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The Pursuit of Man
The thrust of this book is the essential interiority of true religion. "Objective Reality which is God must cross the threshold of our personality and take residence within."
138 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
317 people are currently reading
3803 people want to read
About the author
A.W. Tozer
664 books2,096 followersAiden 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").
Born into poverty in western Pennsylvania in 1897, Tozer died in May 1963 a self-educated man who had taught himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation. Though he wrote many books, two of them, "The Pursuit of God" and "The Knowledge of the Holy" are widely considered to be classics.
A.W. Tozer and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, had seven children, six boys and one girl.
Born into poverty in western Pennsylvania in 1897, Tozer died in May 1963 a self-educated man who had taught himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation. Though he wrote many books, two of them, "The Pursuit of God" and "The Knowledge of the Holy" are widely considered to be classics.
A.W. Tozer and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, had seven children, six boys and one girl.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
October 24, 2017
"Are you sure you want to be filled with a Spirit who, though He is like Jesus in His gentleness and love, will nevertheless demand to be Lord of your life? Are you willing to let your personality be taken over by another, even if that other by the Spirit of God Himself? If the Spirit takes charge of your life He will expect unquestioning obedience in everything. He ill not tolerate in you the self-sins even though they are permitted and excused by most Christians. By the self-sins I mean self-love, self-pity, self-seeking, self-confidence, self-righteousness, self-aggrandizement, self-defense. You will find the spirit to be in sharp opposition to the easy ways of the wold and of the mixed multitude within the precincts of religion. He will be jealous over you for good. He will not allow you to boast or swagger or show off. He will take the direction of your life away from you. He will reserve the right to test you, to discipline you, to chasten you for your soul's sake. He may strip you of many of those borderline pleasures which other Christians enjoy but which are to you a source of refined evil..." (123).
Being so immersed in the world of espresso, I have been wrecked to inferior coffee. At times I ironically proclaim, usually to Elaine, that my coffee snobbery is my burden to bear. That is the way it is with the Spirit, says Tozer, He wrecks us. We no longer are satisfied with the "borderline pleasures," but long for something deeper and more real. The good and pleasurable Folgers or Maxwell House becomes "refined evil."
"Through it all He will enfold you in a love so vast, so mighty, so all-embracing, so wondrous that your very losses will seem like gains and your small pains like pleasures. Yet the flesh will whimper under His yoke and cry out against it as a burden too great to bear. And you will be permitted to enjoy the solemn privilege of suffering to 'fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ' in your flesh for His body's sake, which is the Church. Now, with the conditions before you, do you still want to be filled with the Holy Spirit?" (124).
Reading this my mind again wandered to a host straight shot of espresso. Those of us who drink it, know that we don't do it for the fun of it. It is not a soft drink. No it is hard and rumbly. Its ultimate pleasure is through the suffering.
Dear God, wreck me for you. Bring me along the way of the cross!
July 26, 2017
Felt like the scattered musings of an insightful theologian. It should have been much better, had the author taken the time to revise, add, and rewrite.
I should give this three stars, because there are some good truths here. But it's mostly a forgetful book. Nothing struck me. While the main focus seemed to be on the Holy Spirit (I think?), it wanders in several directions over the course of 150 pages. I wanted more focus and conclusions.
I received a free copy of this book while at Book Expo America in New York City in summer 2017.
I should give this three stars, because there are some good truths here. But it's mostly a forgetful book. Nothing struck me. While the main focus seemed to be on the Holy Spirit (I think?), it wanders in several directions over the course of 150 pages. I wanted more focus and conclusions.
I received a free copy of this book while at Book Expo America in New York City in summer 2017.
May 8, 2022
“The function of a good book is to stand like a sign post, directing the reader toward the Truth and the Life. A book serves best which surely makes itself unnecessary, just as a sign post serves best after it is forgotten, after the traveler has arrived safely at his desired haven. The work of a good book is to turn the readers eyes toward God and urge him forward.”
Pg 9
This is exactly what this book did! Tozer’s writing always leaves me viewing God in a larger way- and like he says, there is no better outcome of a book!!!! I just finished and already want to read again
Pg 9
This is exactly what this book did! Tozer’s writing always leaves me viewing God in a larger way- and like he says, there is no better outcome of a book!!!! I just finished and already want to read again
March 10, 2023
really appreciated Tozer’s attention to our (the Church’s) neglect of the Holy Spirit, both corporately and personally. A meek and beautiful reminder that God’s pursuit of His children began with His Word in power bringing all things into creation and continues (here on earth) until eternity through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit refining each of us into greater image bearers of Christ. Probably one of my favorites by Tozer!
January 15, 2013
This book is much deeper and harder to understand that the previous Tozer book I read. The text below are key parts of the book that were key to help with my understanding of election.
Our “accepting” and “willing” are reactions rather than actions. The right of determination must always remain with God. God has indeed lent to every man the power to lock his heart and stalk away darkly into his self-chosen night, as He has lent to every man the ability to respond to His overtures of grace, but while the “no” choice may be ours, the “yes” choice is always God’s. He is the Author of our faith as He must be its Finisher.
We bear within us the seeds of our own disintegration. Our moral imprudence puts us always in danger of accidental or reckless self-destruction. The strength of our flesh is an ever present danger to our souls. Deliverance can come to us only by the defeat of our old life. Safety and peace come only after we have been forced to our knees. God rescues us by breaking us, by shattering our strength and wiping out our resistance. Then He invades our natures with that ancient and eternal life which is from the beginning. So He conquers us and by that benign conquest saves us for Himself.
A man can die of starvation knowing all about bread, and a man can remain spiritually dead while knowing all the historic facts of Christianity.
The doctrine of the inability of the human mind and the need for divine illumination is so fully developed in the New Testament that it is nothing short of astonishing that we should have gone so far astray from the whole thing.
For a man to understand revealed truth requires an act of God equal to the original act which inspired the text.
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9-12)
We need to learn that truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
Our “accepting” and “willing” are reactions rather than actions. The right of determination must always remain with God. God has indeed lent to every man the power to lock his heart and stalk away darkly into his self-chosen night, as He has lent to every man the ability to respond to His overtures of grace, but while the “no” choice may be ours, the “yes” choice is always God’s. He is the Author of our faith as He must be its Finisher.
We bear within us the seeds of our own disintegration. Our moral imprudence puts us always in danger of accidental or reckless self-destruction. The strength of our flesh is an ever present danger to our souls. Deliverance can come to us only by the defeat of our old life. Safety and peace come only after we have been forced to our knees. God rescues us by breaking us, by shattering our strength and wiping out our resistance. Then He invades our natures with that ancient and eternal life which is from the beginning. So He conquers us and by that benign conquest saves us for Himself.
A man can die of starvation knowing all about bread, and a man can remain spiritually dead while knowing all the historic facts of Christianity.
The doctrine of the inability of the human mind and the need for divine illumination is so fully developed in the New Testament that it is nothing short of astonishing that we should have gone so far astray from the whole thing.
For a man to understand revealed truth requires an act of God equal to the original act which inspired the text.
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9-12)
We need to learn that truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
July 11, 2023
Audible Plus 3 hours 6 min. Narrated by Grover Gardner (A)
This was just the right book to read to follow up The Great Gatsby. I read The Pursuit of God last year, and of course, The Pursuit of Man is supposed to be the prequel. I really don't think it matters! What I am amazed by is that the Almighty God, the great Creator in His sovereignty, chooses to pursue man at all! Just like the self-absorbed characters in TGG, all mankind gets our perspective wrong. Christians are just as guilty. We are so incapable of comprehending God that we fail to think of Him except when it's convenient for us. If God the Holy Spirit had not convicted me of my lost state many years ago, I would still be that state today. This book is a concise but amazing reminder of just how great and precious salvation is!
This was just the right book to read to follow up The Great Gatsby. I read The Pursuit of God last year, and of course, The Pursuit of Man is supposed to be the prequel. I really don't think it matters! What I am amazed by is that the Almighty God, the great Creator in His sovereignty, chooses to pursue man at all! Just like the self-absorbed characters in TGG, all mankind gets our perspective wrong. Christians are just as guilty. We are so incapable of comprehending God that we fail to think of Him except when it's convenient for us. If God the Holy Spirit had not convicted me of my lost state many years ago, I would still be that state today. This book is a concise but amazing reminder of just how great and precious salvation is!
May 27, 2023
An absolute must read for every Christian. Tozer’s closing chapters on the Holy Spirit are inescapably challenging and profoundly encouraging.
March 19, 2025
”𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭.”
The words of A.W. Tozer have been such an immense blessing in my life, teaching me how to draw ever nearer to my Lord. I hope to never lose the fervor that this book has awakened within me to truly live my whole life for the Lord and Him alone. I long to live with an eternal mindset, keeping my gaze fixed on the Lord and seeking to build His Kingdom, leaving behind the trivial things of this world that so often ensnare us.
.
.
.
Takeaways:
•A good book should point us to the Lord and push us to take action in strengthening our spiritual relationship with Him.
•Truths are often considered so true that they take the back burner in our lives. They lose the power of truth and become dormant in our souls.
•”For all things God is the great Antecedent. Because He is, we are and everything else is.”
•To have a right viewpoint of God, we must acknowledge and live in a way that shows that He was in our past, He is in our future, and He is with us NOW. He is always present.
•God is best discerned by intellectual touch, not merely by seeking Him in books.
•”Where true faith is, the knowledge of God will be given as a fact of consciousness altogether apart from the conclusions of logic.”
•”True Christian experience must always include a genuine encounter with God.”
•We are given the gift of God’s very self, eternal life. All life is from Him and flows out of Him.
•God gives all of Himself to all of His children; He is not limited.
•All that God has ever done has been for ME that “He might continue in me the work He had been doing for me since the morning of creation.”
•The gospel can be received in two different ways: “in word only, without power, or in word with power.” When it is received in word with power, the person becomes a new creation in Christ. He forsakes his old desires and lives in a way that is pleasing to God. He switches his focus from self to God. When it is received in word only, there are no inward changes made to make the person a new creation in Christ. There may be some outward changes made and he may be able to better hide and disguise his sins, but he is not truly a new man in Christ. He is basically no different than he was before.
•”The gospel is not good news only, but a judgment as well upon everyone that hears it.”
•”The God who by the word of the gospel proclaims men free, by the power of the gospel actually makes them free.”
•We all struggle with the strong desire for social approval, when in reality it is only God’s approval that matters. Live your life in a way that is pleasing to your Father in Heaven.
•”The ways of man and the ways of God are forever contrary one to the other.”
•Men have begun to think that salvation depends on the will of man rather than the will of God. But who quickened our spirit to draw near to God and desire Him? No man can come to the Father on his own. God chose to allow us the free gift of salvation. “The master choice is His, the secondary choice is ours. Salvation is from our side a choice, from the divine side it is a seizing upon, an apprehending, a conquest of the Most High God. Our “accepting” and “willing” are reactions rather than actions. The right of determination must always remain with God.”
•Men have erred in the way that they try to strip God of His sovereignty. They like to think that God bends to human will and, therefore, they think man large and God small. They make God their servant to wait on their will. “We need to have restored again the lost idea of sovereignty, not as a doctrine only but as the source of a solemn religious emotion. We need to feel and know that we are but dust and ashes and that God is the disposer of the destinies of men.” It is insanity to think of ourselves as large and God as small; sanity only returns when we begin to see God as everything and ourselves as nothing.
•We must be conquered by God in order to be filled with Him and blessed by Him.
•We have no life in ourselves, but are wholly dependent on God, “the Source and Fountain of life.”
•Our old life must be defeated in order for us to face deliverance. “Our moral impudence puts us always in danger of accidental or reckless self-destruction. The strength of our flesh is an ever present danger to our souls.” “God rescues us by breaking us, by shattering our strength and wiping out our resistance.”
•”Real faith must always mean more than passive acceptance. It dare mean nothing less than surrender of our doomed Adam-life to a merciful end upon the cross.”
•”A doctrine has practical value only as far as it is prominent in our thoughts and makes a difference in our lives.” “For doctrine is dynamite. It must have emphasis sufficiently sharp to detonate it before its power is released. The doctrine of the Spirit is buried dynamite. Its power awaits discovery and use by the church.”
•It is far better to have knowledge by experience than simply having knowledge by description. This is especially true when it comes to knowing God and knowing about God. We must experience Him for ourselves.
•”The Spirit of God is one with and equal to God.” All three in the Trinity are equal to one another and you will never find one without the others. Though one may be more prominent in certain situations, they are all three always present. “God is altogether present wherever He is present at all.”
•We cannot understand or even accept divine truth with just our mere mortal minds; it is only through the enlightenment and illumination of the Spirit that we can begin to understand divine truth.
•The delights that follow after the illumination of divine truth are so often missing in the church today because they attempt to use mere mortal minds, which were never intended to know God on their own. So the church looks elsewhere for its delights and it attempts to grasp spiritual pleasure through fleshly emotions caused by music, artistry, etc.
•”It is impossible for an impure heart to know divine truth.”
•”True spiritual knowledge is the result of a visitation of heavenly wisdom, a kind of baptism of the Spirit of Truth which comes to God-fearing men.”
•”We need to learn that truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.”
•The attributes of God are not simply what God has, they are what God is.
•The Spirit of God enters into man with the express purpose of reproducing God’s likeness in him.
•”The Holy Spirit performs His blessed work by direct contact with the human spirit.” The Spirit can use anything to bring about His work in the hearts of man, “but always the final work will be done by the pressure of the inliving Spirit upon the human heart.”
•The Spirit’s work in the hearts of believers brings about a heightened sense of the presence of Christ. We experience Him in new ways and see Him everywhere. Prayer takes on a whole new meaning and our love for Him fills our very being. The world begins to fade from importance and eternity becomes our goal.
•”Only the Spirit Himself can show us what is wrong with us and only the Spirit can prescribe the cure.”
•We are incapable of knowing God fully because of our creaturehood limitations. “Only God knows God in any final meaning of the word ‘know’.”
•Challenge yourself to study the sweet mystery of the Godhead. Seek God, learn more of Him, increase in love and duty. “A Spirit-filled mind is a jot to God and a delight to all men of good will.”
•”To seek high emotional states while living in sin is to throw our whole life open to self-deception and the judgment of God.” “A brilliant mind aglow with the love of God” is “exquisitely lovely.”
•”The true Christian ideal is not to be happy but to be holy.”
•”It was religion that put Christ on the cross, religion without the indwelling Spirit.”
•Simple begrudging obedience to Christ will not do; we must live in full surrender, WILLINGLY seeking and obeying Him. “Choose God’s will with positive determination.”
•”The world’s artificial pleasures are all but evidence that the human race has to a large extent lost its power to enjoy the true pleasures of life and is forced to substitute for them false and degrading thrills.”
•The Spirit enters the heart of man and brings joyous union with the will of God. It works to point out moral discrepancies and helps us correct them.
•It is clearly laid out in the Scriptures how we as Christians are to live and relate to the world. Any confusion comes simply because of our unwillingness to take the Word of the Lord seriously.
•We are only become Christians though the new birth; no form of manipulation will work. “Only that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
•There is a great separation between true Christians and the world, and yet we are so often blinded to it. We fall prey to its subtle forms. “The world” refers to anything which springs out of or is built upon human nature, even if it appears morally respectable. “No matter how attractive the movement may appear, if it is not founded in righteousness and nurtured in humility it is not of God.” The divide between the flesh and the Spirit is great and you cannot cross that gap on your own. You cannot love both the Father and the world, for all that is of the world is not of the Father.
•”When faith becomes obedience then it is true faith indeed.”
•”These words of God are not before us for our consideration; they are there for our obedience and we have no right to claim the title of Christian unless we follow them.”
•Every Christian can have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which increases from the time of his initial conversion. But “before a man can be filled with the Spirit he must be sure he wants to be and the desire to be filled must be all-consuming.”
•”Until doubts are removed faith is impossible.”
•”We have as much of God as we actually want.” If we seem to be lacking in our spiritual lives, that’s on us. We draw away from God; it is never He who departs from us.
•”Religious contentment is the enemy of the spiritual life always.”
•We must endure hard times that empty us of all so that the Spirit can come in and fill us.
The words of A.W. Tozer have been such an immense blessing in my life, teaching me how to draw ever nearer to my Lord. I hope to never lose the fervor that this book has awakened within me to truly live my whole life for the Lord and Him alone. I long to live with an eternal mindset, keeping my gaze fixed on the Lord and seeking to build His Kingdom, leaving behind the trivial things of this world that so often ensnare us.
.
.
.
Takeaways:
•A good book should point us to the Lord and push us to take action in strengthening our spiritual relationship with Him.
•Truths are often considered so true that they take the back burner in our lives. They lose the power of truth and become dormant in our souls.
•”For all things God is the great Antecedent. Because He is, we are and everything else is.”
•To have a right viewpoint of God, we must acknowledge and live in a way that shows that He was in our past, He is in our future, and He is with us NOW. He is always present.
•God is best discerned by intellectual touch, not merely by seeking Him in books.
•”Where true faith is, the knowledge of God will be given as a fact of consciousness altogether apart from the conclusions of logic.”
•”True Christian experience must always include a genuine encounter with God.”
•We are given the gift of God’s very self, eternal life. All life is from Him and flows out of Him.
•God gives all of Himself to all of His children; He is not limited.
•All that God has ever done has been for ME that “He might continue in me the work He had been doing for me since the morning of creation.”
•The gospel can be received in two different ways: “in word only, without power, or in word with power.” When it is received in word with power, the person becomes a new creation in Christ. He forsakes his old desires and lives in a way that is pleasing to God. He switches his focus from self to God. When it is received in word only, there are no inward changes made to make the person a new creation in Christ. There may be some outward changes made and he may be able to better hide and disguise his sins, but he is not truly a new man in Christ. He is basically no different than he was before.
•”The gospel is not good news only, but a judgment as well upon everyone that hears it.”
•”The God who by the word of the gospel proclaims men free, by the power of the gospel actually makes them free.”
•We all struggle with the strong desire for social approval, when in reality it is only God’s approval that matters. Live your life in a way that is pleasing to your Father in Heaven.
•”The ways of man and the ways of God are forever contrary one to the other.”
•Men have begun to think that salvation depends on the will of man rather than the will of God. But who quickened our spirit to draw near to God and desire Him? No man can come to the Father on his own. God chose to allow us the free gift of salvation. “The master choice is His, the secondary choice is ours. Salvation is from our side a choice, from the divine side it is a seizing upon, an apprehending, a conquest of the Most High God. Our “accepting” and “willing” are reactions rather than actions. The right of determination must always remain with God.”
•Men have erred in the way that they try to strip God of His sovereignty. They like to think that God bends to human will and, therefore, they think man large and God small. They make God their servant to wait on their will. “We need to have restored again the lost idea of sovereignty, not as a doctrine only but as the source of a solemn religious emotion. We need to feel and know that we are but dust and ashes and that God is the disposer of the destinies of men.” It is insanity to think of ourselves as large and God as small; sanity only returns when we begin to see God as everything and ourselves as nothing.
•We must be conquered by God in order to be filled with Him and blessed by Him.
•We have no life in ourselves, but are wholly dependent on God, “the Source and Fountain of life.”
•Our old life must be defeated in order for us to face deliverance. “Our moral impudence puts us always in danger of accidental or reckless self-destruction. The strength of our flesh is an ever present danger to our souls.” “God rescues us by breaking us, by shattering our strength and wiping out our resistance.”
•”Real faith must always mean more than passive acceptance. It dare mean nothing less than surrender of our doomed Adam-life to a merciful end upon the cross.”
•”A doctrine has practical value only as far as it is prominent in our thoughts and makes a difference in our lives.” “For doctrine is dynamite. It must have emphasis sufficiently sharp to detonate it before its power is released. The doctrine of the Spirit is buried dynamite. Its power awaits discovery and use by the church.”
•It is far better to have knowledge by experience than simply having knowledge by description. This is especially true when it comes to knowing God and knowing about God. We must experience Him for ourselves.
•”The Spirit of God is one with and equal to God.” All three in the Trinity are equal to one another and you will never find one without the others. Though one may be more prominent in certain situations, they are all three always present. “God is altogether present wherever He is present at all.”
•We cannot understand or even accept divine truth with just our mere mortal minds; it is only through the enlightenment and illumination of the Spirit that we can begin to understand divine truth.
•The delights that follow after the illumination of divine truth are so often missing in the church today because they attempt to use mere mortal minds, which were never intended to know God on their own. So the church looks elsewhere for its delights and it attempts to grasp spiritual pleasure through fleshly emotions caused by music, artistry, etc.
•”It is impossible for an impure heart to know divine truth.”
•”True spiritual knowledge is the result of a visitation of heavenly wisdom, a kind of baptism of the Spirit of Truth which comes to God-fearing men.”
•”We need to learn that truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.”
•The attributes of God are not simply what God has, they are what God is.
•The Spirit of God enters into man with the express purpose of reproducing God’s likeness in him.
•”The Holy Spirit performs His blessed work by direct contact with the human spirit.” The Spirit can use anything to bring about His work in the hearts of man, “but always the final work will be done by the pressure of the inliving Spirit upon the human heart.”
•The Spirit’s work in the hearts of believers brings about a heightened sense of the presence of Christ. We experience Him in new ways and see Him everywhere. Prayer takes on a whole new meaning and our love for Him fills our very being. The world begins to fade from importance and eternity becomes our goal.
•”Only the Spirit Himself can show us what is wrong with us and only the Spirit can prescribe the cure.”
•We are incapable of knowing God fully because of our creaturehood limitations. “Only God knows God in any final meaning of the word ‘know’.”
•Challenge yourself to study the sweet mystery of the Godhead. Seek God, learn more of Him, increase in love and duty. “A Spirit-filled mind is a jot to God and a delight to all men of good will.”
•”To seek high emotional states while living in sin is to throw our whole life open to self-deception and the judgment of God.” “A brilliant mind aglow with the love of God” is “exquisitely lovely.”
•”The true Christian ideal is not to be happy but to be holy.”
•”It was religion that put Christ on the cross, religion without the indwelling Spirit.”
•Simple begrudging obedience to Christ will not do; we must live in full surrender, WILLINGLY seeking and obeying Him. “Choose God’s will with positive determination.”
•”The world’s artificial pleasures are all but evidence that the human race has to a large extent lost its power to enjoy the true pleasures of life and is forced to substitute for them false and degrading thrills.”
•The Spirit enters the heart of man and brings joyous union with the will of God. It works to point out moral discrepancies and helps us correct them.
•It is clearly laid out in the Scriptures how we as Christians are to live and relate to the world. Any confusion comes simply because of our unwillingness to take the Word of the Lord seriously.
•We are only become Christians though the new birth; no form of manipulation will work. “Only that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
•There is a great separation between true Christians and the world, and yet we are so often blinded to it. We fall prey to its subtle forms. “The world” refers to anything which springs out of or is built upon human nature, even if it appears morally respectable. “No matter how attractive the movement may appear, if it is not founded in righteousness and nurtured in humility it is not of God.” The divide between the flesh and the Spirit is great and you cannot cross that gap on your own. You cannot love both the Father and the world, for all that is of the world is not of the Father.
•”When faith becomes obedience then it is true faith indeed.”
•”These words of God are not before us for our consideration; they are there for our obedience and we have no right to claim the title of Christian unless we follow them.”
•Every Christian can have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which increases from the time of his initial conversion. But “before a man can be filled with the Spirit he must be sure he wants to be and the desire to be filled must be all-consuming.”
•”Until doubts are removed faith is impossible.”
•”We have as much of God as we actually want.” If we seem to be lacking in our spiritual lives, that’s on us. We draw away from God; it is never He who departs from us.
•”Religious contentment is the enemy of the spiritual life always.”
•We must endure hard times that empty us of all so that the Spirit can come in and fill us.
October 24, 2025
What an incredible book! One of the most challenging and encouraging I've read. Tozer holds up truth about who God is (with an emphasis on the Holy Spirit) and challenges us to let Him conquer. Read this book!
"What is required is a reversal of nature... That act the Spirit performs through the power of the gospel when it is received in living faith. Then He displaces the old with the new. Then He invades the life as sunlight invades a landscape and drives out the old motives as light drives away darkness from the sky."
"Men do not become Christians by associating with church people, nor by religious contact, nor by religious education; they become Christians only by invasion of their nature by the Spirit of God in the new birth. And when they do thus become Christians they are immediately members of a new race"
"What is required is a reversal of nature... That act the Spirit performs through the power of the gospel when it is received in living faith. Then He displaces the old with the new. Then He invades the life as sunlight invades a landscape and drives out the old motives as light drives away darkness from the sky."
"Men do not become Christians by associating with church people, nor by religious contact, nor by religious education; they become Christians only by invasion of their nature by the Spirit of God in the new birth. And when they do thus become Christians they are immediately members of a new race"
June 25, 2019
I enjoyed Tozer drawing attention to "Man's lordship costing too much". In an age of self-determinism, this book is a strong reminder to know we are not the gods of our own world or lives.
Read
March 23, 2022Very thought provoking book that centres around our purpose on earth + what we were created to do - which is worship the LORD. Tozer unpacks this idea in impacting + powerful ways.
December 4, 2013
AW Tozer has a unique quality in his writing. He has the ability to put off the lofty ideas of scholarly pursuit and elevate the pursuit of the Divine as central and singular. He does this, ironically, by approaching spiritual things in a scholarly way; and he accomplishes this feat without the slightest hint of hypocrisy or contradiction.
I cannot deny that I am not exactly biased when it comes to works by AW Tozer. His style, his passion, and the depth of his thinking have a way of rooting into unexplored places inside my mind and heart and touching previously unknown nerves in my spirit. He is, for me, addictive. I don't always agree with his social commentary, I believe that he was concerned, to certain degree, with protecting a way of life that he viewed as beneficial and so he condemned certain cultural things that I consider to be quite neutral with regard to righteousness and holiness. But the thing Tozer does that endears him to me, even in those moments when I disagree with some bit of application, is this: he always speaks in a way that convinces me that he is only interested in the depths of the Christian walk and knowledge of God. Though he "preaches" it is never "preachy" because it is always rooted and grounded in both his and the reader's ultimate joy.
This book, "The Pursuit of Man" is no different.
In the opening chapters he makes reference to some mechanics of knowing God and how we can know Him and why we should know Him.
"The man who would know God must give time to Him."
He moves into a classic Tozer segment that appears in all of his books at some point and in some way where he deals with the importance of separation from the world. He diagnosis, in abstract and poetic strokes, the modern condition as opposed to the Biblical expectation in passages like this:
"Are there then two crosses? And did Paul mean one thing and they another? I fear that it is so, that there are two crosses, the old cross and the new...if I see it right, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is, rather, a new bright ornament upon the bosom of self-assured, carnal Christianity whose hands are indeed the hands of Abel but whose voice is the voice of Cane. The old cross slew men, the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned, the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh, the new cross encourages it. The old cross brought tears and blood, the new cross brings laughter.
The last half of the book is focused on the Holy Spirit. As the title of the book suggests, there is a pursuant aspect to God where He seeks us and searches us out. Tozer asserts that the agent responsible for this is the Spirit of God. This is another place where Tozer tends to shine. Though he is not a Pentecostal he is more apt to speak about the Holy Spirit than many so called Charismatics. His scathing commentary is encouraging and offered in authentic love, but it is not powder coated or blunted in any way.
"However culpable the liberal in denying the Godhood of Christ, we who pride ourselves on our orthodoxy must not allow our indignation to blind us to our own shortcomings. Certainly this is no time for self-congratulations for we too have, in recent years, committed a costly blunder in religion. A blunder paralleling closely that of the liberal. Our blunder, or shall we frankly say, our sin, has been to neglect the doctrine of the Spirit to a point where we virtually deny Him His place in the Godhead. This denial has not been by open doctrinal statement, for we have clung closely enough to the Biblical position wherever our credal pronouncements are concerned. The formal creed is sound, the breakdown is in our working creed."
As I said in the beginning, I am biased toward Tozer's writing, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a powerful work that is more than worth the time to move through it. It is, as many of Tozer's books, a short volume, around 140 pages, and it isn't a difficult piece to read. But there are many places where, though the reading isn't troublesome, the content is dense and must be processed. There are implications, both personal and corporate, that Tozer brings up, hands to the reader, and then walks away leaving us alone with a ticking package and a sense of urgency that "this is important right now".
Read this. Consume it.
I cannot deny that I am not exactly biased when it comes to works by AW Tozer. His style, his passion, and the depth of his thinking have a way of rooting into unexplored places inside my mind and heart and touching previously unknown nerves in my spirit. He is, for me, addictive. I don't always agree with his social commentary, I believe that he was concerned, to certain degree, with protecting a way of life that he viewed as beneficial and so he condemned certain cultural things that I consider to be quite neutral with regard to righteousness and holiness. But the thing Tozer does that endears him to me, even in those moments when I disagree with some bit of application, is this: he always speaks in a way that convinces me that he is only interested in the depths of the Christian walk and knowledge of God. Though he "preaches" it is never "preachy" because it is always rooted and grounded in both his and the reader's ultimate joy.
This book, "The Pursuit of Man" is no different.
In the opening chapters he makes reference to some mechanics of knowing God and how we can know Him and why we should know Him.
"The man who would know God must give time to Him."
He moves into a classic Tozer segment that appears in all of his books at some point and in some way where he deals with the importance of separation from the world. He diagnosis, in abstract and poetic strokes, the modern condition as opposed to the Biblical expectation in passages like this:
"Are there then two crosses? And did Paul mean one thing and they another? I fear that it is so, that there are two crosses, the old cross and the new...if I see it right, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is, rather, a new bright ornament upon the bosom of self-assured, carnal Christianity whose hands are indeed the hands of Abel but whose voice is the voice of Cane. The old cross slew men, the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned, the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh, the new cross encourages it. The old cross brought tears and blood, the new cross brings laughter.
The last half of the book is focused on the Holy Spirit. As the title of the book suggests, there is a pursuant aspect to God where He seeks us and searches us out. Tozer asserts that the agent responsible for this is the Spirit of God. This is another place where Tozer tends to shine. Though he is not a Pentecostal he is more apt to speak about the Holy Spirit than many so called Charismatics. His scathing commentary is encouraging and offered in authentic love, but it is not powder coated or blunted in any way.
"However culpable the liberal in denying the Godhood of Christ, we who pride ourselves on our orthodoxy must not allow our indignation to blind us to our own shortcomings. Certainly this is no time for self-congratulations for we too have, in recent years, committed a costly blunder in religion. A blunder paralleling closely that of the liberal. Our blunder, or shall we frankly say, our sin, has been to neglect the doctrine of the Spirit to a point where we virtually deny Him His place in the Godhead. This denial has not been by open doctrinal statement, for we have clung closely enough to the Biblical position wherever our credal pronouncements are concerned. The formal creed is sound, the breakdown is in our working creed."
As I said in the beginning, I am biased toward Tozer's writing, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a powerful work that is more than worth the time to move through it. It is, as many of Tozer's books, a short volume, around 140 pages, and it isn't a difficult piece to read. But there are many places where, though the reading isn't troublesome, the content is dense and must be processed. There are implications, both personal and corporate, that Tozer brings up, hands to the reader, and then walks away leaving us alone with a ticking package and a sense of urgency that "this is important right now".
Read this. Consume it.
November 19, 2016
A. W. Tozer turned out an incredible amount of probing, moving, and spiritual writings. His classics “The Pursuit of God” and ” The Knowledge of the Holy” are two of the most important Christian books that we possess today–Something like a 12 on a scale of 1-10. This volume is only slightly below those venerable books. Not agreeing exactly with the Calvinist or the non-Calvinist, he never demonstrates the fear of man and writes what he got from intimate communion with his Lord.
To my mind, he writes mostly on what salvation is, what it is not, why we often have a superficial view of it. The second half of the book he moves on to the Third Person of the Trinity–the Holy Spirit. I heard echoes of his theological masterpiece, “The Knowledge of the Holy.” Actually, this book is intended to fill in some of the gaps, as well as be a counterpart to “The Pursuit of God.”
I can’t really think of a downside to the book and was personally moved by it. Some might think they find a few strands of legalism in it, but please notice their is nothing of the Pharisee’s heart from his pen. This book is a winner all the way.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
To my mind, he writes mostly on what salvation is, what it is not, why we often have a superficial view of it. The second half of the book he moves on to the Third Person of the Trinity–the Holy Spirit. I heard echoes of his theological masterpiece, “The Knowledge of the Holy.” Actually, this book is intended to fill in some of the gaps, as well as be a counterpart to “The Pursuit of God.”
I can’t really think of a downside to the book and was personally moved by it. Some might think they find a few strands of legalism in it, but please notice their is nothing of the Pharisee’s heart from his pen. This book is a winner all the way.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
March 2, 2022
This is one of the few book that, upon completing, I immediately began to re-read. Tozer dives into the powerful, life-changing (and heart-challenging) truths of the Gospel oft neglected by the modern day “church.” “Before a man can be filled with the Spirit he must be sure he wants to be… The degree of fullness in any life accords perfectly with the intensity of true desire. We have as much of God as we actually want.”
May 26, 2010
As are all Tozer's books, a MUST READ for every Christian
December 3, 2021
I really needed this powerful little book.
I don't know how to write a review without writing an entire novel of it again, so I'm just going to highlight some points that really stuck out to me in this book. First off, Tozer points out the much needed truth that unless a change goes deep into the depths of one person's inner being, then the change isn't deep enough. Once a Believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, the change should be deep, changing his thinking, feeling, behavior and everything!
Tozer also emphasizes how important it is to crucify self. After all, even though the Spirit may indwell us, if we are full of ourselves and our own fleshly desires then there's hardly any room for the Spirit and His work.
Which brings me to the third point that really spoke to me: the Holy Spirit as God. To often we as believers tend to either not talk about the Spirit at all, or we miscommunicate who He is so poorly that it is blasphemous to Him. Tozer illustrates that the Spirit is God, and that His work is a powerful, refining fire that will change a person's life forever.
This book is not for the faint of heart, because it challenges us to call into question the things we hold dearest to our heart. Nevertheless this is a book that every Believer should read, because it is so important to the Christian life and how to find truth in the Lord.
I don't know how to write a review without writing an entire novel of it again, so I'm just going to highlight some points that really stuck out to me in this book. First off, Tozer points out the much needed truth that unless a change goes deep into the depths of one person's inner being, then the change isn't deep enough. Once a Believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, the change should be deep, changing his thinking, feeling, behavior and everything!
Tozer also emphasizes how important it is to crucify self. After all, even though the Spirit may indwell us, if we are full of ourselves and our own fleshly desires then there's hardly any room for the Spirit and His work.
Which brings me to the third point that really spoke to me: the Holy Spirit as God. To often we as believers tend to either not talk about the Spirit at all, or we miscommunicate who He is so poorly that it is blasphemous to Him. Tozer illustrates that the Spirit is God, and that His work is a powerful, refining fire that will change a person's life forever.
This book is not for the faint of heart, because it challenges us to call into question the things we hold dearest to our heart. Nevertheless this is a book that every Believer should read, because it is so important to the Christian life and how to find truth in the Lord.
April 23, 2025
Ughhhh you guys I absolutely love reading any of Tozer’s writings. I’ve never heard or read anything else like him, he is truly that rare kind of Christian who is seen and heard less of with each new passing generation.
The conviction it places in me as a Christian living in this day and age is always challenging and also exhilarating. He communicates the Truth in such a beautiful and thought-provoking manner that it’s hardly possible to walk away from any of his teachings unchanged.
There is always a wealth of food for thought and I love ruminating on the assertions, encouragements, and (again) challenges he places on the reader to truly live out their faith to God’s glory.
Such a great read!! Highly recommend!
The conviction it places in me as a Christian living in this day and age is always challenging and also exhilarating. He communicates the Truth in such a beautiful and thought-provoking manner that it’s hardly possible to walk away from any of his teachings unchanged.
There is always a wealth of food for thought and I love ruminating on the assertions, encouragements, and (again) challenges he places on the reader to truly live out their faith to God’s glory.
Such a great read!! Highly recommend!
July 8, 2022
Not a huge fan of this book, but echoes of Tozer’s core theology - the vitality of the Spirit and its necessity in everyday life, compounded with the need for a personal relationship with the Lord.
Early on in the book, he noted that we readily accept the God of power we see in the Bible and readily affirm the truth of his coming again in the future - but we Christians often deny his power in the NOW. In fact, the same God who spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same God who will come back to restore the earth - he lives inside of us. Yet we forget this.
Early on in the book, he noted that we readily accept the God of power we see in the Bible and readily affirm the truth of his coming again in the future - but we Christians often deny his power in the NOW. In fact, the same God who spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same God who will come back to restore the earth - he lives inside of us. Yet we forget this.
May 14, 2021
Classic and profound, Tozer fleshes out the supernatural work and transformative power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. God the Holy Spirit pursues man.
"No shortcut exists... The man who would know God must give time to him." (p. 5)
"...the gulf between theory and practice is so great as to be terrifying. For the gospel is too often preached and accepted without power, and the radical shift which the truth demands is never made." (p. 21)
"No shortcut exists... The man who would know God must give time to him." (p. 5)
"...the gulf between theory and practice is so great as to be terrifying. For the gospel is too often preached and accepted without power, and the radical shift which the truth demands is never made." (p. 21)
February 27, 2023
Această carte m-a provocat să stau față în față cu modul în care mă raportez la Duhul Sfânt și locul pe care El îl ocupă în viața mea. Tozer mereu aduce la suprafață realități de care uneori ne ferim, dar aduce mereu și rezolvări, entuziasm și speranță în ceea ce privește vindecarea de anumite abordări greșite.
”Cum ar trebui să ne raportăm la Duhul Sfânt?
Ca parte a Trinității. El nu este doar mesagerul lui Dumnezeu, El este Dumnezeu. El este Dumnezeu aflat în contact cu făpturile Sale, făcânt în ei și prin ei o lucrare de mîntuire și de reînnoire.”
”Cum ar trebui să ne raportăm la Duhul Sfânt?
Ca parte a Trinității. El nu este doar mesagerul lui Dumnezeu, El este Dumnezeu. El este Dumnezeu aflat în contact cu făpturile Sale, făcânt în ei și prin ei o lucrare de mîntuire și de reînnoire.”
October 14, 2024
A short book but packed with good reminders and challenges about your spiritual life and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. My favorite quote: “A man can die of starvation knowing all about bread, and a man can remain spiritually dead while knowing all the historic facts of Christianity.”
December 12, 2022
If we can understand this about the heart of God, we shall be giants in Him. A must read for any seeker.
March 31, 2025
things that happened as i read this book:
- i desperately wanted to read my bible.
- i desperately wanted to pray.
- i desperately wanted to be more like Jesus.
enough said.
will read again.
- i desperately wanted to read my bible.
- i desperately wanted to pray.
- i desperately wanted to be more like Jesus.
enough said.
will read again.
July 31, 2025
“The degree of blessing enjoyed by any man will correspond exactly with the completeness of God’s victory over him.” - Tozer
August 16, 2024
There were some profound thoughts.
August 18, 2017
More of a 4.5 but 5 will work. Its interesting, substance filled, and despite minor flaws, is definitely beneficial for all seeking a good read
February 16, 2019
"If the reader should discover here anything really new he is in conscience bound to reject it, for whatever in religion is new is by the same token false." So begins Tozer's scathing look at easy-believism and sloppy Christianity.
Right doctrine and right practice are not enough says Tozer. Without the transforming power of the indwelling Christ, the Church will have no life. "The God who by the word of the gospel proclaims men free, by the power of the gospel actually makes them free. To accept less than this is to know the gospel in word only, without its power." (p. 40)
A challenging little book!
Right doctrine and right practice are not enough says Tozer. Without the transforming power of the indwelling Christ, the Church will have no life. "The God who by the word of the gospel proclaims men free, by the power of the gospel actually makes them free. To accept less than this is to know the gospel in word only, without its power." (p. 40)
A challenging little book!
September 2, 2016
Tozer's holy zeal is for nothing more than for the believer to have an experience with the living God, and not be content with the average. Tozer begins with Ecclesiastes 12:12 "And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." A.W. Tozer's writings are on an altogether higher spiritual level. His love for God is without pretense. His one aim is to "know Him in the power of His resurrection and in the fellowship of His sufferings." Tozer writes about "the Adamic ego." ...whether it refers to this as "the flesh," or the "old man," the fact remains that there MUST be a death if we are to ever become what God ordained us to be.
Tozer writes more about the absolute need for separation from the world and warns about the different view which we have about the world. He talks about the Pharisaical spirit as one with which Jesus faced during His entire ministry on this earth. He further develops truths about what is asked for an intimate communion between a redeemed man and God by shifting his focus from man to God, but not entirely. He still writes a bit about the man's part, particularly God's command that His own children be separate from the world and their own uncompromising obedience to God.
Something very important what we need not forget that God is not just jealous over us, as individual children of His, but as the ideal husband is jealous over us as His bride. He desires to keep us pure and holy unto Himself and Himself alone. I highly recommend Tozer's books!
Tozer writes more about the absolute need for separation from the world and warns about the different view which we have about the world. He talks about the Pharisaical spirit as one with which Jesus faced during His entire ministry on this earth. He further develops truths about what is asked for an intimate communion between a redeemed man and God by shifting his focus from man to God, but not entirely. He still writes a bit about the man's part, particularly God's command that His own children be separate from the world and their own uncompromising obedience to God.
Something very important what we need not forget that God is not just jealous over us, as individual children of His, but as the ideal husband is jealous over us as His bride. He desires to keep us pure and holy unto Himself and Himself alone. I highly recommend Tozer's books!
June 29, 2021
Another insightful and beautiful book from A.W. Tozer. I enjoy how he ties faith with obedience (p. 121); "When faith becomes obedience then it is true faith indeed." He spoke of beings as created and not self-existent and how we are truly dependent on God as our source and fountain of life (p.47). What relates to me personally is what he wrote that "God rescues us by breaking us, by shattering our strength and wiping our resistance. He conquers us and by that benign conquest saves us for Himself (p.50)." This personally strikes me and helped me understand when negative circumstances happen to my life, it is not that I am punished for the mistakes that I have done but it is God shattering my strength in order for me to be sanctified. I also find it insightful how in the last pages of the book he focuses on the Holy Spirit. "The true Christian ideal is not to be happy but to be holy. The holy heart alone can be the habitation of the Holy Ghost (p.103). The Holy Spirit is a living Person and should be treated as a person (p.136)." We often forget that the Holy Spirit is not just a force behind Jesus but IS in the Triune God that we should recognize. It is an excellent book!
January 15, 2015
Ler Tozer é um misto de deleite e frustração! Ao denunciar o mundanismo, a apatia e irrelevância de certos setores do cristianismo, ele troveja como um profeta! Contudo, em meios às críticas, não raro vemos a sua teologia arminiana em ação. Por exemplo, ao falar sobre a santidade do Espírito Santo, Tozer enfatiza que precisamos nos purificar e sermos santos para receber o poder divino e termos uma vida cheia do Espírito. Porém, a Escritura nos adverte, e a nossa experiência tristemente nos recorda, que não podemos viver uma vida santa e pura sem que antes o Espírito Santo se apodere de nós. Só assim seremos santos e produziremos frutos de justiça, o fruto do Espírito.
Em alguns trechos Tozer enfatiza a soberania de Deus, e condena a forma como muitos têm tratado o Santo, em especial na forma “moderna” de se fazer evangelismo. Os trovões de Tozer soam extremamente calvinistas nessas porções.
O crente maduro se beneficiará do livro, pois não permitirá que essas falhas o privem das verdades contidas nessas poucas páginas.
Em alguns trechos Tozer enfatiza a soberania de Deus, e condena a forma como muitos têm tratado o Santo, em especial na forma “moderna” de se fazer evangelismo. Os trovões de Tozer soam extremamente calvinistas nessas porções.
O crente maduro se beneficiará do livro, pois não permitirá que essas falhas o privem das verdades contidas nessas poucas páginas.
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