Devotional Depth or Doctrinal Drift?What Baptists Should Consider When Recommending A. W. Tozer

Reading devotionally is good, but reading with discernment protects doctrinal clarity

A. W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God is widely admired across evangelicalism. Many sincere Baptists have found its call to spiritual seriousness, reverence, and devotion deeply stirring. In recent years, however, its growing popularity within Independent Baptist circles has raised an important question:

Can devotional depth, when untethered from doctrinal clarity, quietly redirect spiritual instincts away from Baptist theology?

This article is not an attack on Tozer’s sincerity, nor a dismissal of devotional literature. Rather, it is a call for discernment—especially among pastors and leaders whose recommendations shape the spiritual instincts of others.

Why Tozer Resonates with Baptists

Tozer speaks powerfully to real deficiencies:

• Shallow views of God

• Mechanical Christianity

• Pragmatic ministry models

• Prayerless lives

His insistence that God is not a concept but a living reality rightly rebukes empty formalism. For Baptists weary of entertainment-driven religion, Tozer sounds refreshingly serious.

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1 Timothy 4:16)

That appeal, however, is precisely why careful framing is necessary.

Devotion Without Definition

Before addressing the visible expressions of devotional drift, we must first identify the less visible shift that makes such drift possible—namely, how authority is understood, located, and exercised in the Christian life.

Scripture (our authority) never divorces devotion from doctrine:

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17)

Yet Tozer’s devotional style often emphasizes experience before explanation. Terms such as presence, awareness, and inner knowing are frequently invoked without precise biblical definition.

For a theologically mature reader, this may pose little risk. For younger believers or those still forming their theological framework, it can subtly teach that spiritual authenticity is validated by inward sensation rather than objective truth.

The Issue Is Trajectory, Not Heresy

Tozer was not Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, nor Anglican. He did not openly deny justification by faith alone. The concern is not overt error but direction of formation.

When spirituality is framed primarily as:

• Personal pursuit

• Inner experience

• Awareness of divine presence

…while ecclesiology, ordinances, and justification remain background assumptions, readers may later gravitate toward traditions that systematize those experiences through sacramental theology.

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11, KJV)

This is not theoretical. It is observable.

From Devotional Language to Sacramental Logic

Recent public discussions have highlighted former Baptists rejoicing in sacramental practices—particularly infant baptism—celebrated not as symbolic obedience but as a means of grace, typologically connected to Old Testament salvation narratives.

This shift does not occur suddenly. It follows a gradual redefinition of Christianity from justification by faith to participation in divine life.

Why Public Recommendations Matter

When respected Baptist leaders commend Tozer without theological context, they unintentionally shape the instincts of those who trust them. Younger readers often assume that what is recommended has been fully vetted and safely harmonized with Baptist doctrine.

Yet devotional influence works subtly. It trains the heart before it informs the mind. Without guidance, readers may not recognize where:

• Biblical meditation becomes mystical contemplation

• Fellowship becomes sacramental participation

• Spiritual hunger becomes doctrinal ambiguity

“But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

Silence does not remain neutral. It disciples.

This Is Not a Call to Ban Books

This article is not a call to ban books, restrict reading, or shield believers from exposure to ideas outside the Baptist tradition. Mature Christians should be able to read widely without surrendering doctrinal convictions. Truth does not require isolation to survive, and Baptist theology is not so fragile that it collapses upon contact with other traditions.

Independent Baptists have historically engaged a broad range of Christian writings, confident that Scripture—not authors, movements, or traditions—stands as the final authority. Discernment is strengthened through careful engagement, not cultivated by ignorance.

The concern raised here is not exposure, but endorsement. When pastors and leaders publicly recommend devotional works, they do more than suggest reading material—they shape spiritual instincts. What is commended without theological framing is often absorbed without discernment, particularly by younger believers who trust the judgment of those they follow.

“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.” (Proverbs 4:20)

To say that a book may be read is not the same as saying it should be recommended unqualified. Wisdom requires distinguishing between reading with discernment and commending with authority. This article argues not for fear, but for pastoral responsibility.

The Deeper Issue: Authority Before Aesthetics

Beneath questions of devotion, worship style, or spiritual experience lies a more foundational issue that must not be ignored: authority. The recurring pattern of Baptist leaders and students drifting toward Anglicanism, Anglo-Catholicism, or Orthodoxy is not first driven by robes, liturgy, or historical curiosity. It begins when Scripture is no longer treated as sufficient to interpret Scripture. Once a believer concludes—explicitly or implicitly—that the New Testament cannot be rightly understood without a prior interpretive tradition, the ground has already shifted. At that point, tradition no longer serves Scripture; it begins to frame it.

This is why devotional emphases that subtly reposition Scripture as a means rather than the final authority deserve careful scrutiny. When personal experience, historical consciousness, or “felt presence” becomes the lens through which truth is validated, doctrinal commitments inevitably loosen over time. There is no consistent stopping point once external authorities are granted interpretive priority. What begins as a desire for depth often progresses into reliance upon tradition to supply what Scripture is assumed to lack. The result is not merely a change in worship expression, but a quiet abandonment of the very commitments that historically defined Baptist theology.

At its core, this is why the Baptist position is not sustained by polemics alone, nor by preference, nor by reaction against other traditions. It is sustained by a biblically grounded conviction that the New Covenant/Testament documents themselves define the nature of the church, the ordinances, and the believer’s relationship to God. When that conviction erodes, Baptist identity cannot remain intact for long—no matter how sincerely one still speaks the language of Scripture.

A Call for Discerned Depth

Baptists do not need to abandon devotional literature. We need to read it through doctrinal lenses.

Depth that is governed by Scripture strengthens faith. Depth that floats free from definition reshapes it.

The question is not whether A. W. Tozer can help believers love God more. The question is whether those who recommend him will also help believers understand God rightly.

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have.” (Hebrews 13:5)

A. W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God can stir holy longing. But longing, if not guided by truth, can wander.

True spiritual depth is never achieved by loosening our grip on Scripture, nor by supplementing it with external authorities in the name of maturity or reverence. The Word of God does not merely introduce us to God—it governs our understanding of Him, shapes our worship, and defines the life of faith. When Scripture is treated as sufficient, devotion is anchored, doctrine is preserved, and experience is rightly ordered. But when Scripture is subtly repositioned as insufficient without the aid of tradition or subjective encounter, the trajectory is already set. The church does not need a recovery of mysticism, programs, or historic aesthetics. It needs a renewed confidence that God speaks clearly, fully, and finally through His Word—and that obedience, not innovation, remains the path to lasting spiritual health.

Baptists must recover confidence that biblical doctrine produces the deepest devotion. Anything less risks exchanging clarity for sentiment and conviction for experience.

“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:13)

The goal is not shallowness or suspicion—but depth without drift.

For a thorough and complete book review of "Pursuit of God" please see this article, "Independent Baptist Book Review: The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer"