The Incomparable God, a new book by Professor Brent Strawn, collects eighteen of his most provocative essays on the nature of God and encompasses close readings of scripture, biblical-theological argument, and considerations of praxis.

Attempting to describe the nature of God often prompts the exclamation of the psalmist—that God is unlike anyone or anything else. And yet the claim is not simply the overflow of an adoring heart: God’s incomparability is a truth lodged deep within Christian scripture. In The Incomparable God, Strawn offers thoughtful insight into this theological mystery. In the essays, several of which are published for the first time here, he covers the following topics:   
     • The complex portrayal of God in Genesis   
     • God’s mercy in Exodus   
     • Poetic description of God in the Psalms   
     • The Trinity in both testaments   
     • Pedagogy of the Old Testament   
     • Integration of faith and scholarship   

Strawn is D. Moody Smith Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Duke Divinity School. His research focuses on ancient Near Eastern iconography, Israelite religion, biblical law, the Psalms, poetry, and Old Testament theology. He joined the Duke Divinity School faculty in 2019 and has a secondary appointment at the Duke University School of Law. Strawn is also a member of the Hebrew Bible track in the Ph.D. program in Religion, where he teaches and advises doctoral students in Duke’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 

Strawn has published over two hundred and fifty articles, chapters in books, contributions to reference works, and reviews. He is the author of What Is Stronger than a Lion? Leonine Image and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2005), The Old Testament Is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment (Baker Academic, 2017), The Old Testament: A Concise Introduction (Routledge, 2019), Lies My Preacher Told Me: An Honest Look at the Old Testament (Westminster John Knox, 2021), and Honest to God Preaching: Talking Sin, Suffering, and Violence (Fortress Press, 2021).