The Pursuit of God by Aiden W. Tozer
A Brilliant Devotional Work By A Giant Of The Faith
During a train trip from Chicago to Texas in the late 1940s, A.W. Tozer
began to write The Pursuit of God. He wrote all night, and when the train
arrived at his destination, the rough draft was done. The depth of this book
has made it an enduring favorite.
Personal Review: The Pursuit of God by Aiden W. Tozer
A.W. Tozer's work is brilliant on so many levels, but foremost is the
intimate portrayal of the devoted life between the Triune God and the
believer in life and practice. At times it seems that Tozer sets up a false
dichotomy between doctrine and practice, but that may simply stem from
the exclusive and singular focus of this specific work: the pursuit of God in
the daily, devoted life. I do wish he would have countered some of the
dichotomy at times, but a wider reading of Tozer (his "canon" if you will)
would certainly render this dichotomy as ultimately untrue in Tozer's
thinking; certainly a good thing.
I think his writing style is honestly profound from a devotional and pietistic
standpoint. I don't know of any other writer that has captured the depth and

intimacy of the daily life with God as well as this Christian writer has. He
certainly gives credit where credit is due in his writing. He sites how we all
must return to drawing from the well of Christian mystics like Thomas à
Kempis, etc. to counterbalance some of the common trends in
contemporary American Christianity.
I think he has a good point, and I would support his overall assessment in
this area, but I would tread carefully in this Christian tradition as a
supplement to my overall Christian faith for it certainly has its problems in
other areas, specifically, an overall unbalanced approach and its difficulty
in harmonizing doctrine and practice. We certainly should not live in dead
creedalism as so many do, but we should not throw off right teaching as
well in favor of a monastic mindset. Once again, the false dichotomy is
easily set up if one is not careful in their construction. However, I do
believe Tozer remains balanced enough here, offers a helpful critique of
dead creedalism, and is extremely acute in his assessment. In Tozer's
context, his critique is well warranted.
A few other short bits should be added. Tozer certainly was more Arminian
in his approach, but was consistent in that vein. I certainly appreciated his
consistency in his discussions of prevenient grace or God's "persuasive
drawing", if you will, of people to hunger, thirst, and desire Him. Though
this book is certainly not a theological treatise, Tozer integrates his
theological thoughts so well that it allows the reader to engage in a
stimulated process about how to think about God and then live for Him. He
really does this quite effortlessly and as you read you will simply be drawn
into his powerful writing and deep devotion. On a final note, Tozer has an
interesting chapter on faith where he attempts to describe it then supplies
the reader with some helpful analogies. It seems Tozer has more
described what faith does than what faith is. I think two helpful books as a
corrective for this would be J. Gresham Machen's "What is Faith" and
Gordon Clark's "Faith and Saving Faith". Both are extremely accurate in
describing both what faith does and is.
Overall, this book is an excellent read and a devotional gem. This work is
one which should be read, reread, and passed on to others. Tozer is
certainly one of the giants in the areas of Christian preaching and devotion.
I cannot recommend this work highly enough.
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