The God You Can Know

by Dan DeHaan, Dan DeHaan

Questions concerning various topics such as knowing God's will, assurance of salvation, home life, and even dating relationships result from a lack in comprehending the Person of God the Father. Dan DeHaan puts God the Father back into the Christian perspective of what it means to live this way of life called Christianity in The God You Can Know . Burdened by contemporary Christians' lack of understanding of the nature of Almighty God, he wrote this book to help readers become intimate with God by studying His characters and attributes.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Religion, Theology, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1982

Reviews

[Sue Kirsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read and will re-read because of all joy it gives me in knowing such an awesome loving God. He made a way and all I have to do is know Him and accept what He has given me.
A must read for everyone.

[Clayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was not bad by any means. I feel like giving a book 3 stars makes it bad in my head for some reason. I think this book would have been beneficial to me if I read this when I was much younger but sadly this book felt like Knowing God by J.I. Packer with far less depth or some the pursuit of God by Tozer with far less passion or uniqueness (boy did I love the pursuit of God). While the contents are not bad I felt that this brought very little new to the table. This may be in part due to the short nature of the book. I think this book succeeds at what it is trying to do but does not excel. Now a few of the high points. The section on God’s immutability was great. I LOVED the idea that our wisdom and God’s wisdom come from two different places. Ours is experiential but his is intrinsic. There was some “emotions are bad” and “ignore the past” rhetoric that I am very much not a fan of, but I can’t say I expected anything different from a book by an evangelical published in 1982. A book that does what I sets out to do and not much more. Solid 3 stars

[Brooks Lemmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really great book. DeHaan laid out a solid foundation of who God is and who we are in Christ. Everything else flows out of those two things so we must understand them accurately! This book reminded me a lot of a simpler, less theologically dense version of Knowing God by J.I. Packer.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this again - for the 4th or 5th time. Love how God used Dan DeHaan to lay it out so simply - desiring to know God better is our highest form of worship! This is our purpose!

[Kathryn McClatchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought-provoking, educational, inspiring, and encouraging. I will definitely be reading this one again.

[Brady Shackelford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, it was a good one. I'm just going to go ahead and reread it rn.

[JJ Vancil]

The overall purpose of The God You Can Know is to reclaim a big view of God so that the response is worship, love and leadership for His glory. Without a right understanding of God and the perfections of His character, we cannot come to know the intimacy of Him as our Father or the position we have before God in Christ. Without this knowledge, we cannot live life with humility and balance.

As I read this book, my heart and mind were brought to a "bigger" understanding of God that impacted me significantly. It is full of "heavy" stuff which makes it a little difficult to read. It is not a book that "flows" well or makes it easy on the reader. That being said, the content is powerful. I recommend it.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book deals with some pretty awesome truths: God WANTS you to know him and by doing so you can grow closer to Him in so many amazing ways. The book started out a bit 'academic' to me, but sticking with it I had some lightbulb moments about half-way through.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uplifting and introspective look at Who God is and who we should be as result of knowing Him. Highly recommend!

[Alec Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s fire. Breaks down for the reader the view that God is a Father.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, this man lead me to Christ. 1977

[nina (thelibraryofnina) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, in my opinion, was by far the meatiest book we’ve read thus far. I often found myself reading this book in spurts to fully grasp everything. I may have to reread this book, again and again, to fully latch on to everything. We often hear in church that we must live our lives in constant worship of God. We often associate worshipping God as something we must do with Jesus music in a dark room. But living our lives in worship does not only encompass the dark room worship; sometimes it is that! But it is definitely so much more than that. Everything we do, everything we say, everything that we put our effort to should be glorifying and showing true and utter devotion and worship to God.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each chapter of this book is sufficiently engaging to qualify for multiple chapters. There are multiple great points and truths highlighted from the bible. I had a bit of trouble with the authors "judgment" statements on the state of other believers he mentioned in the book. It gave the author, I'm assuming, an unintentional air of being "holier then thou". I agreed with most of what he said, but would take a different approach to many of his main points in the middle of the book.

[Brice Karickhoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Holt classic!!

[Frankie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply moving

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A.W. Tozer said, "What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us..." Until I reread this book, I had no idea how much of an impact this book has had on me and who I know God to be.

I originally read it in high school at the suggestion of my youth minister. It was the first of many of these type of books that I would read, and I always held on to my original copy. In reading it again, I've come across many key concepts - ideas I've pondered, repeated and used with others - that obviously came directly from DeHaan. I've remembered "loving" this book, but until now I didn't know the tremendous impact that it has had on who I am spiritually.

I highly recommend it for every Christian in any stage of their walk.

[Dawn Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the attributes of God. However, I did not agree with his assessment of the church today and the church during Paul's time. It is my opinion people are the same as they have always been... imperfect and in need of a Savior. This is the reason Paul wrote letters the the churches, because their were issues. Other than this "us vs. them" mentality. Excellent read for understanding the attributes of God and how God as our Father combines all these together to form a balanced worship of God.

[Wade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read book on knowing God.

[Chad Stutzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just started reading this book with some young guys I am mentoring.

[Jeff Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! There are many familiar truths in this book but Dehaan gives you a whole new perspective to view those truths from.

[Janet Montana]

I love this book. Few people have impacted my life as he did.... I can't wait to see him again!!!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't know how I went this long without knowing about this book or this author but I loved it! 'Familiar' truths presented in new, clarifying ways.

[Jake Welchans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on how to develop a close personal walk with God. A great refreshment for those in a dry season or wanting encouragement in their devotional time.

[Dennis Thurman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top notch. Direct, clear, inspiring.