Books Knowledge of the Holy by Tozer
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Scripture upholds the virgin birth just as clearly as it denies the perpetual virginity of Jesus' mother, Mary.
In the earliest church, the virgin birth was maintained but "perpetual virginity" is not mentioned for the first couple of centuries, as I understand it.
Some argue based on John 19:26-27 that Mary had no children to care for her; however, pairing this with the other scriptures mentioned above means that there must be some other reason that Jesus pronounced John to be Mary's caretaker.(less)
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The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life is a study in the unstudiable. It is a scrutiny of that which is inherently inscrutable. It is therefore I think doomed from the start, for the knowledge that it would convey is inexpressible and the wisdom it would impart is far beyond man's understanding.
Having never before read A.W. Tozer, I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book, and if I expected anything I'm not sure that this was it.The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life is a study in the unstudiable. It is a scrutiny of that which is inherently inscrutable. It is therefore I think doomed from the start, for the knowledge that it would convey is inexpressible and the wisdom it would impart is far beyond man's understanding. In fact, the book is filled with confessions of this very sort which made me wonder why such a futile project was attempted with such earnestness.
According to the text, Tozer believed that the failure of the church in the 20th century was largely due to a failure to properly conceive God. Tozer spends about 20 short chapters discussing the attributes of God. The real God, Tozer declares, is marked by His Majesty and this majesty is evident from His infinite nature. Whether speaking of God's power, His righteousness, His faithfulness, His knowledge, or any other attribute which is part of the nature of God, the real God is in all things unlike the things of the world in being infinite. The real God, Tozer claims, had been disconnected from the name of God so that when the church spoke his name it no longer reflected the actual God of the Heavens but rather some enfeebled and unmajestic conception of man.
This is actually a subject that I as a computer scientist take a great deal of interest in. Names are fundamentally important to the study of computer science. In computer science we are made aware of the distinction between the name and the thing that is named. The name of a thing is not the thing itself, but rather only a pointer to the thing. A name is valuable only in as much as it continues to point to the right thing. A name can become misaddressed, so that it no longer points to the thing it is supposed to. And, a name can become detached completely from anything, so that when we try to dereference it we find the name empty of meaning. So it is in fact a very real worry that we might still hold on to the name, but find that the name has no power because it no longer addresses the thing that its name is supposed to associate it with. A name that doesn't point to the thing that it labels, has lost referential power and like salt without saltiness is good for nothing.
Nothing is worse than asking directions of a null pointer.
Tozer is certainly right that the name of God can become lost. If it was not so, then God would have never warned us against using the name lightly. But if the address of the namespace of God becomes lost to us, the fault is not with God. God cannot be made null. The fault lies with us, in that we have made His name null within our namespace. But the problem herein is that if Tozer is right, and that the chief problem is that we've lost the address of God and our prayers are thereby null and ineffective, clearly no effort on our part can reinitialize that pointer. God must give us his address if we are to use it.
Which creates quite a conundrum, because how can Tozer expect to by any of his writing reinitialize the pointer to God? If Tozer is right, then all of his intellectuality and all of his logic, intelligence, and study is completely vain - even by his own account. All of the attributes of God are far beyond our understanding. Any conceptions we have of God are necessarily limited and therefore in some measure a false understanding. We cannot hope to contain the infinite within our finite understanding.
Perhaps it is for this reason that Tozer does what is I think the most fitting and valuable part of the work - he begins each chapter with prayer.
It's not so much that I think Tozer says anything that is false. I think he does a fine job reminding the reader how big God is. Or rather, I think he does as fine of job as any mere human can do speaking about the infinite to another mere mortal. This is to say, not very well at all really if the purpose is anything other than a philosopher's game. From Tozer's writing how can we come away with a pointer to God? If the problem is really that we don't imagine God big enough and don't hold him in awe enough, then what are we to do or how could we ever have any hope of Salvation? If only those that have sufficient intellect to hold the infinite in their understanding shall be saved, then we are all doomed for there is not a one of us so bright that our own strong right brain can save us.
The truth is that we cannot be saved through the completeness of our doctrines, our studies of theology, or the correctness of our thoughts. The problem isn't so much that I disagree with Tozer; it is that I think he gets it completely backwards. The loss of the namespace of God isn't the cause of the failing of the modern church, but a symptom of it. It's not that we are not right with God because we lack a proper conception of him, but rather we have not a proper conception of God because we are not right with God. Tozer is I think trying to treat a symptom rather than a cause.
At times Tozer's work is shockingly anti-intellectual, even to one such as myself, who can be sneeringly anti-intellectual, and yet I wonder if it doesn't go far enough. I don't think there is a thing here which will be convincing to anyone that needs convincing on these points. I don't think there is anything in the text that will convince the reader of anything he is not formerly convinced of. On a purely intellectual level, I don't think there are very many Christians who have forgotten the Majesty of God, or His infinite grace, mercy, faithfulness, or love. It's not that we've forgotten how big he is when we engage in these sorts of intellectual conversations; it is that we just don't feel it really. There is vast difference in the knowing of something in your head, and the knowing of something in your heart. The one enables you to speak eloquently on a subject, and the other empowers you to actually live as you claim to believe.
On the speaking eloquently or correctly on the subject of the unbounded matchless character of God, I think Tozer can be some help. But this is really not much help at all. What I need is some help in getting from a cold leaden too intellectual heart filled with worldly wisdom, toward really feeling the presence of God. But such an instruction manual - if anyone could provide it - never seemed to be in Tozer's ambition. I can't say whether or not merely thinking the right things was enough for A.W. Tozer, but it doesn't work too well for me.
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There was a story I learned growing up. Five blind men who did not know what an elephant was like found an elephant. Since they could not see, they felt around to imagine what an elephant would be like. One felt the leg and said, "An elephant is like a tower!". Another felt the trunk and said, "No! it is more like a python!". Another felt the tail and said," No! An elephant is more like a rope!". Another felt the stomach and said," You are all wrong! An elephant is like a big sack!" T
Great book!There was a story I learned growing up. Five blind men who did not know what an elephant was like found an elephant. Since they could not see, they felt around to imagine what an elephant would be like. One felt the leg and said, "An elephant is like a tower!". Another felt the trunk and said, "No! it is more like a python!". Another felt the tail and said," No! An elephant is more like a rope!". Another felt the stomach and said," You are all wrong! An elephant is like a big sack!" They could never come to an agreement and quarreled the whole time.
I believe we face similar issues when we attempt the impossible task of knowing God. Much of our disagreements in Christianity come because we are like blind men, arguing that the elephant is indeed a tower, or a rope or a sack, and much of Christianity suffers because of not realizing that He is inscrutable and unknowable.
So then, how shall we know the unknowable? First, by humbly admitting that He is unknowable, then being faithful to whatever He allows us to know about Him through special revelation, namely, through the Bible. Tozer has written a book in which He attempts this very thing. So, it is not perfect. However, I believe it is a book in the right direction.
The god most Christians believe in today is not the God of the Bible. The god most Christians believe in today is too frustrated, too heartbroken, too limited, too unhappy and frankly too human. That is not the LORD. Read this book and pray that God would give you intellectual humility to know a little of who God really is, and who you really are.
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It is into this reality that Tozer speaks in his book, Knowledge of the Holy, which is an excellent study of the
Nothing is more important than a right understanding of God, or "thinking rightly about God." In Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer states, "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." Tozer is addressing idol worship that many fall into by thinking wrongly about God.It is into this reality that Tozer speaks in his book, Knowledge of the Holy, which is an excellent study of the attributes of God. Tozer describes in detail the importance of thinking rightly about God. Going so far as asserting, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." When it comes to our thinking about God, everything is at stake. We must think deeply and accurately about God if we are to know Him and worship Him rightly and truthfully.
An attribute study is a great way to come to know God more deeply and is a great way to explore the richness of the scriptures in a more non-linear approach. The book Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer, covers some essential thoughts and attributes of God, as well as doctrines, that every Christian should think about. As Tozer rightly points out, "The study of the attributes of God, far from being dull and heavy, may for the enlightened Christian be a sweet and absorbing spiritual exercise. To the soul that is athirst for God, nothing could be more delightful." As we seek God and seek to have our thirsts for Him quenched, this book, in addition to scripture, prayer, and community, is a great place to start.
A thorough reading of Knowledge of the Holy highlights so many truths about God. We are plunged into the depths of God's character and nature and are left in a state of awe and worship in the presence of an awesome God. While we will spend a lifetime and an eternity seeking to know God completely and to worship Him rightly, we can know God and worship Him now. To quote Tozer one last time, "To our questions God has provided answers; not all the answers, certainly, but enough to satisfy our intellects and ravish our hearts. These answers He has provided in nature, in the Scriptures, and in the person of His Son." How marvelous it is to wonder at His greatness and to think rightly about our God!
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I found each chapter to be insightful, uplifting, and thought-provoking. The far-reaching implications of learning more about God – through the combined study of this book and Scripture – compel me to think that one would do well to engage solely in the study of God for the remainder of this life. It is, of course, an inexhaustible study. And I have personally experienced the rich transformation that has been effected in my life as a result of what I have learned thus far. Another word from Tozer toward this end, "For the Scriptures not only teach truth, they show also its uses for mankind. The inspired writers were men of like passion with us, dwelling in the midst of life. What they learned about God became to them a sword, a shield, a hammer; it became their life motivation, their good hope, and their confident expectation. From the objective facts of theology their hearts made how many thousand joyous deductions and personal applications!"
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Read again 2020 in the same way.
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Furthermore, and this gets into the nitty-gritty of some of Tozer's argumentation, Tozer at one point actually seems to discourage doubt and encourage a blind faith. His argumentation often comes from faulty human logic with choosy scriptural backing and following from this doesn't seem to make much sense of obvious questions of contradiction. How is mercy related to justice? How is calvinist sovereignty not mutually exclusive of love? While these topics are whole books in and of themselves we, the readers, deserve to be let in on the fact that these are massive and ultimately "disputable" topics. We deserve to be treated not as if our questions and doubt are some heresy but rather a sincere and earnest searching for the knowledge of the holy a knowledge distinctly lacking from this book.
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The self-existence of God
The self-sufficiency of God
The immutability of God
The eternity of God
The wisdom of God
And more... His faithfulness, love, mercy, grace, holiness, sovereignty, that He is all-knowing (omniscience), all-powerful (omnipotent) and ever-present (omnipresence).
This is a marvelous little classic worth reading and meditating over. Add it to your li "The Knowledge of the Holy" is a wonderful classic by A. W. Tozer, where he deals with the Divine Attributes of God, such as:
The self-existence of God
The self-sufficiency of God
The immutability of God
The eternity of God
The wisdom of God
And more... His faithfulness, love, mercy, grace, holiness, sovereignty, that He is all-knowing (omniscience), all-powerful (omnipotent) and ever-present (omnipresence).
This is a marvelous little classic worth reading and meditating over. Add it to your library! ...more
I think this is a good little book to let seep in slowly. I think it's an important one to have read if you find yourself in pews. I think the aphorism Tozer is most famous for it true, I think his teachings are venerable, and I don't think reverence can be argued logically, yet he's done it well.
The firs
Took me something like seven years to finish this book. I've changed a lot in that time; my theology has changed a lot in that time. Tozer would say it doesn't matter because the Holy has not.I think this is a good little book to let seep in slowly. I think it's an important one to have read if you find yourself in pews. I think the aphorism Tozer is most famous for it true, I think his teachings are venerable, and I don't think reverence can be argued logically, yet he's done it well.
The first chapters set my adolescent mind blazing and made me feel alive, dissecting each sentence and connecting dots. Years later, the final chapters struck me as harsh and too sure. These reactions tell me more about myself than about God, or Tozer's God. I think the way we react to books like these matters more than our analyses of what they say.
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I'd venture to guess that concepts of God's unity, simplicity, and being aren't being discussed, much less understood, outside of a few seminaries, and most of them Catholic. The forma In this work, Tozer tackles arguably the most important question in life—Who is God? He correctly ascertains that so as we think about God, so as life goes. And in his attempt to tell what God is like, he succeeds in at least outlining the major characteristics of God as held by classical, orthodox Christianity.
I'd venture to guess that concepts of God's unity, simplicity, and being aren't being discussed, much less understood, outside of a few seminaries, and most of them Catholic. The format in which Tozer takes up this discussion is easily negotiated (short chapters and only 23 in total), but the nature of his writing is at times distracting. He writes as if he's reached a certain mystical plateau from which he's never descended. Though capable of stringing together some beautiful lines, Tozer's preponderant use of poetic language leaves the text at times, distractingly viscous.
The great flaw in Tozer's arguments is his constant casting aside of reason. Tozer is more than eager to have Reason sit outside while the Heart enters into the Holy of Holies. "We might be wise to follow the insight of the enraptured heart rather than the mere cautious reasonings of the theological mind," he says (Is this statement "reasoned" or "enraptured" I wonder?). In another place he adds, "Any faith that must be supported by the evidence of the senses is not real faith." Here Tozer mischaracterizes faith as that which must not keep company with reason. Though never to be equated, the two shouldn't be kept from working in tandem. Reason may well be faith's catalyst, especially when it comes to embracing many of the concepts Tozer so wishes the Church to embrace.
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Tozer doesn't leave the book without challenging us to put that knowledge into action as "there is a glorified Man on the right hand of t
"Almost every heresy that has afflicted the church has arisen from believing about God things that are not true or from overemphasizing certain true things to overshadow others that are equally true." A wonderful exploration into the truths of God and the importance of recognizing that all of these attributes are present all of the time, without contradiction.Tozer doesn't leave the book without challenging us to put that knowledge into action as "there is a glorified Man on the right hand of the Majesty in heaven faithfully representing us there. We are left for a season among men, let us faithfully represent Him here." Definitely a book I see myself rereading in the future!
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This book was SO good, only gave it 4 stars because it was so hard for me to read... so that's on me haha. This book brought to light the importance of pursuing knowledge of the Lord, which then leads us to live out of our awe & fear of who He is. This grew my prayers & changed the way I approach Him. I learned a lot and definitely need to read it again to help it sink in mor "God is a Person and can be known in increasing degrees of intimate acquaintance as we prepare our hearts for the wonder."
This book was SO good, only gave it 4 stars because it was so hard for me to read... so that's on me haha. This book brought to light the importance of pursuing knowledge of the Lord, which then leads us to live out of our awe & fear of who He is. This grew my prayers & changed the way I approach Him. I learned a lot and definitely need to read it again to help it sink in more! ...more
The book's main claim is that the plight of contemporary, American Christianity is its low view of God, its loss of the concept of divine majesty. "Contemporary" for Tozer was decades ago but his remarks are more, not less, relevant today.
To combat this, Tozer offers some twenty chapters
I could not give this book fewer than five stars—it was a formative work for me years ago (alongside Tozer's other work The Pursuit of God), and rereading it once more has only solidified its importance for me.The book's main claim is that the plight of contemporary, American Christianity is its low view of God, its loss of the concept of divine majesty. "Contemporary" for Tozer was decades ago but his remarks are more, not less, relevant today.
To combat this, Tozer offers some twenty chapters on the attributes of God. These brief treatments of theology proper are not comprehensive, nor are they meant to be. Instead every attribute is considered in light of the thesis that we must recover our awe before the Almighty.
Although I disagree with Tozer's Arminian view of God's sovereignty, the rest of the book is so significant that this hardly phases me. Tozer is the most Calvinistic Arminian I have ever read actually! His attitude is everything it ought to be.
And may God grant the same to all of us, and revive his church.
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Tozer shows that we will never fully understand God because he is beyond us. However what he has given us in his word is enough to drown us in his awe and majesty.
This book causes you to think of God in all his majesty and glory. It did so by exposing how my thinking of God was a lot lower than it should be considering the awesome and glorious majesty of God. A true desire to know God as revealed in his word will inevitably result in true and reverent worship of him both privately and publicly.Tozer shows that we will never fully understand God because he is beyond us. However what he has given us in his word is enough to drown us in his awe and majesty. It is enough to fill us up my and comfort through life and leave us desiring more that we will behold in throughout the rest of eternity.
My failure to understand a specific attribute of God, in particular one that is supported by the scriptures is not enough reason to discount that attribute in God or minimize it. God is not limited to my understanding, he is who he is. An example of this is the trinity or God being a God of wrath and love at the same time. Because I can't truly comprehend how the attributes work out in him or work together it does not change that he is what the Bible says he is.
God is sovereign. The fact that he allows me to take part in his work through my giving of time, energy and money is more an honor for me than a need for him. I cannot hold God to ransom or rob him by not giving him what is due him
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Born into poverty in wester
Aiden Wilson Tozer was an American evangelical pastor, speaker, writer, and editor. After coming to Christ at the age of seventeen, Tozer found his way into the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination where he served for over forty years. In 1950, he was appointed by the denomination's General Council to be the editor of "The Alliance Witness" (now "Alliance Life").Born into poverty in western Pennsylvania in 1897, Tozer died in May 1963 a self-educated man who had taught himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation. Though he wrote many books, two of them, "The Pursuit of God" and "The Knowledge of the Holy" are widely considered to be classics.
A.W. Tozer and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, had seven children, six boys and one girl.
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Books Knowledge of the Holy by Tozer
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/666758.The_Knowledge_of_the_Holy