The Most Important Thing About You

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. — A.W. Tozer

I first opened The Knowledge of The Holy three years ago. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit it took me that long to read its 117 pages, but only somewhat. Some of that time was spent wandering away from its pages to more seemingly immediate things which needed reading (thus is the life of a pastor and seminary student). But mostly it took me three years because I was brought to my knees by the power of Tozer’s words as they unfolded the holiness of God.

Alissa Wilkinson once wrote that, “any person who can say what you’re thinking before you find the words is irresistible.” This was my first experience with Tozer. Each page I found myself increasingly drawn in to his thundering presentation of God’s character. And who wouldn’t be with sentences like this?

We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to meet God in adorning silence. Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience life in the Spirit. The words, ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshiper in this middle period of the twentieth century.

Good thing Tozer wasn’t around for Twitter.

As the title suggests, The Knowledge of The Holy is interested in stirring our knowledge of the holiness of God and correcting our wrong thoughts about Him on the way. And this he does with a resounding sense of authority and urgency one rarely witnesses today.

For Tozer, there is little time to mince words and piddle around in the Church when a high view of God is being eroded day by day.

The loss of the concept of majesty has come just when the forces of religion are making dramatic gains and the churches are more prosperous than at any time within the past several hundred years. But the alarming thing is that our gains are mostly external and our losses wholly internal; and since it is the quality of our religion that is affected by internal conditions, it may be that our supposed gains are but losses spread over a wider field.

The two paragraphs quoted above are from the preface. Tozer has barely warmed up. What follows are 23 deceptively brief chapters about the nature of God, each dealing with one particular attribute.

I sat down to try and write a brief review of this book, but found there was simply no way to summarize everything it has to say in one short book review. Since each chapter and its subject matter is worth dwelling on, that’s what I’ll be doing. I’ll be writing one article for each of the 23 chapters of The Knowledge of The Holy. After all, there is no more important subject than the nature of God, so this will be time well spent.

If you can’t already tell, I definitely recommend buying this book. Its one of those classics which were we’re so fortunate to have. You know, the kind you can actually read and understand.

Buy The Knowledge of The Holy from Amazon

Published by Grayson Pope

Hey, there. My name is Grayson. I’m a husband and father of four. I serve as a writer and editor with Prison Fellowship and as the Managing Web Editor of Gospel-Centered Discipleship.

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