Leadership Library Spotlight
by on Sep 2nd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Book: The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life
Author: A. W. Tozer
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” p. 1
“Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.” p. 2
One of my favorite authors is A. W. Tozer because he had a gift for clearly and simply explaining hard-to-grasp issues in a way that was memorable and challenging. The more I read biblical and scholarly literature, the more thankful I am for a man who could get down to the heart of a matter, address it, and move on. While scholarship has its important place, this resource is among the finer works to be submitted in the twentieth century, and the message still demands our attention. Dated it is not.
In Tozer’s typical straightforward style, he sets the pace for The Knowledge of the Holy with his opening line, which can be read above. A person’s understanding of God is the single most important element in his life. His morality, mode of living, values, and goals in life are all shaped by what he thinks of God. To think wrongly of the God who has revealed Himself is fatal both from an eternal and earthly perspective.
Just as a person’s idea of God is central to one’s existence, the Church’s understanding and proclamation of God is the most important element of its existence. If the Church rightly understands God, the culture in which it is placed will be able to rightly relate to God if they believe the Church’s message. If the Church distorts or ignores the revelation of God, the culture in which it is placed will destroy itself for a lack of knowledge.
Tozer believed that a correction was necessary in his time, and corrections are necessary in our time as well. After initiating his book with what I think is one of the best-written chapters of any human book, he attempts to describe the various attributes of God, a task which any theologian knows is incredibly difficult and frightening.
I am grateful for Tozer’s simple, but careful approach to the attributes of God. He strategically attempts to help the finite mind of sinful people understand the infinite, pure, and Most Holy God. He proposes the errors that we can commit when we treat an attribute too lightly or too heavily (making it more important than all of the other attributes). His arguments refer to Scripture, but you will need to have an understanding of God’s Word to be able to know his references since they are not listed in the chapter. Some editions of this book provide reference notes in the back of the book to help you find the verses.
What you will not find in Tozer’s work is an exhaustive treatise on every attribute, coupled with a comprehensive list of biblical passages to guide your study. He does not entertain the ideas of God that might be different from various religious systems or even various sects of Christianity (though he might briefly flirt with the differences as he did with Calvinism and Arminianism [pp. 171-176]). Still, as an introduction to God’s attributes, Tozer’s work is excellent. You will be challenged to think.
A man of God should be familiar with His God otherwise he cannot even technically be called a man of God. He may be a man of something or someone else, but not God because he does not know the Master. Therefore, if you have not taken time to seriously consider who God is and what He requires of His people, let me urgently call you to begin the rewarding labor of learning about the Most Holy One. Our generation needs men who know God and live faithfully in light of who He is. When we demonstrate godliness, as prescribed and enabled by God, our culture has at least a chance of repentance and revival, to say nothing of future generations. Let us follow Tozer’s concluding remarks: “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” (p. 184).