Knowing God - Softcover

Packer, J. I.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 083081650X ISBN 13: 9780830816507

Publisher: IVP, 1993

Synopsis

One of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals (Christianity Today, 2006)Platinum Book Award, Evangelical Christian Publishing AssociationFor over 40 years, J. I. Packer's classic has been an important tool to help Christians around the world discover the wonder, the glory and the joy of knowing God. In 2006, Christianity Today voted this title one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals. This edition is updated with Americanized language and spelling and a new preface by the author.Stemming from Packer's profound theological knowledge, Knowing God brings together two important facets of the Christian faith knowing about God and also knowing God through the context of a close relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. Written in an engaging and practical tone, this thought-provoking work seeks to transform and enrich the Christian understanding of God. Explaining both who God is and how we can relate to him, Packer divides his book into three sections: The first directs our attention to how and why we know God, the second to the attributes of God and the third to the benefits enjoyed by a those who know him intimately. This guide leads readers into a greater understanding of God while providing advice to gaining a closer relationship with him as a result.

About this title

Review

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. --Jill Heatherly

Review

"If I can't put the Bible on this list, I'll choose a Packer book instead. Every national and world leader must seek to know the nations and world in which they serve. And in order to know this world and its people, we must first know the God who shaped and molded us all. Packer simply and powerfully re-introduces us to God: his attributes, actions, and, most important, his grace."--Joshua DuBois, "My Top Five," Christianity Today, September 2014

"Packer was magisterial in substance, but adopted the tone of a fellow traveler. He convinced us that the study of God 'is the most practical project anyone can engage in.'"--Christianity Today, October 2006

"Week by week and day by day, Packer gives advice that is sure to motivate and inspire readers to reach for more in their quest to unite with God. A fine read for any devoted Christian."--James A. Cox, Library Bookwatch, December 2009

"This is a book that urges us to know about God and then to know God in Jesus Christ. It is a book that serves up real meat--a thought-provoking call to apply ourselves to knowing who God is and to develop a close relationship with Him."--East Central Illinois Baptist Association, February 13, 2008

test--Joshua DuBois, "My Top Five," Christianity Today, September 2014

Edition details

• Publisher: IVP
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 083081650X
• ISBN 13: 9780830816507
• Binding: Paperback