"Christianity today is man-centered, not God-centered." (No doubt!)

"The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being."

"The whole world has been booby-trapped by the devil, and the deadliest trap of all is the religious one."

One of the things I appreciate most about Tozer is that he was highly critical of the modern evangelical church and yet was himself a modern evangelical. I think he saw the many ways that the church was selling out to partisan politics and worldly concerns (e.g. this prosperity gospel nonsense) and departing from the actual texts of the Gospel.

I like him very much when he criticizes the church (and the Western world) and talks about God, less so when he criticizes the world (almost to the point where he seems a smidge isolationist; I don't recall very much in Tozer about the great commission) and even less so when he seems to suggest that wrestling with faith or trying to make intellect part your belief is, in fact, a form of unbelief. Some of this might be the culture and time and social climate he was writing in. That being said, I highlighted 70 different passages of this little book. You're going along and then BAM, Tozer lays a brilliant insight out and you're like, 'Daggone. That dude's deep.' (Jeremy)

About the Author

Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 - May 12, 1963) was an American Christian pastor, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor. For his accomplishments, he received honorary doctorates from Wheaton and Houghton colleges.

Tozer began writing in 1931 for the denominational magazine of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Alliance Weekly (now Alliance Life), which became the platform from which his writing career emerged. He later wrote the monthly column "There's Truth in It" (1936-37) and "A Word in Season" (1944-46). In May 1950, he became the editor of the Alliance Weekly, a position he filled until his death in 1963.

At the urging of David W. Fant, publications secretary of the C&MA, Tozer wrote biographies of A. B. Simpson (1943) and Robert A. Jaffray (1947). It was the publication of Tozer's third book, The Pursuit of God (1948), that made him a household name among evangelicals. In addition to the 12 books he published in his lifetime, more than 40 other books have been compiled from his magazine features, editorials, and transcribed sermons.

During his lifetime, Tozer's works were published by Christian Publications, Inc., the denominational press operated by the C&MA. The publishing house declared bankruptcy in 2006 and was purchased by WingSpread Publishers of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. In November 2013, Moody Publishers acquired Wingspread from parent company Zur Ltd., a transaction that included more than 60 Tozer books and pamphlets. Some of Tozer's works are now in the public domain and have been issued by multiple publishers.

In 2000, The Pursuit of God was named to Christianity Today's list of 100 "Books of the Century." In 2006, Knowledge of the Holy was named in "The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals". Contemporary Christian music artist Lauren Barlow of BarlowGirl later published a compilation of stories told by 59 artists, writers, and leaders about A.W. Tozer's personal inspiration. (wikipedia.org)