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God Has a Name
God Has a Name is a simple yet profound guide to understanding God in a new light--focusing on what God says about himself. This one shift has the potential to radically alter how you relate to God, not as a doctrine, but as a relational being who responds to you in an elastic, back-and-forth way. In God Has a Name , John Mark Comer takes you line by line through Exodus 34:6-8--Yahweh's self-revelation on Mount Sinai, one of the most quoted passages in the Bible. Along the way, Comer addresses some of the most profound questions he came across as he studied these noted lines in Exodus, No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, the act of learning who God is just might surprise you--and change everything.
288 pages, Paperback
First published March 28, 2017
1555 people are currently reading
10950 people want to read
About the author
John Mark Comer
41 books4,421 followersJohn Mark Comer is the New York Times bestselling author of Practicing the Way, Live No Lies, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, God Has a Name, and three more. His podcasts, John Mark Comer Teachings and Rule of Life, have been ranked on top religion and spirituality podcast charts in the U.S. and U.K.
He's also the founder of Practicing the Way, a simple, beautiful way to integrate spiritual formation into your church or small group. After serving as the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon, for nearly two decades, John Mark and his family now reside in California, where he serves as a teacher in residence at Vintage Church LA.
He's also the founder of Practicing the Way, a simple, beautiful way to integrate spiritual formation into your church or small group. After serving as the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon, for nearly two decades, John Mark and his family now reside in California, where he serves as a teacher in residence at Vintage Church LA.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,170 reviews
February 19, 2024
I’ve had a lot of people inquire about my low rating for this book, so I wanted to give a bit of clarification. For some background, I'm very familiar with John Mark Comer and have found a lot of his teaching on living as a Christian in a post-Christian culture to be extremely helpful; he's got a great podcast with Mark Sayers called This Cultural Moment and another book I'd highly recommend called The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World. I think he's super wise and looks at topics from perspectives I never have. So onto the book:
The Good
The whole book is a commentary and deep look at Exodus 34v6-8, one of the key points in the Old Testament where God first reveals the core of His character and being to Moses. I think for most of the passage he does a great job of helping us as 21st century western residents of a technological age to understand some of the often misunderstood phrasing of a passage written by the hand of an ancient near eastern man who lived over 3,000 years ago. I'd say a majority of the book is Comer helping us get a better grasp of the passage in it's original context and this is very helpful.
The Bad
My first (and less serious) complaint about this book is it seemed somewhat irreverent at times for weighty and heavy topics. Since the audience for this book is everyone (not just Followers of Jesus), it seems that Comer attempts to keep the narrative playful and energetic, tossing in quips and witty remarks. I enjoyed this, until he continued to be the same way amidst talking about very serious theological concepts. Wasn't helpful, and quite distracting.
My second (and primary) problem with this book is the low view of God's sovereignty, power, and control. Here's the crux of what he argues near the end of the book:
It seems here that Comer claims two things, 1) God is not in control of everything 2) God is not in control of evil. Now it doesn't seem like a claim he's making because it's formed as a question. He could have very well gone on to show why these things are not true. But he doesn't. He proceeds writing based upon the assumption that God is not in control, not even of evil. This is problematic, and goes against historic , orthodox Christianity. If you're going to make a major claim contradicting orthodoxy, you need to back it up with Scripture (Comer doesn't). Heidelberg Catechism question 27 states:
What is this saying? God is in control of all things, from blades of grass to sickness, all things are under his sovereign rule.
Conclusion
There's much to be learned in this book, and I think there's value in reading it, however, read it with discernment and an open Bible. Don't take Comer's words for truth, always trace it back to God's word, the final source of truth.
For more information on the subject, I recommend the following articles:
Is God in Control of Everything? by R.C. Sproul (Short)
Understanding the Sovereignty of God by Antonio Copolla (Short)
The Comfort and Security of Knowing that God is in Control by Sam Storms (Medium)
God's Sovereignty in the Old Testament by Ray Ortlund (Long)
God's Absolute Sovereignty by John Macarthur (Short)
The Good
The whole book is a commentary and deep look at Exodus 34v6-8, one of the key points in the Old Testament where God first reveals the core of His character and being to Moses. I think for most of the passage he does a great job of helping us as 21st century western residents of a technological age to understand some of the often misunderstood phrasing of a passage written by the hand of an ancient near eastern man who lived over 3,000 years ago. I'd say a majority of the book is Comer helping us get a better grasp of the passage in it's original context and this is very helpful.
The Bad
My first (and less serious) complaint about this book is it seemed somewhat irreverent at times for weighty and heavy topics. Since the audience for this book is everyone (not just Followers of Jesus), it seems that Comer attempts to keep the narrative playful and energetic, tossing in quips and witty remarks. I enjoyed this, until he continued to be the same way amidst talking about very serious theological concepts. Wasn't helpful, and quite distracting.
My second (and primary) problem with this book is the low view of God's sovereignty, power, and control. Here's the crux of what he argues near the end of the book:
“God doesn’t always get what he wants … So many people are hyperfatalistic in how they think about life, constantly dropping the cliché ‘God’s in control’. But is he? Of everything? Even evil? Are you sure about that?”
It seems here that Comer claims two things, 1) God is not in control of everything 2) God is not in control of evil. Now it doesn't seem like a claim he's making because it's formed as a question. He could have very well gone on to show why these things are not true. But he doesn't. He proceeds writing based upon the assumption that God is not in control, not even of evil. This is problematic, and goes against historic , orthodox Christianity. If you're going to make a major claim contradicting orthodoxy, you need to back it up with Scripture (Comer doesn't). Heidelberg Catechism question 27 states:
"God's providence is his almighty and ever present power, whereby, with his hand, he upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand."
What is this saying? God is in control of all things, from blades of grass to sickness, all things are under his sovereign rule.
Conclusion
There's much to be learned in this book, and I think there's value in reading it, however, read it with discernment and an open Bible. Don't take Comer's words for truth, always trace it back to God's word, the final source of truth.
For more information on the subject, I recommend the following articles:
Is God in Control of Everything? by R.C. Sproul (Short)
Understanding the Sovereignty of God by Antonio Copolla (Short)
The Comfort and Security of Knowing that God is in Control by Sam Storms (Medium)
God's Sovereignty in the Old Testament by Ray Ortlund (Long)
God's Absolute Sovereignty by John Macarthur (Short)
July 9, 2017
I'm torn between really liking the content of this book and hating the style in which it was written. It reads like a book-length blog post, complete with single-sentence paragraphs, words and phrases in bold fonts, and super cheesy asides.
April 1, 2017
Read this book. Then again and again until your eyes roll into the back of your head. If you thought you had a good idea of who God is... think again.
November 16, 2025
Klasse Hörbuch für unterwegs (von Comer selbst gelesen). Exodus 34 wird auch einfach nie alt, Comer hat aber auch einen guten Job gemacht, ein sehr zugängliches Buch zu schreiben. Hat Spaß gemacht und war schnell durch.
November 27, 2024
2.5💫, had to round down with this one. Very very VERY long review, you’ve been warned - turn back now.
It’s probably obvious: I have extremely mixed opinions about this book. Definitely the least straight forward Comer book I’ve read/listened to thus far. There is one review that well articulates (and much more briefly) a portion of my grievances: see Avery’s review; it shows up as the first review for me so I assume that’s the same for everyone? He’s another 2 star review if not. But for my people, I will also explain on my own part, though my structure (and some of my comments) will be similar to Mr. Avery’s.
There is good, and there is bad. It’s a line down the middle quite unlike any book I’ve read in a long time. Comer has been a bit wave-y in my esteem since he rose to popularity back in the 2010’s, but when I started reading some of his stuff back in 2020-2021, I began to see a lot of the good he has to offer modern Christians (and skeptics). However, I’ve always been aware of some less than ideal views he holds, though I hadn’t read a book that articulated those views until this one.
So, the good and the bad.
I’ll start with the good:
1. God’s name is significant. “God” is not a name; it’s a title. The Christian God has a name, and it is important that we use, understand, and articulate it well. We learn from the Scriptures that our God’s name is Yahweh. I won’t dive into Hebrew or historical significance here; I’ll just say that I fully agree and champion Comer’s goal here in helping Christians come to grips with the fact that our God does indeed have a name, and articulating and calling Him by that name is important, especially in apologetic settings as well as just for the purpose of our own personal relationship with Him.
I honestly thought I had more to say regarding the good, but that’s about it. I could go into a lot more detail about that, but for brevity’s sake, I’ll stop there.
The bad:
1. The Trinity. I think Comer did a horrible disservice to readers of this book by not taking a deep dive (or any dive at all) into the Trinity as it relates to God’s name. This is an incredibly important piece to His very being; three Persons, one Being. It can serve as a linchpin argument that His one Being is manifested in His name, Yahweh. The Father is not the only one called Yahweh; the Son and the Spirit are also Yahweh. Yahweh is more Jesus’ name than “Jesus” is. Jesus was not an uncommon name at that time; in Hebrew it is Yeshua, which translated to English is Joshua. Yeah - there’s a whole book of the Bible called Joshua, and it’s not about Jesus. That Joshua’s name was the same name: Yeshua, or Jesus. Much of that language of “name above all names” comes from Isaiah, and Isaiah didn’t know he was writing about someone named Jesus Christ; he just knew he was writing about Yahweh who would send the Messiah - and then Paul quotes Isaiah in Philippians 2, saying that “God has bestowed on [Jesus] the name above all names” (Phil. 2:9-11). This is Paul straight-up saying, “Jesus is Yahweh.” There was plenty of opportunity for Comer to at least broach this topic, and I think it would have strengthened his argument greatly. But I honestly wonder at his stance on the Trinity as I’ve never heard it specified in any of his teachings or writings.
2. Chapter 2. I remember when this book came out, there was a lot of buzz (in my circle) about John Mark Comer being a polytheist. An old friend of mine told me this straight-up and directed me to a podcast where a reformed baptist preacher ripped Comer to shreds on his “belief” in other gods. I blindly adopted this view of Comer as I was in an extremely co-dependent and undisciplined season of life, touting him off as a polytheist who is dangerous and heretical.
After finally listening to the book for myself, I think I can confidently say he’s not a polytheist; to my understanding, the meaning of “belief” in the definition “belief in many gods” implies worship, not just belief in the existence of said gods. Maybe I’m wrong in this? Either way, Comer is definitely not championing the worship of many gods. However, I think his hermeneutic here is massively misleading and off base. I can’t necessarily support my argument with scholarly sources (and it is something I want to look into more), but from what I have read and understood up to this point, I would argue Comer’s interpretation misses the mark. He argues that the Scripture writers refer to other cultures’ and nations’ gods as just that: gods. He points out that they don’t say “false” gods, they say gods, plain and simple. He also cites the Egyptian magicians being able to reproduce some of the signs Yahweh performs through Moses. He argues that obviously something is behind those magicians being able to copy Yahweh, though they can’t repeat everything He does, implying that they are “weaker” gods. He uses a few other similar places in Scripture to basically make the point that other gods are very much so real, and that they are different from angels and demons (as he says those words aren’t used enough in Scripture to support their substituting for “gods”), and that they are cosmic forces that are essentially born out of the reality of evil, which Yahweh did not create or cause. We don’t know where they came from or how they got here, but they are here, cosmically opposed to and at odds with Yahweh and His people.
I take issue with this perspective for a couple of reasons: first, I think that he is missing the tone of the ancient Hebrew writers and NT Scripture writers when they refer to their fellow cultures’ gods. If a Christian and a Hindu are having a conversation about their god(s), the odds are one of them will refer to the other’s as just that: “your god(s).” Calling someone’s personal deity “god” is not an admission of belief in the actual existence, authority, or power of that god… it’s merely conversational respect and decorum. I personally think this is what the Scripture writers and even Yahweh Himself does in Scripture when they and He refer to the gods of the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, and all the other -ites. I am not denying the existence of spiritual opposition to Yahweh; I believe in spiritual warfare. I just think Comer takes it to an unnecessary and unhelpful place due to a shoddy hermeneutic on his part, all for the sake of proving a point when he had many other directions he could have gone in - the name of the chapter is Why Does God Need a Name Anyway? Again, the Trinity would have been great ground to unpack here. Idk, maybe I’m wrong and just nitpicky, maybe I’m just pushing back because it’s inconsistent with what I was raised believing (as Comer points out as a very real possibility for readers of this book). If so, I invite push-back! But unfortunately, this is not the last problem with this book for me.
3. Theological laziness at the expense of being John Mark Comer. Everyone who knows anything about Comer knows that he’s “not your typical pastor/Christian author.” Comer has a charisma, charm, and, at least conversationally if not aesthetically, approachability to him that is rare in Christian authorship. (On the last one: seriously… his “relatable” moments are sometimes wincingly Northwest-bougie-chic.) However, it’s precisely these reasons, in addition to a few others, that I carry (and encourage) a wariness towards him, even though I wholeheartedly embrace some of his ideas and books (Ruthless Elimination is truly a great and timely book).
That said, other books I have read by him have been more in the realm of Christian living than in biblical exposition. Ruthless Elimination and Live No Lies, and I assume Practicing the Way (the book), all deal with what it looks like to live as authentic Christians in an increasingly post-Christian era. As such, Comer was able to avoid (to some extent) overly heady, exegetical, hermeneutic content in those books (again, can’t speak to Practicing the Way yet).
That is not the case with God Has a Name. This book acts explicitly as an in-depth exegesis of Exodus 34:6-8, and some of it is well done, but a lot of it is careless. Comer approaches deep theological topics in this book, and he does so in the context of interpreting/expositing Scripture itself. He (at least as of when this book was written) demonstrates a disconcerting amount of willy-nilly-ness in some of his claims. The aforementioned Avery does a good job explaining some of this. For my own review’s purpose, though, I would argue that Comer has a very inconsistent doctrine of God. This is actually helpful to see and point out though, because believe it or not, his doctrine of God is pretty indicative of many Christians’ doctrine of God.
What do I mean when I say “doctrine of God?” Essentially, Comer makes multiple, almost on every page, claims about who God is, how God acts, and what God does throughout this book. Some of the claims are great, talking about God’s mercy as well as His justice, His love and faithfulness, and His ultimate revelation of His character in Christ on the Cross (key term: revelation). However, Comer makes many lazy statements about God as well, such as: God’s heart is MORE merciful than it is just, or God is at odds with evil and therefore NOT in control of it, etc. He makes so many claims like these that ultimately contradict other orthodox views of God.
For example, to claim that God is more merciful than He is just/righteous is to imply that His attributes are divided; He is 80% merciful and 20% just/righteous. This is an extremely humanoid understanding of Him. If we believe He is infinite, immutable (unchanging), and eternal, then we must ascribe those attributes to every other attribute of Him as well. If He is infinite, then His mercy is infinite, but so is His justness. If He is immutable, then to say He is more one thing than another at any given time (“He was merciful here, but he exercised judgment there”) implies that He actually does change, because sometimes He’s merciful and sometimes He enacts justice. Essentially this all boils down to the belief that God’s attributes do not “comprise” God (as in, you don’t add up all the attributes of God and then, voila! you have God), but rather that He ~is~ His attributes, and His attributes ~are~ Him (a belief I don’t think Comer would hold). So He does not “have” grace and mercy to dish out; He ~is~ gracious and merciful in His very nature. He does not ~suspend~ His justice in order to enact His mercy; He is both at the same time forever and always. This is an essential starting point to our (albeit, infinitely limited) comprehension of God, and Comer seems to throw it out the door in God Has a Name.
This is already an unbelievably long review, but my point is this: Comer is lazy in his language about the Being of God in this book. He shares a lot of great quotes from other, better theologians than himself, but he himself holds the enclosed topics of this book loosely and with too much cultural wiggle room in my opinion. All in all, Comer should stick to Christian living/Rule of Life content, and stay out of the pulpit/exegetical topics.
In summary: this book prods a great question and idea. We ~should~ know our God’s name, and we ~should~ call Him by it. We should consider the implications of His name, especially as it relates to Trinitarian theology.
But ultimately this book is presented in too light of a tone, with a too devil-may-care attitude, and with too much of Comer’s typical disarming charm and wit (that genuinely makes me cringe sometimes). It also exposes quite a lack of scholarly and exegetical capacity in Comer. As I said, he quotes a lot of the “right” people. It just doesn’t seem that he has adopted many of the skills and tools of those people.
It’s probably obvious: I have extremely mixed opinions about this book. Definitely the least straight forward Comer book I’ve read/listened to thus far. There is one review that well articulates (and much more briefly) a portion of my grievances: see Avery’s review; it shows up as the first review for me so I assume that’s the same for everyone? He’s another 2 star review if not. But for my people, I will also explain on my own part, though my structure (and some of my comments) will be similar to Mr. Avery’s.
There is good, and there is bad. It’s a line down the middle quite unlike any book I’ve read in a long time. Comer has been a bit wave-y in my esteem since he rose to popularity back in the 2010’s, but when I started reading some of his stuff back in 2020-2021, I began to see a lot of the good he has to offer modern Christians (and skeptics). However, I’ve always been aware of some less than ideal views he holds, though I hadn’t read a book that articulated those views until this one.
So, the good and the bad.
I’ll start with the good:
1. God’s name is significant. “God” is not a name; it’s a title. The Christian God has a name, and it is important that we use, understand, and articulate it well. We learn from the Scriptures that our God’s name is Yahweh. I won’t dive into Hebrew or historical significance here; I’ll just say that I fully agree and champion Comer’s goal here in helping Christians come to grips with the fact that our God does indeed have a name, and articulating and calling Him by that name is important, especially in apologetic settings as well as just for the purpose of our own personal relationship with Him.
I honestly thought I had more to say regarding the good, but that’s about it. I could go into a lot more detail about that, but for brevity’s sake, I’ll stop there.
The bad:
1. The Trinity. I think Comer did a horrible disservice to readers of this book by not taking a deep dive (or any dive at all) into the Trinity as it relates to God’s name. This is an incredibly important piece to His very being; three Persons, one Being. It can serve as a linchpin argument that His one Being is manifested in His name, Yahweh. The Father is not the only one called Yahweh; the Son and the Spirit are also Yahweh. Yahweh is more Jesus’ name than “Jesus” is. Jesus was not an uncommon name at that time; in Hebrew it is Yeshua, which translated to English is Joshua. Yeah - there’s a whole book of the Bible called Joshua, and it’s not about Jesus. That Joshua’s name was the same name: Yeshua, or Jesus. Much of that language of “name above all names” comes from Isaiah, and Isaiah didn’t know he was writing about someone named Jesus Christ; he just knew he was writing about Yahweh who would send the Messiah - and then Paul quotes Isaiah in Philippians 2, saying that “God has bestowed on [Jesus] the name above all names” (Phil. 2:9-11). This is Paul straight-up saying, “Jesus is Yahweh.” There was plenty of opportunity for Comer to at least broach this topic, and I think it would have strengthened his argument greatly. But I honestly wonder at his stance on the Trinity as I’ve never heard it specified in any of his teachings or writings.
2. Chapter 2. I remember when this book came out, there was a lot of buzz (in my circle) about John Mark Comer being a polytheist. An old friend of mine told me this straight-up and directed me to a podcast where a reformed baptist preacher ripped Comer to shreds on his “belief” in other gods. I blindly adopted this view of Comer as I was in an extremely co-dependent and undisciplined season of life, touting him off as a polytheist who is dangerous and heretical.
After finally listening to the book for myself, I think I can confidently say he’s not a polytheist; to my understanding, the meaning of “belief” in the definition “belief in many gods” implies worship, not just belief in the existence of said gods. Maybe I’m wrong in this? Either way, Comer is definitely not championing the worship of many gods. However, I think his hermeneutic here is massively misleading and off base. I can’t necessarily support my argument with scholarly sources (and it is something I want to look into more), but from what I have read and understood up to this point, I would argue Comer’s interpretation misses the mark. He argues that the Scripture writers refer to other cultures’ and nations’ gods as just that: gods. He points out that they don’t say “false” gods, they say gods, plain and simple. He also cites the Egyptian magicians being able to reproduce some of the signs Yahweh performs through Moses. He argues that obviously something is behind those magicians being able to copy Yahweh, though they can’t repeat everything He does, implying that they are “weaker” gods. He uses a few other similar places in Scripture to basically make the point that other gods are very much so real, and that they are different from angels and demons (as he says those words aren’t used enough in Scripture to support their substituting for “gods”), and that they are cosmic forces that are essentially born out of the reality of evil, which Yahweh did not create or cause. We don’t know where they came from or how they got here, but they are here, cosmically opposed to and at odds with Yahweh and His people.
I take issue with this perspective for a couple of reasons: first, I think that he is missing the tone of the ancient Hebrew writers and NT Scripture writers when they refer to their fellow cultures’ gods. If a Christian and a Hindu are having a conversation about their god(s), the odds are one of them will refer to the other’s as just that: “your god(s).” Calling someone’s personal deity “god” is not an admission of belief in the actual existence, authority, or power of that god… it’s merely conversational respect and decorum. I personally think this is what the Scripture writers and even Yahweh Himself does in Scripture when they and He refer to the gods of the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, and all the other -ites. I am not denying the existence of spiritual opposition to Yahweh; I believe in spiritual warfare. I just think Comer takes it to an unnecessary and unhelpful place due to a shoddy hermeneutic on his part, all for the sake of proving a point when he had many other directions he could have gone in - the name of the chapter is Why Does God Need a Name Anyway? Again, the Trinity would have been great ground to unpack here. Idk, maybe I’m wrong and just nitpicky, maybe I’m just pushing back because it’s inconsistent with what I was raised believing (as Comer points out as a very real possibility for readers of this book). If so, I invite push-back! But unfortunately, this is not the last problem with this book for me.
3. Theological laziness at the expense of being John Mark Comer. Everyone who knows anything about Comer knows that he’s “not your typical pastor/Christian author.” Comer has a charisma, charm, and, at least conversationally if not aesthetically, approachability to him that is rare in Christian authorship. (On the last one: seriously… his “relatable” moments are sometimes wincingly Northwest-bougie-chic.) However, it’s precisely these reasons, in addition to a few others, that I carry (and encourage) a wariness towards him, even though I wholeheartedly embrace some of his ideas and books (Ruthless Elimination is truly a great and timely book).
That said, other books I have read by him have been more in the realm of Christian living than in biblical exposition. Ruthless Elimination and Live No Lies, and I assume Practicing the Way (the book), all deal with what it looks like to live as authentic Christians in an increasingly post-Christian era. As such, Comer was able to avoid (to some extent) overly heady, exegetical, hermeneutic content in those books (again, can’t speak to Practicing the Way yet).
That is not the case with God Has a Name. This book acts explicitly as an in-depth exegesis of Exodus 34:6-8, and some of it is well done, but a lot of it is careless. Comer approaches deep theological topics in this book, and he does so in the context of interpreting/expositing Scripture itself. He (at least as of when this book was written) demonstrates a disconcerting amount of willy-nilly-ness in some of his claims. The aforementioned Avery does a good job explaining some of this. For my own review’s purpose, though, I would argue that Comer has a very inconsistent doctrine of God. This is actually helpful to see and point out though, because believe it or not, his doctrine of God is pretty indicative of many Christians’ doctrine of God.
What do I mean when I say “doctrine of God?” Essentially, Comer makes multiple, almost on every page, claims about who God is, how God acts, and what God does throughout this book. Some of the claims are great, talking about God’s mercy as well as His justice, His love and faithfulness, and His ultimate revelation of His character in Christ on the Cross (key term: revelation). However, Comer makes many lazy statements about God as well, such as: God’s heart is MORE merciful than it is just, or God is at odds with evil and therefore NOT in control of it, etc. He makes so many claims like these that ultimately contradict other orthodox views of God.
For example, to claim that God is more merciful than He is just/righteous is to imply that His attributes are divided; He is 80% merciful and 20% just/righteous. This is an extremely humanoid understanding of Him. If we believe He is infinite, immutable (unchanging), and eternal, then we must ascribe those attributes to every other attribute of Him as well. If He is infinite, then His mercy is infinite, but so is His justness. If He is immutable, then to say He is more one thing than another at any given time (“He was merciful here, but he exercised judgment there”) implies that He actually does change, because sometimes He’s merciful and sometimes He enacts justice. Essentially this all boils down to the belief that God’s attributes do not “comprise” God (as in, you don’t add up all the attributes of God and then, voila! you have God), but rather that He ~is~ His attributes, and His attributes ~are~ Him (a belief I don’t think Comer would hold). So He does not “have” grace and mercy to dish out; He ~is~ gracious and merciful in His very nature. He does not ~suspend~ His justice in order to enact His mercy; He is both at the same time forever and always. This is an essential starting point to our (albeit, infinitely limited) comprehension of God, and Comer seems to throw it out the door in God Has a Name.
This is already an unbelievably long review, but my point is this: Comer is lazy in his language about the Being of God in this book. He shares a lot of great quotes from other, better theologians than himself, but he himself holds the enclosed topics of this book loosely and with too much cultural wiggle room in my opinion. All in all, Comer should stick to Christian living/Rule of Life content, and stay out of the pulpit/exegetical topics.
In summary: this book prods a great question and idea. We ~should~ know our God’s name, and we ~should~ call Him by it. We should consider the implications of His name, especially as it relates to Trinitarian theology.
But ultimately this book is presented in too light of a tone, with a too devil-may-care attitude, and with too much of Comer’s typical disarming charm and wit (that genuinely makes me cringe sometimes). It also exposes quite a lack of scholarly and exegetical capacity in Comer. As I said, he quotes a lot of the “right” people. It just doesn’t seem that he has adopted many of the skills and tools of those people.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2021
This is a goody. I’ve had a friend telling me to read this for ages and I finally got around to it. JMC isn’t from the usual crowd I read from and I’ve heard him be criticised for some of his more open minded views of God so I had a few hesitations coming in. However, this is a 5 star through and through by my judgement. JMC’s respect for the mystery of God and not reading cultural Christianity into the text (the whole book is based on Exodus 34:4-7) was brilliant. Definitely challenges me to reflect on the idea of who I have created God to be in my own mind. A problem that is rampant in the church, and probably in particular with us conservatives. If you’re looking for something to broaden your horizons this is it.
Ps. It’s written more like he’s speaking than writing a book. So very easy to read but might grind some gears.
PPS. I don’t agree with all of his theological conclusions which are where a lot of people have gripes with this book but as they are side notes not the main point doesn’t lose any stars.
Ps. It’s written more like he’s speaking than writing a book. So very easy to read but might grind some gears.
PPS. I don’t agree with all of his theological conclusions which are where a lot of people have gripes with this book but as they are side notes not the main point doesn’t lose any stars.
July 1, 2023
I can now read Exodus 33 and 34 in an entirely new light after Comer used this passage to build a foundation of God's very nature and character. Using meanings from the original Hebrew, he helps uncover the hidden meanings behind these important verses. Comer's writing style is unique, and is more conversational, which I enjoy, but others may find it more disorganized/scattered.
Overall, solid book on the beauty of God's character and essence and it left me craving more of God's glory and presence in my life
Overall, solid book on the beauty of God's character and essence and it left me craving more of God's glory and presence in my life
July 10, 2024
I read this book with my mission trip team on the plane ride back from Japan. It's a really engaging book exploring who God is with Exodus 34:4-7, for the reason that what we think about God will shape how we live and who we will become (and who we are can shape how we see God, or rather our "god"). Honestly, it was pretty mind blowing when he broke down Exodus 34:4-7 with the original language and connected it with other passages in Scripture. He navigates a lot of tricky topics like the problem of pain and why YHWH would punish the children for their parents' sins. I thought he painted a very compelling picture of who God is, deepening my understanding of His compassion, grace, anger, love, faithfulness, etc.
However, there are many things I can't wrap my head around and don't understand including how prayer works, whether God changes His mind, His sovereignty and will, etc. If I took Comer's words at face value, his arguments sound convincing, but I can't help but question and wonder how true they are. I guess there's just a lot of new ideas that I haven't studied much previously, and I'm now left not knowing what to think about it all.
However, there are many things I can't wrap my head around and don't understand including how prayer works, whether God changes His mind, His sovereignty and will, etc. If I took Comer's words at face value, his arguments sound convincing, but I can't help but question and wonder how true they are. I guess there's just a lot of new ideas that I haven't studied much previously, and I'm now left not knowing what to think about it all.
May 13, 2025
I’ve been deliberately avoiding John Mark Comer for many years because I feel like I can’t forgive him for his use (or imo: abuse) of fonts and spacing. BUT I listened to this on audiobook and really enjoyed it :)
May 4, 2025
Learned so much when it came to expanding on Exodus 34:6-7 through the Hebrew text and highlighting the character of God when it comes to Him being compassionate, gracious/merciful, abounding in love, faithfulness and His forgiveness and justness when it comes to dealing with sin. Some good stuff.
June 12, 2025
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone. It was super helpful in deepening my view and understanding of God. I learned a lot and was even challenged in some ways by parts of this book.
September 2, 2022
I loved this. ate it up. it reminded me of gentle and lowly but this time about the character of God. Comer simultaneously writes so deeply and so simply about the character of God and his heart for us in a way that sets your soul on fire to continue to pursue the Lord. leaving this book feeling encouraged and loved with a mindset that is fixed towards eternal things.
June 5, 2023
John Mark Comer can’t write a bad book
May 30, 2025
4.5/5 stars
Thanks Madison for the recommendation and the book! I loved it just like I do most other John Mark Comer books. I enjoy how lighthearted and easy to read he can make a heavy and complex subject. I think other books of his were a bit more shocking/challenging to me. My biggest take away from this one was the idea that if my view of God is something I’m comfortable with, it’s probably not the full picture of God (in the sense God can’t fit into a perfect box where human brains can completely make sense of Him). A new idea that was presented but I hadn’t ever considered was the concept about suffering in this life: that the “why” is never truly mentioned in the Bible and maaaybbbeee that’s because in biblical times people had a deeper understanding of the brokenness of the world and hadn’t a need to question why bad things happen but rather questioned why good things happened at all. (Okay I totally butchered that but it was kinda a wild thought so go read it for yourself!!) here’s a quote around that idea:
“To clarify, it’s not that God’s will is weak—on an even playing field with all the other wills. As if we, God, and Satan are all equal players in a game for the world. It’s that in the universe God has chosen to actualize, love is the highest value, and love demands a choice, and a choice demands freedom. So God has chosen to limit his overwhelming capacity to override any “will” stacked against him, in order to create space for real, genuine freedom for his creatures, human and nonhuman. And evil is the by-product of that freedom that God built into the fabric of the universe. Put simply, God is incredibly good, but the world is a terrifyingly free, dangerous, beautiful place to call home.”
Thanks Madison for the recommendation and the book! I loved it just like I do most other John Mark Comer books. I enjoy how lighthearted and easy to read he can make a heavy and complex subject. I think other books of his were a bit more shocking/challenging to me. My biggest take away from this one was the idea that if my view of God is something I’m comfortable with, it’s probably not the full picture of God (in the sense God can’t fit into a perfect box where human brains can completely make sense of Him). A new idea that was presented but I hadn’t ever considered was the concept about suffering in this life: that the “why” is never truly mentioned in the Bible and maaaybbbeee that’s because in biblical times people had a deeper understanding of the brokenness of the world and hadn’t a need to question why bad things happen but rather questioned why good things happened at all. (Okay I totally butchered that but it was kinda a wild thought so go read it for yourself!!) here’s a quote around that idea:
“To clarify, it’s not that God’s will is weak—on an even playing field with all the other wills. As if we, God, and Satan are all equal players in a game for the world. It’s that in the universe God has chosen to actualize, love is the highest value, and love demands a choice, and a choice demands freedom. So God has chosen to limit his overwhelming capacity to override any “will” stacked against him, in order to create space for real, genuine freedom for his creatures, human and nonhuman. And evil is the by-product of that freedom that God built into the fabric of the universe. Put simply, God is incredibly good, but the world is a terrifyingly free, dangerous, beautiful place to call home.”
March 3, 2023
The best JMC book I’ve read (ok, tied with Garden City). I don’t know how he does it, but it’s all such an enjoyable read — from Ancient Near Eastern texts to a theology of spiritual beings to a deep exegesis of my favorite (and the biblical authors’ favorite) passage in the Bible, Ex 34:6-7. This book moved me to deeper worship and — hopefully — a better imaging of the character of Yahweh.
July 19, 2022
probably overall would give it a 3.7
July 16, 2025
He synthesized a lot of things I have been thinking the past year or two. A refreshing take.
July 6, 2024
Normaal gesproken zou dit echt een boek voor mij kunnen zijn. Ik vind John Mark Comer een zeer interessante, inspirerende en frisse theoloog/voorganger en de twee andere boeken (Garden City en The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry), die ik van hem las, vond ik echt heel goed.
Dit boek irriteerde me mateloos.
Het is een geweldig concept om een boek te schrijven over de naam van God. Met als doel de realisatie dat wij die naam met ons meedragen. Ik wil dan aan het eind van zo’n boek weggeblazen zijn en onder de indruk zijn van de kracht van Die Naam. En ook van die God.
Nu moest ik tussen een hoop chagrijnigheid de parels eruit vissen. Want Comer gaat maar door over het kwaad, de zonde, alle ellende, andere goden, nog meer ellende. Jaha. Dat weet ik nu wel. Laat me zien hoe geweldig Jezus is, dacht ik steeds. De hoofdstukken die daar aan gewijd waren, vond ik te mager.
Daarom ook een magere drie sterren.
Dit boek irriteerde me mateloos.
Het is een geweldig concept om een boek te schrijven over de naam van God. Met als doel de realisatie dat wij die naam met ons meedragen. Ik wil dan aan het eind van zo’n boek weggeblazen zijn en onder de indruk zijn van de kracht van Die Naam. En ook van die God.
Nu moest ik tussen een hoop chagrijnigheid de parels eruit vissen. Want Comer gaat maar door over het kwaad, de zonde, alle ellende, andere goden, nog meer ellende. Jaha. Dat weet ik nu wel. Laat me zien hoe geweldig Jezus is, dacht ik steeds. De hoofdstukken die daar aan gewijd waren, vond ik te mager.
Daarom ook een magere drie sterren.
January 7, 2022
This was such a good book. The way it was written made it super easy to get through. The author presents some very interesting and sometimes contrasting ideas that really made me think about my view of God. It can be so easy to limit God to what my mind can understand, to how I want Him to behave or respond, and put Him in a box of my limitations. Growing up in quite a conservative church, I allowed my view of God to be limited to what I had previously been taught. But this book challenged my thoughts. Who am I of all people to decide how God responds or behaves? Who am I to say that he can and can’t do this or that? It helped me to realise that I’ll never understand God fully, but what I can do is seek to KNOW Him, through letting Him work in my life. Would definitely recommend this read.
February 7, 2022
I absolutely loved this book. Comer sets out to break down the most quoted verses in the Bible by the Bible, Exodus 34:4-7, verses which describe the God of the Old and New Testaments, Yahweh. And he does it in language that is easy to understand, while not holding anything important back.
So if you want to know who Yahweh is, this book is a good place to start. Read this, and then consider Comer’s invitation on page 260…
“Don’t be afraid to climb the mountain. Step into the smoke and fire. Devote your life to the pursuit of this terrifyingly good God.”
So if you want to know who Yahweh is, this book is a good place to start. Read this, and then consider Comer’s invitation on page 260…
“Don’t be afraid to climb the mountain. Step into the smoke and fire. Devote your life to the pursuit of this terrifyingly good God.”
July 29, 2025
i was pleasantly surprised with how much i liked this book. that then turned into becoming obsessed and a viscous underliner. i am a huge fan of JMC and this, dare i say, may be his best book i have read. recomendable 10/10!!!! GO READ IT
March 26, 2025
While Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, Garden City, and Practicing the way all have strong similarities, God has a Name stands out to me as a unique.
This book is a deep dive commentary on the character of God as He revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6-8. Comer makes the argument that the term god means a lot of things to a lot of people, and as Tozer said, “the most important thing about you is how you view God”.
True to style of the Portland Renaissance crew (Comer, Mackie, Collins, Stanton, Josh dies) the tone is conversational and persuasive, but the content is heavy on original language, cultural context, and thematic cross-referencing, illustrated with personal stories or modern equivalencies and then distilled into modern implication and application. With that said, I’ve liked all those guys works, so it makes for an enjoyable and edifying read.
There were a couple times when I felt like Comer came off to me as lowkey pretentious, but this book came out like 8 years ago, and I haven’t noticed that in any of his more recent writing.
Solid 4 star read.
This book is a deep dive commentary on the character of God as He revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6-8. Comer makes the argument that the term god means a lot of things to a lot of people, and as Tozer said, “the most important thing about you is how you view God”.
True to style of the Portland Renaissance crew (Comer, Mackie, Collins, Stanton, Josh dies) the tone is conversational and persuasive, but the content is heavy on original language, cultural context, and thematic cross-referencing, illustrated with personal stories or modern equivalencies and then distilled into modern implication and application. With that said, I’ve liked all those guys works, so it makes for an enjoyable and edifying read.
There were a couple times when I felt like Comer came off to me as lowkey pretentious, but this book came out like 8 years ago, and I haven’t noticed that in any of his more recent writing.
Solid 4 star read.
August 29, 2024
I learned a lot and unlearned even more. JMC brilliantly dismantled a few of my biblical misconceptions and helped me fall deeper in awe of God’s character.
“God is more of a friend than a formula.”
“The way we relate to people close to us is probably a good barometer for how we relate to God.”
“But we all have a gap. Between who we are and who God is. Between the way we live and the way of Jesus. Following Jesus is about closing that gap, one step at a time.”
“Worship is an entire life oriented around wonder and awe at the nature of God.”
“God is more of a friend than a formula.”
“The way we relate to people close to us is probably a good barometer for how we relate to God.”
“But we all have a gap. Between who we are and who God is. Between the way we live and the way of Jesus. Following Jesus is about closing that gap, one step at a time.”
“Worship is an entire life oriented around wonder and awe at the nature of God.”
January 20, 2025
This book rocked. I took a Bible class at Biola that made us memorize the definition of Yahweh that John Mark Comer dissects in this book. It’s so important to understand God’s true character and not create false definitions of who God is based on your personal experience with him. He is merciful and gracious and slow to anger!!
February 23, 2024
Great read. I read this back in high school and it played a huge role in developing my understanding of who God truly is. Now, we are wrapping up a teaching series with my small group on this book so I got to revisit the same ideas four years later. It was not as influential as my first read, but still a great reminder of God's loving and relational nature.
August 7, 2025
Another great read from JMC! He is one of my favorite Christian authors because of the way he writes. It’s always so easy to read and he ties in things from his life that are relatable.
Read
November 16, 2025Hat mir richtig gut gefallen. Viele starke Gedanken, will ich auf jeden Fall irgendwann nochmal lesen. Definitiv unter den Top 3 von Comer.
March 13, 2025
My verdict: John Mark Comer is NOT a heretic!
November 23, 2024
Unpacking Exodus 34:6-8, this guide reveals God’s self-description as relational and responsive. It explores how knowing His character transforms our relationship with Him, inviting readers to encounter a God who surprises and changes everything.
I first read this book in August 2017 while lying in my hammock on the tiniest island (seriously, only 120 acres) on the Saint John River. It was during my final week of traveling to summer camps after what had been the worst summer of my life. I was desperate—not just to believe that God was better than I thought He was, but to know He was wholly different. During my afternoon breaks, I devoured this book, and by the end, I wasn’t just hopeful about God’s relational desire to meet with and know us—I was experiencing it.
Fast forward to 2024. After several years of walking with God and letting Him know me, I didn’t realize how complacent I’d become in my approach. Don’t get me wrong—I still prayed regularly, but my prayers had taken on a pattern of, “Here’s my request, God, but do what You’d like,” or, “I’m asking for this, but, um, Your will be done.” I thought I was growing in contentment—and to a degree, I was. Contentment is important, and God calls us to it. But this book reminded me that I’m not just approaching “God.” I’m approaching a person who deeply desires community with me, someone who can actually be moved by my prayers and relationship with Him.
Somewhere along the way, I’d become so focused on “respecting” God’s will that I forgot prayer can move His heart—yes, even change His mind. If that statement makes you think, Wait, what? That’s not true!—then please, read this book. I pray it encourages you to pray boldly, as it has taught me to do.
This newly republished version even includes a fantastic section at the end outlining contemplation!
Thank you @thomasnelson @netgalley @yatesandyates for the books
Perfect for you if you like:
Characteristics of God
Challenging misconceptions
Books that blend theology with personal stories
Similar to:
Holier than Thou by Jackie Hill Perry
The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer
Jesus Is_____ by Judah Smith
I first read this book in August 2017 while lying in my hammock on the tiniest island (seriously, only 120 acres) on the Saint John River. It was during my final week of traveling to summer camps after what had been the worst summer of my life. I was desperate—not just to believe that God was better than I thought He was, but to know He was wholly different. During my afternoon breaks, I devoured this book, and by the end, I wasn’t just hopeful about God’s relational desire to meet with and know us—I was experiencing it.
Fast forward to 2024. After several years of walking with God and letting Him know me, I didn’t realize how complacent I’d become in my approach. Don’t get me wrong—I still prayed regularly, but my prayers had taken on a pattern of, “Here’s my request, God, but do what You’d like,” or, “I’m asking for this, but, um, Your will be done.” I thought I was growing in contentment—and to a degree, I was. Contentment is important, and God calls us to it. But this book reminded me that I’m not just approaching “God.” I’m approaching a person who deeply desires community with me, someone who can actually be moved by my prayers and relationship with Him.
Somewhere along the way, I’d become so focused on “respecting” God’s will that I forgot prayer can move His heart—yes, even change His mind. If that statement makes you think, Wait, what? That’s not true!—then please, read this book. I pray it encourages you to pray boldly, as it has taught me to do.
This newly republished version even includes a fantastic section at the end outlining contemplation!
Thank you @thomasnelson @netgalley @yatesandyates for the books
Perfect for you if you like:
Characteristics of God
Challenging misconceptions
Books that blend theology with personal stories
Similar to:
Holier than Thou by Jackie Hill Perry
The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer
Jesus Is_____ by Judah Smith
February 27, 2022
Really good book. Comer is just a awfully smart guy who is able to make the complex consumable for any reader.
This book probably would’ve been a 5, but there are a few times Comer uses examples that are just way to complex to be used in a simple comment. For example when talking about God being slow to anger, he talks about our anger often being unjust or about simply us getting revenge (and I totally agree), but one of his examples is he says”they flew planes into our towers and we invade their country” and while I get the point, statements like this are just such oversimplification. I just read 2 books on this and I can tell you we didn’t just invade Afghanistan out of revenge, but also to get rid of a government and terrorists who posed a huge threat to America and the worlds safety. Also he puts justice and mercy on a scale and highlights how Gods mercy normally wins out but for me I think of the cross and it’s the perfect meeting of justice and mercy. Both fully there, not one winning, but both fully being expressed. To be clear, he does eventually get there and he talks about the perfect merging of justice and mercy, but I wish he would have led with that, I totally understand what he was saying and why he did it that way though. Overall this book is phenomenal, Comer is brilliant and I love the way he breaks down complex things. Please please read this book. I think it’s a really important read.
This book probably would’ve been a 5, but there are a few times Comer uses examples that are just way to complex to be used in a simple comment. For example when talking about God being slow to anger, he talks about our anger often being unjust or about simply us getting revenge (and I totally agree), but one of his examples is he says”they flew planes into our towers and we invade their country” and while I get the point, statements like this are just such oversimplification. I just read 2 books on this and I can tell you we didn’t just invade Afghanistan out of revenge, but also to get rid of a government and terrorists who posed a huge threat to America and the worlds safety. Also he puts justice and mercy on a scale and highlights how Gods mercy normally wins out but for me I think of the cross and it’s the perfect meeting of justice and mercy. Both fully there, not one winning, but both fully being expressed. To be clear, he does eventually get there and he talks about the perfect merging of justice and mercy, but I wish he would have led with that, I totally understand what he was saying and why he did it that way though. Overall this book is phenomenal, Comer is brilliant and I love the way he breaks down complex things. Please please read this book. I think it’s a really important read.
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