This review is a bit different because I will be reviewing three different books at once. The books are The Knowledge of the Holy, The Pursuit of God, and God’s Pursuit of Man by A.W Tozer. All three are in Three Spiritual Classics in One Volume from Moody Publishers.
About the Author
Aiden W. Tozer was an American pastor, teacher, and writer. He became a Christian after hearing a street preacher in Akron, Ohio, when he was 17. It ignited in him a lifelong pursuit of God and made him commit his life to the ministry of God’s word. Though Tozer was a self-taught theologian, he is considered as one of the most influential American evangelists of the twentieth century. Many have called him a modern-day prophet because of his “flowing prose, Spirit-filled words, and deep conviction.” He has written about thirty books.
About the book
The Knowledge of the Holy
In The Knowledge of the Holy, Tozer studied the various attributes of God from his incommunicable ones like the self -existence of God, or his self-sufficiency, to his communicable ones like His goodness, love, holiness, etc.
In Tozer’s day (and ours too), Christians had a low view of God. He said in the preface, “the Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men.” Therefore, he wrote this book to help Christians regain a higher view of God and rediscover His majesty and grandeur.
The Knowledge of the Holy has 23 chapters. The first one is an explanation of why it is critical we think rightly about God, and the remaining sections are God’s various attributes.
The Pursuit of God
In this book, Tozer shows us what it means to pursue God in our ever busy and crowded lives. Tozer was concerned that evangelicals spent a lot of time studying the Holy scriptures without taking time to be still and experience God’s closeness and presence.
He said, “The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His presence, and may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.” Consequently, Tozer wrote this book so that believers hungry to experience God and hungry to enjoy His sweet presence can find Him.
The Pursuit of God is divided into ten chapters, and each shows a different way we can pursue God and experience Him.
God’s Pursuit of Man
God’s Pursuit of Man is the prequel to The Pursuit of God. In this book, Tozer teaches us the real meaning of salvation and what it means to be “conquered by the Almighty God and invaded by His Spirit.” Tozer wrote this book because he felt an unbearable burden to write and wanted to remind us of the power of God and the importance of being Spirit-filled. God’s pursuit of man also has ten short chapters, each of which addresses an aspect of God’s redemptive acts.
My Thoughts
The first thing I must say is that Tozer writes beautifully! His way with words and flowing prose made these books a delightful read. His writing was so superb that I had to restrain myself from highlighting every other sentence. I also enjoyed the poetry and hymns he included throughout these books. It made for a richer reading experience. Now for the specifics.
The Knowledge of the Holy
As mentioned previously, Tozer’s goal in writing this book was to reacquaint us with God’s majesty. And he hit his target outstandingly! The Knowledge of the Holy explained the attributes of God in such a profound way that it can only give the reader a high view of God. By the time I finished this book, I just wanted to fall on my knees in awe, sing the hymn How Great Thou Art, and chant with the psalmist, “Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned in high?” (Psalm 113:5)
The knowledge of the Holy improved my perspective of God and gave me a much higher view of Him. Meditating on His awesomeness and greatness blew away my finite mind, and it changed the way I pray and the way I worship.
The Pursuit of God
Tozer also did a fantastic job of showing us how to experience God’s presence. He wasn’t teaching mysticism and sensuality, as it is common in many churches today. His was a biblical teaching on knowing God experientially.
I was familiar with Matthew 6:33, which says to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first, but I never realized what it entailed. This book shone a light on it and taught me what it looks like to genuinely pursuing God. The Pursuit of God also made me realize that I long for worldly things more than I long for God. And this conviction alone made this book worth it. Now, I have this hunger and longing to know God and pursue Him and pray that it surpasses every other desire in my life.
Tozer also included short prayers at the end of each chapter, which I thought was helpful.
God’ Pursuit of Man
I enjoyed this book a little less than the other two, but it was still outstanding. I especially liked that Tozer mostly focused on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Most books about salvation usually focus on the atoning work of Christ, so it was refreshing to read more on this aspect of God’s redemptive work.
My Recommendation
Overall, I genuinely enjoyed all three books, and I wholeheartedly recommend it! Even though it was written a while back, it is still relevant in our day, and reading it will bless you. It certainly blessed me!
*Moody Publishers graciously gave me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.*
Favorite Quotes
The Knowledge of the Holy
What comes in our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
Chapter 1: Why We Must Think Rightly About God
Faith is an organ of knowledge and love an organ of experience. God came to us in the incarnation; in atonement, He reconciled us to Himself, and by faith and love, we enter and lay hold on Him.
Chapter 2: God incomprehensible
The Christian religion has to do with God and man, but its focal point is God, not man. Man’s only claim to importance is that he was created in the divine image; in himself he is nothing.
Chapter 6: The Self-sufficiency of God
The testimony of faith is that, no matter how things look in this fallen world, all God’s acts are wrought in perfect wisdom.
Chapter 11: The wisdom of God
To magnify an attribute to the exclusion of another is to head straight for one of the dismal swamps of theology: and yet we are all constantly tempted to do just that.
Chapter 15: The faithfulness of God
God will always be Himself, and grace is an attribute of His holy being. He can no more hide his grace than the sun can hide its brightness. Men may flee from the sunlight to dark and musty caves of the earth, but they cannot put out the sun. So men may in any dispensation despise the grace of God, but they cannot extinguish it.
Chapter 19: The Grace of God
As sunlight falls free on the open field, so the knowledge of the holy God is a free gift to men who are open to receive it.
Chapter 23: The Open Secret
The Pursuit of God
To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love.
Chapter 1: Following hard after God
The way to deeper knowledge of God is through the lonely valleys of soul poverty and abnegation of all things.
Chapter 2: The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing
God is so vastly wonderful, so utterly and completely delightful that He can, without anything other than Himself, meet and overflow the deepest demands of our total nature, mysterious and deep as that nature is.
Chapter 3: Removing the Veil
We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.
Chapter 5: The Universal Presence
Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and a higher life.
Chapter 7: The Gaze of the Soul
Jesus calls us to his rest, and meekness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort.
Chapter 9: Meekness and Rest
God’s pursuit of man
While it is never possible to have the Spirit without some measure of truth, it is, unfortunately, possible to have the shell of truth without the Spirit. Our hope is that we may have both the Spirit and the truth in fullest measure.
Preface
Though He in condescending love may seem to place Himself at our disposal, yet never for the least division of a moment does He abdicate His throne or void His right as Lord of man and nature. He is that Majesty on High.
Chapter 3: The mystery of the call
The Lord cannot fully bless a man until He has first conquered him. The degree of blessing enjoyed by any man will correspond exactly with the completeness of God’s victory over him.
Chapter 4: Victory through defeat
The Spirit indwelled life is not a special deluxe edition of Christianity to be enjoyed by a certain rare and privileged few who happen to be made of finer and more sensitive stuff than the rest. Rather, it is the normal state for every redeemed man and woman the world over.
Chapter 10: The Spirit-filled Life
