Throughout the history of the church, the doctrine of divine simplicity has been seen as an essential component of theology proper. The post-Reformation orthodox theologians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are no exception in this recognition, however some are noted for omitting the doctrine as its own category in their doctrines of God. Included among those listed is puritan divine Stephen Charnock (1628-1680), who allegedly fails to give prominence to divine simplicity in his Discourses on the Existence and Attributes of God. Richard A. Mueller suggests that the homiletical nature of Charnock’s Discourses explains the omission. This paper proposes an alternative answer: there is a dedicated chapter on divine simplicity in Charnock’s Discourses, and that chapter is Charnock’s beginning chapter on the attributes of God: “God is a Spirit.”
The aim of this paper is to show that the concept of divine simplicity is at the forefront for Charnock, although he begins by employing the term “spirit” when referring to the essence of God, maintaining consistency with the biblical language of John 4:24. After a careful examination of Charnock’s discourse on God as spirit in his Discourses on the Existence and Attributes of God, it will become apparent that what lies within is the development of the concept of divine simplicity for his congregation, showing it to be an essential foundation to be affirmed in order to rightly conceive of God in light of his other attributes to be subsequently expounded.
This paper will briefly survey the concept of divine simplicity throughout church history, showing affirmation of simplicity and how it has been affirmed. Then, following Mueller’s distinction between the concepts of simple and spiritual, this paper will explore the concept of divine simplicity as it develops in Charnock’s chapter on God as spirit to show that Charnock not only affirms the concept, but teaches it as something of most importance in the doctrine of God. In doing so, Charnock recognizes anthropological limitations in conceiving of the divine and thus begins with the term spirit to introduce God’s incorporeal nature, leading his congregation from here to a concept of divine simplicity that stretches beyond incorporeality.