The Knowledge of the Holy
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The Knowledge of the Holy

4.39 of 5 stars 4.39  ·  rating details  ·  1,472 ratings  ·  145 reviews

An Inspiring Classic on the Nature of God

What is the nature of God? How can we recapture a real sense of God's majesty and truly live in the Spirit? This beloved book, a modern classic of Christian testimony and devotion, addresses these and other vital questions, showing us how we can rejuvenate our prayer life, meditate more reverently, understand God more deeply, and e

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Paperback, 117 pages
Published November 15th 1978 by HarperSanFrancisco (first published 1975)
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Matt
Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: People with the right hearts but wrong heads, sadly the exact opposite of who will probably read it.
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 ...more
Jonathan
Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: All those who claim to believe in God.
Recommended to Jonathan by: Mom & Dad
Shelves: theology
There are innumerable errors of thought plaguing the Church today: relativism, materialism, pluralism, semi-Pelagianism; all are doing irreparable harm to sound doctrinal teaching. But all these errors stem from a single root cause: modern Christianity has lost the concept of the holiness of God. Many who claim to be Christians regard God the Father as a benevolent old grandfather who has little regard for sectarian squabbles and will let anyone into heaven so long as they "try to be a go...more
Matt Awesome
This book was one of those paradigm shifters for me. Tozer put in me in my place with respect to God. Tozer, in his pretty formulaic way, describes God for us. He lays out God's attributes, from majesty to faithfulness.

We tend to read the Bible and come across verses that say things like, "He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing." (Job 26:7) and respond by thinking, "Oh yah, God created the world. I knew that." We forget that if Go...more
Nathan Good
This is an excellent book which considers many attributes of God each separately while recognizing throughout that they are all connected (or more properly, one unified being, which is God Himself. Tozer would say that you cannot say God's attributes are interconnected, because you cannot properly even tease them apart.) He also emphasizes the need to grow in a knowledge of God even though He is unknowable. The book would be all but perfect if it were not for the last two chapters. Throughou...more
Natalie Wickham
This is a brief, but classic, work that I read in preparation for a Bible study in which I was involved this fall. There are 23 chapters, each only several pages long, that expound on some of the many attributes and aspects of God’s nature. A statement in the preface encapsulates nicely why it is so critical to study God: “It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate.” In the first chapter, Tozer adds, “A right...more
Reid
Reid rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: those who are confused about God; those who want a fresh look at God
Recommended to Reid by: teachers in Bible school, Chip Ingram in a recent DVD
"What comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

Tozer believed that the reason for the decline and weakness of the church laid square in the lack of solid understanding of God and His attributes.

"The decline of the knowledge of the holy has brought on our troubles. A rediscovery of the majesty of God will go a long way toward curing them. It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attributes right whi...more
Eric Hoff
A. W. Tozer wrote this book in order to change the church’s view of God, making it higher and grander. In his mind the God of the church today is low and not worth worshipping, and only by meditating on the character and attributes of God will this be changed. To know God better requires effort and concentration, but Tozer’s book is not written for “professional theologians” but “plain persons whose hearts stir them up to seek after God Himself.
Tozer teaches us about God by analyzing 21 ...more
Christopher M.
A fantastic overview of the attributes of God. Biblically sound, eloquent, concise, and readable, Tozer manages to hit on the major attributes of God (though, we could probably find many more to add) while not getting too carried away into philosophic proofs and rabbit trails. He assumes that the truth in the book will only be understood by the person already possessing faith, so while he does go to lengths to describe the person of faith, especially toward the end, he does not belabor the poi...more
Michael
Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars
Recommended to Michael by: Rodney Cripps
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...more
Crossroads Ecc
Crossroads Ecc marked it as to-read
Excerpt of Chip Ingram's thoughts: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. For this reason, the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at an given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.” Main themes in the book include:
• God takes holy pleasure in the happiness of his people
• God has a good plan
• I’m the object of h...more
Amy Litzelman
A.W. Tozer is much love and respected with good reason. He speaks truth in straight forward sentences that cause the reader to stop and ponder. The first line of "The Knowledge of the Holy" grabbed my heart and attention so fully that it took me most of the day to get past it as I savored it over and over... and I go back to it again and again as a favorite quote:

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

T...more
Stephanie Blake
I have read several of his books, but the one that has yellow highlights all the way through is "The Knowledge of the Holy". Several wonderful quotes from that work are:

* “He needs no one, but when faith is present, He works through anyone.”
* “God dwells in eternity but time dwells in God.”
* “He never differs from Himself. The concept of a growing or developing God is not found in Scriptures. . . . Is it not a source of wondrous strength to know that the...more
Brandon
This was a surprisingly good little book. Gets into talking about the attributes of God, but in a very cutting sort of way. Both mysterious and reasonable. The author states:

"I think it might be demonstrated that almost every heresy that has afflicted the church through the years has arisen from believing about God things that are not true, or from overemphasizing certain things so as to obscure other things equally true." 


...and then he spent a good deal of tim...more
Jan
Jan rated it 4 of 5 stars
This very thought-provoking and worship-full little book by Tozer (always good for a profound read) was composed of short little chapters, each focusing on a different characteristic of God. Chock-full of scripture references and grounded theology I found each chapter bringing me to a deeper understanding of who God is. Some of the characteristics covered were omniscience, omnipotence, sovereignty, grace, mercy, love. But my favorite was on God's immutability - His inability to change. Therefore...more
Jo DiFonzo
Want to know something horrible? I have never been able to touch my toes without bending my knees. Here I am, a mere twenty years of age, and I am utterly inflexible. Do you know that feeling, when you try to do the whole touch-your-toes move, and your muscles just say, “Ooooh no, under no circumstances are we going any farther than this.” One summer I decided (it being my deepest desire to touch my toes) that I was going to stretch my leg muscles every night until I could do it. It worked. A li...more
Trice
My thoughts on this book have yo-yoed and bounced all over the place. Ultimately I think there are 3 chapters that are good from start to finish: 18 The Mercy of God, 20 The Love of God, and 21 The Holiness of God. The last chapter, 23 The Open Secret, was well and logically written, but lacking in the explanation for the foundation of his ideas - it was just written as 'these are my ideas for what a true Christian life should pursue.' These ideas were a bit vague, but, most importantly, they we...more
Josh McNeal
I only began reading this because it was homework but once I started, I couldn't stop. Although we can't possibly fathom all of God, Tozer describes his attributes the best that man can. God does want us to know him and this book will help you stretch your thinking about who God is. If we don't know God, then our relationship with him will be thin. And the more we know him, the more we realize how incomprehensible he is, and we worship him even in more awe than before.
Kindra
Absolutely loved this book. One of the books that I could just sit with and devour every paragraph for a good day. Has influenced my relationship with God in too many profound ways with too many deeply moving, soul lifting "nuggets" to mention here. What I WILL say:
-could not recommend more highly.
-Deeply engaged my heart and soul.
-Am planning on reading again, immediately, and keeping my journal nearby-I found myself too excited about the wonderful ideas being pre...more
Heather
Thank you, Character of God class, for making me read this! Tozer once said something like, "The most important thing about his man is what he thinks of God." Interesting and true, if you think about it, because what a person thinks of God bleeds into every aspect of their life. Anyway, if you want to know more about who God is and what He's like, I recommend this book and "The Pleasures of God," by John Piper.
Amy
Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars
Tozer is one of the top theologians in my book. Everything I read by him I want to go back and read all over again because there's so much to absorb. This particular book contains a chapter for each of God's attributes, at least those we can name. It could not help but increase my awe of who God is and my gratefulness that he cares for us. A couple of quotes that were meaningful to me: "God's compassion flows out of His goodness, and goodness without justice is not goodness. God spares us ...more
Emily Schatz
Sometimes the best books are short.

Tozer has a 2-volume work on the attributes of God, but he covers much of the same territory here in lovely language that evokes the same immense, bright, beautiful image of God as C. S. Lewis does. But where Lewis was a storyteller and apologist, Tozer is a pastor and theologian. His work maintains a practical tone and a laser focus on the beauty of the Lord. As a devotional work (and a rebuke to the church) it has a powerful wholesomeness, and was m...more
Emily
Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: spiritual
This is one I always come back to. It reminds us to be grateful for Who God is, not just what He does.

"Whether in the Garden of Eden or the Garden of Gethsemane, God is merciful as well as just. He has always dealt in mercy with mankind and will always deal in justice when His mercy is despised. Thus He did in antediluvian times; thus when Christ walked among men; thus He is doing today and will continue always to do for no other reason than that He is God."

"...more
Katie
Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars
This short, impactful book expanded my view of God. It was also one of the first books that really helped me begin to understand the traditional Christian view of God -- something that, as a Mormon, I want to be able to articulate in terms that my non-LDS Christian brothers and sisters will recognize. Highly recommended for believers of all stripes.
Melany
Melany rated it 5 of 5 stars
This book was a favorite of mine in college, but it has been years since I last read it. It's one of those books that is worth reading once a year. When you sit down to really think and reading about the Holy One ... well it's hard to put words to it, which is one of the reasons I appreciate this book so much. Tozer says the most profound things in such a simple way. I think this book is definitely a must read ... and read again.
Rachael
Amazing book! If you get the chance to read it, please do! I was required to read this for an Old Testament class, but I would gladly read it again in my spare time. There are so many things we do not think about God and this book reveals just how magnificent and worthy of praise God is!
Drew Dixon
I have heard about this book for quite awhile. This summer I finally got around to reading it.

I have reviewed Tozer before. Stylistically this book is the same as the Pursuit of God. It is a short book with short chapters. But the depth is profound. Each sentence drips with depth, purpose, and beauty.

Knowledge of the Holy, is an attempt to describe God. Tozer admits in the second chapter that this is an impossible task, yet a necessary one. Throughout the entire book Tozer ex...more
Roberto
Roberto is currently reading it
Still working on it. It is a little book, with an amazing spiritual depth.
I love it. Definitely something to "take on" little by little, it is so rich, and source of food for thought for a long time. Get it now.

I will update this review as I go along.
Timothy Olson
This is the best devotional theology book I've ever read. It has short chapters on different attributes of God. They both challenge and inspire a person. I've used it as discipleship material many times and love it. The preface is amazing.
David
David rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: religion
A classic for seeking to understand God and consider how we can relate to One who is by nature Holy. Tozer's style is consise and practical. A good choice to deepen your faith or challenge your preconceptions about God.
Vaughn
Vaughn rated it 5 of 5 stars
Tozer writes, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." The rest of the book is an application of that principle. Buy this book, and begin thinking rightly about God.
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The Knowledge of the Holy (Paperback)
The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life (Hardcover)
The Knowledge Of The Holy: The Attributes Of God:  Their Meaning In The Christian Life (Paperback)
The Knowledge Of The Holy (Audio CD)
Knowledge of the Holy (Hardcover)

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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").
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More about A.W. Tozer...
The Pursuit of God Whatever Happened to Worship?: A Call to True Worship The Pursuit of Man: The Divine Conquest of the Human Heart The Attributes of God: A Journey Into the Father's Heart (The Attributes of God, Volume 1) The Radical Cross: Living the Passion of Christ

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