The Life of A.W. Tozer by James L. Snyder
This week for Sunday Reading we are featuring a biography of a well known Christian author. The Life of A.W. Tozer.
A well written biography reads like a story. It tells you the story of a person’s life in an interesting way and shares a look into the history of the time period and culture the person lived in.
Christian biographies are some of my favorite biographies to read because they help you understand the person and their beliefs better.
When you know about someone’s childhood, family, and where they grew up, you learn more about what shaped a person. Both in good and bad ways.
When you learn how they were educated, what jobs they did, and who they married, you learn about big and small events and decisions that impacted their life and beliefs.
When reading books, especially Christian books, you won’t agree with everything an author believes. The same thing applies to pastors, missionaries, etc. No one person is 100% correct on everything. Our beliefs can change over time as we learn more and apply it to our life.
The more you know about a person’s life the more you will understand why the person believed what they did and why their beliefs may have changed.
That is the exact reason that I wanted to read the book The Life of A.W. Tozer by James L. Snyder. Understanding the person gives you a deeper depth to understanding the person’s work and ministry. I wanted to understand Tozer better, and this book allowed this.
When I saw this book a few months ago I knew that I wanted to read it. I don’t agree with everything Tozier believed or did. My daughters and I have had many discussions about Tozier’s books and beliefs. I wanted to read this book because I wanted to more about Tozer and why he believed what he did.
You will find A.W. Tozer quoted in books and sermons all the time. Many people know him by the quotes they have heard, not from reading his books.
Several of A.W. Tozer’s are fairly widely known, but he actually wrote more than forty books during his lifetime. Many Christians young and old have benefitted from reading Tozier. Or just his quotes.
The Pursuit of God, probably his most well-known book, is a good book for newer Christians.
About A.W. Tozer
A.W. Tozer was born into poverty. He came from a farming family, who had very little money or material items.
He was a self-educated man who took studying very seriously. Much of his time was spent studying God’s word and doing God’s work. He was very focused on serving Christ and learning how to serve God better.
One of my favorite parts of the book though was not about Tozier’s life. It was the Tozer-Grams at the end of each chapter. The Tozer-Grams were simply quotes that Tozer was known to say or had been heard saying.
One of my favorite quotes was “One trouble with us today is that we know too many things.”
Oh, how true that still is today. He wrote that well over fifty years ago. And it is still true.
Tozer was appalled at some aspects of what he would consider modern Christianity. I can’t imagine what he would think of churches and Christians today.
If you have read and enjoyed Tozer, I highly recommend The Life of A.W. Tozer. I think it will give you a greater appreciation and understanding of his life and works. If you have never read Tozer, but love Christian biographies, I think this is a great place to start because it will help you understand the man before reading his books.