Stephen Charnock's The Existence and Attributes of God (2 volumes) is a classic of Reformed theology, examining God's foreknowledge, sovereignty, and attributes with a depth and clarity unmatched by prior treatments of the subject—one of the first works in the Reformed tradition devoted solely to it. Charnock's positions have shaped generations of theologians and continue to inform contemporary debates on free will, foreknowledge, and divine openness.

Despite its size, which has deterred many readers, the work pairs rigorous theological argument with the Puritan emphasis on practical "uses"—applying doctrine to life—making it valuable well beyond academic study.

Charnock studied at Cambridge and served as senior proctor at Oxford (1652–1656), where he belonged to a gathered church alongside fellow Puritans Thomas Goodwin, Thankful Owen, and Theophilus Gale. He later ministered in Ireland, becoming one of the highest-paid clergy there, before returning to England in 1660. Following the Restoration, he spent fifteen years without a pastoral charge, reportedly supporting himself through the practice of medicine. In 1675 he became co-pastor with Thomas Watson at a Nonconformist congregation in Crosby Hall, London. It was during his final years that he wrote his Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God—widely regarded as the most extensive and incisive Puritan treatise on the doctrine of God, marked by exegetical skill, engagement with Continental theology, and vivid use of metaphor.