The Wisdom of God by A W Tozer edited by James L Snyder

The material in this book has been collected from sermons Tozer preached in the early 1960s. (He died in 1963.) The message is needed today, perhaps even more so than a generation ago.

Tozer concentrates on the Hebrew understanding of wisdom in the first part of the book. I did not find that section particularly interesting. Tozer begins to explore godly wisdom and its necessity about a quarter of the way into the book. That material is dynamite.

Tozer believed that the “compelling need” was for Christians to receive the divine illumination of wisdom from God. “Lacking that,” he said, “the church is blind.” (Loc 521/2038) He distinguishes wisdom and scholarship. He shares the characteristics of a wise person. He reminds us it is a gift from God through the Holy Spirit into the heart of a humble person.

I highly recommend this book to church leaders. Even in Tozer's day, he called the new ideas and programs “religious claptrap and modern entertainment.” (Loc 690/2038) He would rather have the fire of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit, he said. I also recommend this book to all Christians who desire to know more about wisdom from God, the humility needed to receive it, and the life one leads with it.

My rating: 4/4 stars.

A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) was a self-taught theologian, pastor, and writer. He authored more than forty books. The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy are considered modern classics. Information and quotes can be found at www.twitter.com/TozerAW.

James L. Snyder is an award-winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals and fifteen books. He is recognized as an authority on the life and ministry of A. W. Tozer. He was given the rights from the A. W. Tozer estate to produce new books derived from over 400 audiotapes. He and his wife live in Ocala, Florida. You can find out more at www.jamessnyder.com.

Bethany House Publishers, 192 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.