The Glory of God
BRANDEN OBRERO
8/9/2026
The idea of “God’s glory” can be ubiquitous in Protestant churches. A Christian may state he is undertaking an activity for “the glory of God,” and a prayer may include the request that God “be glorified” in a particular situation. The frequent recurrence of this concept raises an important question: what is God's glory and can creatures detract from his glory? God’s glory is the external manifestation of God’s attributes; creatures may fail to appropriately respond to God’s glory, but they cannot detract from it.
We must recognize that God’s glory does not have a simple definition,[1] and it is referenced in diverse ways in Scripture. Though “glory” has been listed as an attribute of God by various theologians, Bray notes that glory is a description of God, rather than an attribute.[2] The meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words translated “glory” and references to God’s glory in Scripture help unfold this concept.
The Old Testament word translated “glory” refers to “the person who is weighty, important.”[3] It carries an idea of weight; similar to how weighty possessions can describe one’s wealth or weighty words refer to important words.[4] The New Testament word translated “glory” refers to “the recognition a person receives or is entitled to receive, the fame or honor that person enjoys…the appearance, form, prestige, splendor, luster, or glory of a person or matter manifest in the public domain.”[5] Common to both these definitions is the idea that “glory” involves the recognition of an externally visible quality.
References to God’s glory in Scripture are often physical manifestations of a divine attribute. God’s glory has been associated with holiness and described as fire (Exod 24:17; Lev 9:23-24) and a cloud (1 Kgs 8:10-11).[6] The manifestation of God’s glory at Mount Sinai was associated with a great fire, cloud, and darkness (Deut 5:22-27). God’s glory is described as giving light in the new creation (Rev 21:23), and light in the Bible is representative of “truth, holiness, and blessedness.”[7] When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God equates his glory with his goodness (Exod 33:18-23). The manifestation of God’s glory in Psalm 27 is the manifestation of his beauty, and the manifestation of God’s power over nature in Psalm 29 elicits cries of “glory.”[8] In these examples, Scripture connects divine attributes such as goodness, beauty, holiness, and power with an external, visible form and associates that manifestation with God’s glory. If God’s glory is the external manifestation of his attributes, it shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus, as God incarnate, is described as the very glory of God (John 1:14; Heb 1:3), and the salvation Jesus brings magnifies God’s glory (Eph 1:3-14). In agreement with the aforementioned biblical examples, Bavinck has defined God’s glory as “the splendor and brilliance that is inseparably associated with all of God’s attributes and his self-revelation in nature and grace,”[9] and Ferguson defines it as the extrinsic manifestation of God’s perfect attributes.[10] Creation reveals God’s glory (Ps 19:1-2), but God’s glory is most revealed in the realm of grace, particularly through the person and work of Christ and Christ’s work in the Church.[11]
Scripture reveals that God’s glory should result in praise and reverence from creatures. In response to an incredible display of God’s power in nature, “in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’” (Ps 29:9 ESV). In response to God’s works, “the nations…shall glorify [God’s] name” (Ps 86:9 ESV). In response to the awe-inspiring manifestation of God’s presence at Mount Sinai, the Israelites trembled (Exod 19:16-18). God’s glory should elicit from people “worshipful admiration and adoration…gratitude, praise, and honor.”[12] However, Scripture also shows that creatures may fail to appropriately respond to God’s glory. Romans 1:18-23 describes how people fail to respond to God’s glory with obedience and worship and instead respond with idolatry. Calvin argues that most people fail to truly recognize God’s glory perceptible in creation.[13]
Though creatures may fail to appropriately respond to God’s glory in praise and reverence; they cannot detract from his glory as properly defined. If God’s glory is the external manifestation of his attributes, then the display of his glory is wholly dependent on when and where God chooses to manifest it. However, Scripture also describes glory as something God receives (Rev 4:11; 1 Tim 1:17) and as something Christians are to give to him (1 Cor 6:19-20). In appears best to understand these descriptions as pertaining to creatures’ responses. Creatures glorify God by appropriately responding with praise and reverence when they see God’s glory. With this nuance in mind, creatures cannot detract from God’s glory proper, but they can, through lack of praise, idolatry,[14] or false teaching,[15] diminish the glory God should receive. This nuanced understanding of how creatures can impact God’s glory may help explain the Bible’s description of people falling short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23) and of Christians’ responsibility to do all unto God’s glory (1 Cor 10:31).
Descriptions of God’s glory throughout Scripture, and the meaning of Old and New Testament words translated “glory”, support the notion that God’s glory is the external manifestation of his attributes. Understood this way, creatures cannot detract from God’s glory, because when and where God manifests his attributes is up to him. However, Scripture also displays that the appropriate response of creatures to God’s glory is one of praise and reverence. This appropriate response is arguably the way creatures glorify God. When creatures instead respond with sin, they diminish the glory God should receive from them. God’s glory is a multifaceted concept in Scripture, and our knowledge of its nuances will only grow with further study.
Notes
[1] Sinclair Ferguson, “Lecture 44: Glorious” (lecture, Westminster Theological Seminary, Glenside, PA, Date unknown).
[2] Gerald Bray, The Doctrine of God, Contours of Christian Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 213.
[3] Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, God and Creation, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 252.
[4] Sinclair Ferguson, “Lecture 44: Glorious.”
[5] Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, God and Creation, 252.
[6] Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, God and Creation, 252.
[7] Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, God and Creation, 252.
[8] Sinclair Ferguson, “Lecture 44: Glorious.”
[9] Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, God and Creation, 252.
[10] Sinclair Ferguson, “Lecture 44: Glorious.”
[11] Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, God and Creation, 252.
[12] Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, God and Creation, 255.
[13] Calvin, Instit. 1.5.8.
[14] Calvin, Instit. 1.11.1.
[15] Calvin, Instit. 1.13.22.