The Nature and Character of God is a unique volume that gathers together a whole array of thought-provoking and heart-stirring material. It is a topical, lexical, theological, historical and devotional compilation of easy-to-use scripture references, Bible study words, significant and recurring questions, important philosophical, theological and practical applications of core truths, and selections of devotional material drawn from centuries of great Christian thought.

A book to stir both mind and emotions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

size : 5.3 x 8.3

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (December 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556610416
• ISBN-13: 978-1556610417
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #762,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sean Smith's roots are in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he grew up in the inner city of Oakland. Amidst family tragedy, which included the untimely murder of his father, Sean found his life reeling with pain, but his testimony includes the phenomenal intervention of God.

Sean has spent approximately 20 years in full-time ministry, 10 of which was spent directing campus outreach ministries at the University of the Pacific and California State University Chico Campuses.

Sean has now been launched into full-time evangelism, conducting outreaches and crusades all over the States and overseas. Sean's messages are prophetic, challenging people to fulfill their destiny in Christ. Sean's services witness the Holy Spirit's supernatural release to meet people with a heart of compassion and to touch their needs. In addition to his evangelistic ministry, Sean has served as the Director of Spiritual Life at Bethany College in Scotts Valley, California. In May of 2001, Sean received a Masters in Ministry from the Wagner Leadership Institute. Sean's writings have been published in several nation-wide publications. The Smith family currently resides in San Ramon, California.

Sean Smith Ministries--Pointblank International has been established with the purpose to CARE: Captivate for Christ the hearts of a generation; Activate the army of God to fulfill its destiny; Reach out to and reap lost souls; and Equip the body of Christ to meet the challenge of the Great Commission.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really, really good -- if you looked it up, you'll want to get it!, August 13, 2006

By 

Archimedes Tritium - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nature and Character of God (Paperback)

This book is so good, it's ruined me on most other books, being jammed with sparkling, rational, cogent discussion, and offering insights on fundamental issues: the nature of time, existence, reality and God's (and our) relationship to it. The ratio of (ideas+insights)/page is very high and is sustained page after page.

Subjects begin with all relevant Biblical quotes on the subject, continue with a short lexical study of the words used in the original languages, a question and answer discussion, then an analysis section which excerpts quotes from history's great thinkers on each subject (say Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Wesley, Lewis, Einstein, Edwards, etc.), comparing the implications of each thought, distilling them into a discussion that will be profitable to a range of readers, not just academics.

The book is organized into 3 main parts:

#1: "God is Uncreated",
#2: "God is Creator",
#3: "God is Triune"

Each part has subsections that explore different implications, but they are so interrelated, the divisions aren't that strong. You can pick up the book, open to a random page and dive in. Some subjects (such as God's relation to time) appear in multiple areas.

The author includes his thoughts, yet avoids being dogmatic. The result is a rich discussion. This book will provide a better education on these issues than most seminary students can get nowadays. It's the book I've had lurking in the back of my mind and wished I had written, but am now glad Pratney did, since he did it so well.

A great problem of the church recently has been poor and ineffective teaching. At times, an insistence that people either aren't interested in or lack the the capacity to understand the rational basis of belief and God.

This has led to "feel-good/self-esteem" religion and "shopping cart" religion which, in the end, dissolves into apostasy and backsliding and a Christianity unable to defend itself. People say they have "faith in Christ", but have no grounded idea of who Christ was and what it means to have faith. Their faith amounts to words they say but don't grasp, and is easily knocked away.

The secular world sees this and is not impressed. The cycle of growing ignorance intensifies and reinforces itself until even church leaders flail aimlessly, lacking any foundation and start to think there is no rational foundation.

The corrective to this is to understand that Christ, the Bible, man, history, the natural world are all functions of the nature and attributes of God. There are things that God is and things that He is not; things He can do and that He cannot do. If one doesn't understand what is meant by "God", inevitably there is drift in your understanding of all other things as the currents of fad and society pull you along.

God has a specific nature and attributes, many of which have been revealed in the Bible and natural world. Understanding what these are allows you to understand much else about reality in a coherent, productive sense: good, evil, time, man, Christ, history, future, politics, economics, science, better than the best experts in those fields, whose understanding is based on themselves, not God.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars thought provoking, March 29, 2000

By 

Dave (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nature and Character of God (Paperback)

I first read this book because it was required for a class. I read it again because it challenged me. Winkie Pratney guides the reader along a soul stirring path. That path is a jouney to dicover who God is. Through Pratney's thorough study he brings in different view points from different denominations throughout history. Winkie then applies logic and the Bible to those different perspectives. This proccess helps the reader see a clearer picture of who the God of the Bible is. A challenging and thought provoking book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Theology!, August 18, 2008

By 

Jesse Morrell "Jesse Morrell" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nature and Character of God (Paperback)

He talks about the nature and character of God. He explains how nature is metaphysical, something you do not choose. But character is moral, something you do choose. The book covers the natural and moral attributes of God.

That includes the debate whether God is inside of time or outside of time. That has to do with the nature of God. I enjoyed what I read from this book on that particular issue.

He also talks about the moral government of God and the free will of both God and man.

It is a very scholarly, thought provoking book. I enjoyed how every topic relating to the nature and character of God had a thorough Greek and Hebrew word study. Winkie also compiled great quotes on each topic from Christians throughout history.