Book Review

The Life of A.W. Tozer: In Pursuit of God
The Authorized Biography by James L. Snyder
Regal Books, 2009 $14.99 US Retail

I have always enjoyed biographies, at least those that are well written and have a personal takeaway for us today. When this new biography of one of my favorite Christian authors came into our store I couldn’t resist, and I was definitely not disappointed. While this one follows the basic pattern of the typical biography (from birth to death and impact of the life), it also was a bit topical, sharing events at various times of Tozer’s life and how that impacted who he was, how it made him the beloved if not a bit odd pastor of the churches he served, and how he became the amazing author that has impacted his subsequent readers as well. The biography also has a fair amount of material and quotes from family and those who knew him or served under him in some facet, occasionally forming an entire chapter, which is a bit different from many biographies I have read, and is effectively done here.

As a writer I am one of those strange characters who actually reads each book’s Introduction, and I greatly appreciated James Snyder’s guidelines in his introduction on “The Art and Stealth of Christian Biography.” I recommend that all Christian writers read that introduction as it deals with some significant issues involved in not just biography, but all honest and forthright Christian writing. It also interested me to learn how meticulous of a writer Tozer was, and in fact I was shocked to learn that his writing was limited only to nine books, with other works including The Attributes of God being compilations from his sermons and other writings. James Snyder included at the end of each chapter snippets from Tozer’s denominational magazine that he edited for many years, called “Tozergrams.” These are almost worth reading in and of themselves, but I highly suggest you read the rest of the book! The book also has several rare photographs of Tozer and those involved in his life. As you read, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see that one doesn’t have to be a super saint, perfect, or socially adept to be greatly used by God, or to greatly know God for that matter, for Tozer was none of these things in himself but he knew a great God who made all the difference.

While I enjoyed reading of the example of Tozer’s pursuit of God and how he became the man known to us who read in awe the things that he learned in that pursuit and recorded for us, and not only did I learn of Tozer the man, I learned of the God he knew and was personally challenged to better seek and know Him myself as I read. I think that you will too. In a day of “easy-believism” and so called commitment to following Christ, we need to reexamine what it truly means to be one who pursues God, becoming a person after His own heart.

© 2009 Thomas R. Klock, Cambria, CA. All Rights Reserved.