# A.W. Tozer



## The Author of my Faith (Jun 10, 2009)

What are most Calvinists view regarding A.W. Tozer? Is he considered someone who is worth reading?


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## Jesus is my friend (Jun 10, 2009)

I LOVE his passion for a totally God centered view on all things,I wouldnt call him a Calvinist,I dont know exactly where he sits in the spectrum of Theology, however,I can say that Joel Beeke (Whom I hold in high reguard as a Calvinist) recommends his book "The Knowledge of The Holy" which was life changing for me,I recommend that book highly,I can say that he did hold to a non-reformed doctrine,Prevenient Grace in his most popular book "The Pursuit of God"

I still love the man's writings and just take some things like the aforementioned doctrine as incorrect and glean whatever gems lie among the other writings


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## The Author of my Faith (Jun 10, 2009)

Jesus is my friend said:


> I LOVE his passion for a totally God centered view on all things,I wouldnt call him a Calvinist,I dont know exactly where he sits in the spectrum of Theology, however,I can say that Joel Beeke (Whom I hold in high reguard as a Calvinist) recommends his book "The Knowledge of The Holy" which was life changing for me,I recommend that book highly,I can say that he did hold to a non-reformed doctrine,Prevenient Grace in his most popular book "The Pursuit of God"
> 
> I still love the man's writings and just take some things like the aforementioned doctrine as incorrect and glean whatever gems lie among the other writings



Thanks Brian. I have read some of his stuff and my only conclusion is that he was a Man of God. If someone does not hold to 5 points and yet is sound on every other point I am not going to write them off. Tozer has blessed me and I know he was not a fan of altar calls. He told people who questioned him about altar calls "don't come to the front and cry go home and live it"


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## JBaldwin (Jun 11, 2009)

AW Tozer was a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. Tozer was also part of the "Higher Life" or "Keswick" movement. He was considered to be a Christian mystic.


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## The Author of my Faith (Jun 11, 2009)

JBaldwin said:


> AW Tozer was a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. Tozer was also part of the "Higher Life" or "Keswick" movement. He was considered to be a Christian mystic.



Thanks J Baldwin,

I just read a review on a new book on the life of Tozer. As I am still fairly new to reformed theology and still trying to in a sense separate the gold and silver from the wood hay and stubble I am learning about new schools of thought within Christianity that I had never known before such as Keswick.

Here is the article from Sean Michael Lucas: A Passion for God

SATURDAY, JUNE 07, 2008

A Passion for God
A couple of weeks ago, I purchased and read the new biography on A. W. Tozer entitled A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer. Authored by former Wheaton and current Beeson Divinity School professor Lyle Dorsett, the telling was a breezy and focused look at the life of Tozer. Relying heavily on oral history as well as caches of unpublished correspondence, Dorsett related the story of Tozer's life, from the rural hills of western Pennsylvania through northeast Ohio to his preaching ministries in West Virginia, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Toronto. For what it is, namely a life narrative, A Passion for God was a worthwhile read.

And yet, Dorsett exposes a fundamental contradiction in Tozer's character that raises all sorts of questions about holy zeal and its effect on the whole of life. The contradiction could be summed up: how did Tozer reconcile his passionate longing for communion with the Triune God with his failure to love passionately his wife and children? Perhaps the most damning statement in the book was from his wife, after she remarried subsequent to his death: "I have never been happier in my life," Ada Ceclia Tozer Odam observed, "Aiden [Tozer] loved Jesus Christ, but Leonard Odam loves me" (160).

Now, certainly all human beings have flaws; that is not the point here. Rather, the point that Dorsett failed to explore adequately is how Tozer reconciled his pursuit of God with his failure to pursue his wife. This reconciliation--or failure to reconcile--should have raised questions about Tozer's mystic approach and prophetic denunciation of the church and nuanced the value of his teaching on the Christian life. After all, if his piety could spend several hours in prayer and also rationalize his failure at home, then it should raise questions about his approach to piety.

Then again, we all live divided lives. And thankfully, God used his Word as proclaimed through Tozer to bring Leonard Odam himself and hundreds of others to a saving knowledge of Christ. When God promises that his Word will not return to him empty (Isaiah 55:11), it gives all of his servants hope that the working is from God, not from ourselves (Col. 1:28-29). After all, God is able to use clay pots (2 Cor 4:7): he used A. W. Tozer with this glaring personal contradiction and he can use you and me.
POSTED BY SEAN MICHAEL LUCAS AT 10:43 AM


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## TaylorOtwell (Jun 11, 2009)

Having read some Tozer, I would suggest there are better places to get a God centered view of all things. For instance, the Puritans.


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## JBaldwin (Jun 11, 2009)

Steven,

Thanks for that quotation from Lucas. It expressed what I still have a difficult time finding words to express. There are few genuine "Keswick" groups around anymore, most of them have morphed into something other than what they started out to be. I attended a Keswick Bible Institute in the 1980s which is (as far as I know) true to its Keswick roots. 

While I know that Tozer was involved in the American Keswick movement, I didn't want to venture out and say anything that I couldn't substantiate. The founder of the Bible Institute I attended had had some connections with Tozer in his earlier years, but to what extent, I never knew. Nevertheless, one of the strong pushes in the Keswick movement is to forsake all others (even if it means ignorning them) for the pursuit of God. While this sounds good on the surface, Jesus said, we are "To love the Lord our God with our heart, soul, mind and strength, AND love our neighbor as ourselves." In short, as Lucas pointed out, how we love God and others is a good measure of where we are theologically.


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## LeeJUk (Jun 11, 2009)

I'm a great fan of A.W. Tozer.

I can understand why his wife felt neglected though, he would let nothing not even pastoral care infringe upon his alone time with God. Leonard Ravenhill who was one of his great friends said he used to get on the floor of his office and meditate upon God for hours a day, gazing on his holiness. Despite being quite mystical he stayed true to the bible being the only rule of faith and practice and the only place where God's voice would be heard and he was an Arminian. 

Despite being mystical Leonard Ravenhill described him as being "emotional as a toothpick" so maybe he was a bit bad at showing people how he felt about them.

There have been men throughout history who have done the same, prayed for hours a day. I wouldn't be quick to judge tozer on this comment from his wife.

He was mystical but he wasn't one of those mystics who try to get an extra-biblical union with Jesus or something strange like that.


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## The Author of my Faith (Jun 23, 2009)

LeeJUk said:


> I'm a great fan of A.W. Tozer.
> 
> I can understand why his wife felt neglected though, he would let nothing not even pastoral care infringe upon his alone time with God. Leonard Ravenhill who was one of his great friends said he used to get on the floor of his office and meditate upon God for hours a day, gazing on his holiness. Despite being quite mystical he stayed true to the bible being the only rule of faith and practice and the only place where God's voice would be heard and he was an Arminian.
> 
> ...





I see your point. I do like some of the things that tozer preached about. But I do have my own perspective on those who "spend hours on their face before God". 

From the church I came from, Brooklyn Tabernacle, I learned that a man's spirituality was based upon two things:

1. How much time alone he spent with God in Prayer and your personal experiences. If you belonged to the Prayer Band and were known as someone who prayed you were deemed ""Spiritually Mature". If you could tell stories of "hearing from God" you were applauded as a "real man of God"

2. How many ministries you belonged to. The more you worked and were beneficial to the promotion of the church (not necessarily beneficial to Christ) the more "Spiritually Mature" you were considered.

Yet you could be as mean as a Billy goat and that did not matter. There were people known as "PRAYER WARRIORS" yet had the social skills of a gnat. Unapproachable, weird, mystical. Could not have a normal conversation with them. Others were simply mean and nasty and could not get along with others. Yet they were "Spiritual" and propped up as an example of a real man or woman of God because they could pray or kill themselves for the profit of the church. They sought the "POWER" of the Holy Spirit for "PERSONAL FULFILLMENT". Yet my bible says in Ephesians 5 that the purpose of being filled with the Spirit is to have vibrant healthy relationships within the kingdom of God. Husbands love your wives, wives submit to your husbands, Children obey your parents, servants obey your masters etc.. The whole purpose of being filled with the Spirit and loving God was not for "personal gain" but for living in community with others. So that we do not act like a jerk to our wives, husbands, children, employers, friends, neighbors etc, and to display the love of Christ to all by our actions and lives.

So my point is that the measure of a Spiritually Mature and Spirit filled Christian is not how much time alone or how much work he/she does but How much Love and Unity is displayed within relationships with one another. THAT IS THE MEASURE OF A SPIRITUALLY HEALTHY CHRISTIAN. "By this will all men know you are my disciples", by what? Being alone with God? No by being together with others and loving them. You cannot really display love for others when your locked in a room by yourself. Not granted we need to look ourselves in rooms and seek God and his word continually But that is not the measure of a man. An athlete is not measured by how many hours he practices alone, he is measured by what he does on the field and how he interacts with his team mates. The practice is vital but as they say "he does his talking on the field". His actions speak louder than words.

So what good did it do Tozer if he spend HOURS on his face before God when his relationship with his wife was suffering? That is what is wrong with Charismatic Churches today. It is about Self. Seek the experience, fill me Lord so I can have the experience for my benefit. 

I have never heard anyone pray "Lord Fill me with your Spirit and Let me know you in a deeper way so that I can walk more humbly and die to self in my relationships with others". 

That is what I have seen in Mystical Charismatic Circles and what it means to be "Filled with the Spirit". It is all about self and not about Christ and others.


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## christiana (Jun 23, 2009)

> I have never heard anyone pray "Lord Fill me with your Spirit and Let me know you in a deeper way so that I can walk more humbly and die to self in my relationships with others".
> 
> That is what I have seen in Mystical Charismatic Circles and what it means to be "Filled with the Spirit". It is all about self and not about Christ and others.



Anyone who has read The Knowledge of the Holy could not possibly believe the author was focused on 'self'!
God uses flawed men and women! Who is this perfect spiritually mature person? I've never met one yet. Tozer, in my opinion, truly was devoted to his Savior and all his writing reflected this. He had, early on, great spiritual impact on my life and coming to view our God in a truer, higher, more biblical way and seeing less of self as I grew in Him. Our pattern is Christ, not other men. Other men, no matter who they are, are all flawed and sin ridden! We have a perfect pattern to follow in Christ alone!


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## The Author of my Faith (Jun 24, 2009)

christiana said:


> > I have never heard anyone pray "Lord Fill me with your Spirit and Let me know you in a deeper way so that I can walk more humbly and die to self in my relationships with others".
> >
> > That is what I have seen in Mystical Charismatic Circles and what it means to be "Filled with the Spirit". It is all about self and not about Christ and others.
> 
> ...



nor did I say the author was focused on self. I was not talking about Tozer I was talking about my 20 years of experience in Charismatic Circles.


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