A lifelong pursuit of knowing God should embody the Christian existence. According to eminent theologian J I Packer, however, Christians have become enchanted by modern scepticism and have joined the "gigantic conspiracy of misdirection" by failing to put first things first. Knowing God aims to redirect our attention to the simple, deep truth that to know God is to love His Word. What began as a number of consecutive articles angled for "honest, no-nonsense readers who were fed up with facile Christian verbiage" in 1973, Knowing God has become a contemporary classic by creating "small studies out of great subjects". Each chapter is so specific in focus (covering topics such as the trinity, election, God's wrath, and God's sovereignty), that each succeeding chapter's theology seems to rival the next until one's mind is so expanded that one's entire view of God has changed. Author Elizabeth Elliot wrote that, amid the lofty content, Packer "puts the hay where the sheep can reach it--plainly shows us ordinary folks what it means to know God". Having rescued us from the individual hunches of our ultra-tolerant theological age, Packer points the reader to the true character of God with his theological competence and compassionate heart. The lazy and fainthearted should be warned about this timeless work--God is magnified, the sinner is humbled and the saint encouraged.

Reviews

Reviewed by Michael Bostock, 22nd May 2007
Knowing God is one of the first books that I read as new Christian: I simply could not put it down. 30 years later (is it that long!?) I am going to read it again.
If your God has in any way become too small over the years then this book is the one to read: every section stimulates worship. It is rightly a classic and St. Andrew's Bookshop are giving the Christian community an opportunity not to be missed.

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ISBN: 9780340863541
Catalogue code: N/A
Publisher: HODDER HEADLINE* - published 15/01/2005
Format: Paperback