Independent Baptist Book Review: The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer

Independent Baptist Review of A. W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God: Balancing Devotional Passion with Doctrinal Clarity.

Author Biography

Aiden Wilson (“A. W.”) Tozer (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963) was an American Christian pastor, author, editor, and spiritual mentor best known for his devotional writings and emphasis on the inner life with God. Converted as a teenager, he spent most of his life in pastoral ministry with churches affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), serving over thirty years at Southside Alliance Church in Chicago and later in Toronto, Canada.

Tozer also served as editor of Alliance Weekly (later Alliance Life) and wrote more than forty books, including The Pursuit of God (1948) and The Knowledge of the Holy (1961). While deeply respected for his devotional depth, his thought is distinctly experiential, emphasizing personal communion with God over systematic doctrinal exposition.

Book Summary

The Pursuit of God is a concise devotional work urging Christians to cultivate an intense, conscious awareness of God’s presence. Tozer emphasizes:

• Pursuit of God above all else

• Personal, conscious experience of the divine

• Rejection of shallow, mechanical religious activity

• Devotional disciplines that lead to intimacy with God

The work is short, poetic, and rich with illustrations, making it accessible and stirring for readers seeking a more serious devotional life.

Strengths

• Devotional Challenge: Calls believers away from mechanical or superficial Christianity.

• Emphasis on Holiness: Encourages surrender, humility, and continual pursuit of God.

• Readable and Engaging: Short, focused chapters with evocative language.

• Spiritual Hunger Addressed: Highlights the inadequacy of formulaic teaching and routine observances.

Independent Baptist readers can benefit from the book’s call to spiritual seriousness, provided it is paired with sound doctrinal guidance.

Annotated Quotes & Concerns

1. Doctrine as Means to Experience

“There is today no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year… The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.” (Pg. 9–10)

Commentary:

• Tozer elevates personal encounter over doctrinal instruction.

• Independent Baptists affirm that Scripture and doctrinal teaching are foundational, not merely a stepping stone.

• While heartfelt experience is important, it must be governed and interpreted by biblical truth.

2. Personal, Conscious Awareness

“This intercourse between God and the soul is known to us in conscious personal awareness. It is personal: that is, it does not come through the body of believers, as such… And it is conscious: that is, it does not stay below the threshold of consciousness and work there unknown to the soul (as, for instance, infant baptism is thought by some to do)… where the man can ‘know’ it as he knows any other fact of experience.”

Commentary:

• Tozer emphasizes individualized spiritual experience, contrasting it with sacramental or communal means.

• This aligns with experiential devotional goals but can subtly devalue Scripture, preaching, and ordinances as God-ordained channels of grace.

• For younger or less doctrinally grounded readers, this may shift the focus from objective truth to subjective sensation.

3. The Limits of Right Opinion

“Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion… There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is a proof of this.” (Pg. 9)

Commentary:

• Tozer rightly warns against a faith that is intellectually correct but emotionally and spiritually sterile.

• Independent Baptists affirm that right doctrine is indispensable, but agree that doctrine without devotion is incomplete.

• The balance must be love-informed orthodoxy, not orthodoxy sacrificed to experience.

4. Worship as Personal Encounter

“To great sections of the Church the art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come that strange and foreign thing called the ‘program.’… For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth.”(Pg. 10)

Commentary:

• Tozer critiques stage-managed or ritualistic worship, emphasizing personal spiritual encounter.

• While Independent Baptists value vibrant, Spirit-led worship, they also affirm the centrality of Scripture, ordinances, and corporate ministry.

• Unqualified reading could lead to individualistic spirituality, minimizing the objective means God uses to nurture His people.

5. Intimacy with God as the Goal

“The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.” (Chapter 2)

Commentary:

• Tozer places the personal interchange with God at the center.

• Independent Baptists affirm that intimacy with God is vital, but it flows through Scripture, preaching, ordinances, and the fellowship of the church, not primarily as a private, self-contained experience.

6. Regeneration and Immediate Awareness

“The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration, our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition.” (Chapter 2)

Commentary:

• Tozer frames regeneration as producing instant personal awareness.

• Independent Baptists affirm regeneration produces new life and sensitivity to God, but assurance and knowledge of salvation are grounded in God’s promises and objective Scripture, not solely in inner feeling.

Independent Baptist Assessment

Strengths:

• Calls believers to serious devotion and holiness.

• Critiques shallow orthodoxy and ritualism.

• Inspires longing for personal encounter with God.

Concerns:

• Elevates personal experience above doctrinal instruction.

• Treats Scripture and ordinances as means to experience, rather than ends in themselves.

• Can subtly encourage individualistic spirituality without grounding in the local church.

• May lead young believers or pastors to emphasize sensation over sound doctrine if recommended unqualified.

Recommendation

Cautious Reading Required:

• Suitable for mature, doctrinally grounded believers who can frame devotional insights in Scripture.

• Unsuitable for new believers or young men still forming theological foundations.

• Best read under pastoral guidance, with explicit attention to doctrinal oversight, Scripture-centeredness, and church ordinances.

⭐️ Rating: 3/5 — Spiritually stirring but doctrinally weak and imprecise

The Pursuit of God can awaken fervent longing for God and inspire deeper devotional life, but readers must anchor their faith in Scripture and Bible doctrine to prevent subtle drift toward experience-centered spirituality which is a problem (and a growing problem) in today's religious landscape.

Be sure to read the companion article here, entitled "Devotional Depth or Doctrinal Drift? What Baptists Should Consider When Recommending A.W. Tozer"