Theologian
🇺🇸A.W. Tozer
1897–1963 · American · Mystic, Preacher & Devotional Prophet
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
Biography
Aiden Wilson Tozer was an American pastor, author, and editor whose prophetic voice against shallow Christianity and passionate pursuit of the knowledge of God made him one of the most celebrated devotional writers of the twentieth century. Born in a farmhouse in La Jose, Pennsylvania, he received no formal theological education, converting at age seventeen after hearing a street preacher in Akron, Ohio. He was largely self-taught, reading voraciously in the great mystics, Puritan divines, and classical Christian writers. He was ordained in the Christian and Missionary Alliance and served churches in West Virginia, Indiana, and Chicago, where he pastored Southside Alliance Church for thirty-one years. He later served Avenue Road Alliance Church in Toronto until his death in 1963. As editor of 'The Alliance Life' magazine for many years, he reached a wide audience beyond his congregation. Tozer was deeply suspicious of the entertainment culture creeping into the church, and his preaching and writing consistently called Christians back to the transcendence, holiness, and mystery of God. He was known for his habit of lying prostrate before God in extended prayer, sometimes praying through the night. Though he wrote no systematic theology, his books functioned as sustained meditations on the character of God. He lived with radical simplicity, willing the royalties from his books to his wife and keeping little for himself during his lifetime.
Key Works
'The Pursuit of God' (1948) is his most celebrated work, an urgent call to move beyond mere belief into the experiential knowledge of God. It has been translated into dozens of languages and sold millions of copies. 'The Knowledge of the Holy' (1961) examines the attributes of God in sustained devotional meditation, aiming to recover a high view of God lost in popular Christianity. 'The Divine Conquest' (later reprinted as 'The Pursuit of Man') explores God's pursuit of the human soul. His collected sermons and editorials in 'Of God and Men,' 'That Incredible Christian,' and 'The Root of the Righteous' reflect his prophetic social critique of mid-century American evangelicalism. 'Born After Midnight' addresses the conditions for spiritual awakening.
Legacy
Tozer's legacy lies in his passionate protest against shallow, entertainment-driven religion and his call to genuine encounter with the living God. 'The Knowledge of the Holy' continues to be assigned in seminary courses as an antidote to theological superficiality. 'The Pursuit of God' remains a perennial bestseller, introducing generation after generation to mystical-evangelical spirituality. His emphasis on the transcendence and holiness of God has influenced the contemporary worship renewal movement. Tozer demonstrated that a man with no academic credentials could become a theologian of the first order through prayer, reading, and total devotion to God.