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Title: The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God : Their Meaning in the Christian Life
ISBN: 0802727077
Author:
A. W. Tozer
Publicate Date: 1997-01
Publish: 1997-01
List Price: $13.95
Average Customer Rating: 5.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $19.88
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $8.58
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| Customer Review: |
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1: AWESOME!!
we are discussing this book in my Titus Project class at church. this book has immensely given me a renewed focus on God. yes, there are some questions in some of the things Tozer writes, with some things seeming to contradict. but it allows us to not focus on Tozer and his flaws but on God's glory by looking at His glorious attributes as given in Scripture. Highly recommended to anyone wanting to have a renewing of mind towards our Creator and Saviour.
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2: Knowledge of the Holy, orthodox theology 101.
The only obvious weakness of Tozer's classic little book on Christian theology is that he eventually has a difficult time conforming to his own excellent theological advice. That is, after initially and correctly emphasizing "God Incomprehensible", he sometimes falls prey to the common tendency to define God in words and ideas too familiar and inadequate. Where he finds this to be the case, the reader may remind himself that Tozer was probably awareness of this too, as he had already described the inherent central problem of serious theology: "how shall we acquaint ourselves with One who eludes all the straining efforts of mind and heart? . . . to know what cannot be known?" As must any sober theologian, Tozer is cognizant of the fact that it's far easier to define `what God is not' (for example; not similar or `like' ANYTHING else), than to accurately define what God `is.'
Tozer believed that the spiritual life of the Christian demands, above all else, that he "must begin to think of God more nearly as He is," or, in keeping with the above statement, to become more contemplatively familiar with what God is not. He says,
"As my humble contribution to a better understanding of the Majesty in the heavens I offer this reverent study of the attributes of God. Were Christians today reading such works as those of Augustine or Anselm a book like this would have no reason for being. But such illuminated masters are known to modern Christians only by name. Publishers dutifully reprint their books and in due time these appear on the shelves of our studies. But the whole trouble lies right there: they remain on the shelves." While he wishes that more Christians might engage the mighty thoughts of an Anselm, he recognizes that intellectual and spiritual laziness stand in the way, and so it is that he offers this little book "not for professional theologians but for plain persons whose hearts stir them to seek after God Himself."
Tozer says that for many people the "idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions." To the extent that any theist harbors childish, anthropomorphic, temporally or spatially bound projections about God, he weakens and diminishes within himself all of the spiritual disciplines, including study, contemplation, prayer, worship, and witness, as well as weakening the life of the mind generally. Like the Scriptures, which it so often cites and adroitly paraphrases, this little classic is "useful for correction." It belongs in the library (and better, in the hands) of every "plain" Christian reader.
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3: Knowledge of the Holy
Aside from scripture, this may be the most important book you ever read about God. It's that good. It's an annual re-read for my spouse, and will become one for me, since it's reawakened my awe of God and his majesty.
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4: Succinct but Powerful Book
When I pick up a book this slim, I usually think I can knock it out in a short amount of time.
I was wrong.
Like a lot of C.S. Lewis books, the length is deceiving: you can't just breeze through them. The depth of intellect and the power of the words mean slowing down to absorb what A.W. Tozer is saying. It really is an amazing book of knowledge, insight and experience.
I also recognized a lot of problems people have with faith that Tozer addressed then--and the attacks on faith are worse now!
I can't recommend this book enough.
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5: Daily reading required!
This is a book about the attributes of God. Tozer does an outstanding job of pointing us to God by recalling those things which the Bible says are true of God Almighty.
A few ideas Tozer repeats throughout the book. These ideas are:
1) Modern man has lost the vision of the majesty of our God, and the first step to aquiring it is to determine to "Aquaint ourselves with God".
2) In attempting to see God the way that He truly is, we must believe in order that we may understand, not the other way around.
3) That God is unitary in His being and that all of His attributes work together perfectly without conflict with each other. Also, since God is infinite then all of His attributes are infinite as well.
I read a chapter from this book daily, and my hunger for His presence has certainly increased as a result. This book has helped me to see how futile I am in myself and how pride and worldliness are my biggest hinderences to drawing near to the Lord. This book will help you to see that nothing else in life really matters in comparison to our Almighty God.
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