Please note: This is a Faithlife Ebook, not a Logos edition.
One of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals (Christianity Today)
Platinum Book Award, Evangelical Christian Publishing Association
For over 40 years, J. I. Packer's classic has been an important tool to help Christians around the world discover the wonder, the glory and the joy of knowing God. In 2006, Christianity Today voted this title one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals, and this 20th anniversary edition is updated with Americanized language and spelling, and a new preface by the author.
Stemming from Packer's profound theological knowledge, Knowing God brings together two important facets of the Christian faith— knowing about God and also knowing God through the context of a close relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. Written in an engaging and practical tone, this thought-provoking work seeks to transform and enrich the Christian understanding of God.
Explaining both who God is and how we can relate to him, Packer divides his book into three sections: The first directs our attention to how and why we know God, the second to the attributes of God and the third to the benefits enjoyed by a those who know him intimately. This guide leads readers into a greater understanding of God while providing advice to gaining a closer relationship with him as a result.
Ebook edition includes both Knowing God and the Knowing God Study Guide.
Just a few pages into J. I. Packer's Knowing God, you'll discover it's unlike any other Christian nonfiction book—because God is the subject. When Packer wrote this popular work, he knew how big the task was, likening the study of God to a clown "yearning to play Hamlet—a daunting task!" Yet he presents his understanding of God in a way that is easy to follow and digest.
The book is divided into three sections: the first focuses on how and why people know God; the second highlights God's attributes; and the third explores the benefits those who know him intimately enjoy. Knowing God helps readers gain a greater understanding of God and offers valuable advice for gaining a closer relationship with him.
You'll first consider Packer's conviction behind the book: ignorance of God—both of his ways and the practice of communion with him. Packer believes this ignorance lies at the root of much of the church's weakness today; God is seen as distant, small, and unknowable, and as a result of this skepticism, Christians are confused about who God is. And when believers lack a strong, biblical understanding of God, they become less sure about God and His ways.
Because of this, Packer establishes five basic truths about God and how those five truths determine a person's life course. You'll then unpack the difference between knowing about God and actually knowing him; a person can know a great deal about God yet have little knowledge of him—and simultaneously know a great deal about godliness without much understanding of God.
You'll then consider your purpose—what God made you for—and realize that the whole reason you are alive is to know your Creator.
Packer also dives into the concept of idolatry and what it means to set God as King high and above all others. And in one of Packer's most poignant chapters of the book, he discusses God incarnate—where you'll be challenged to know God through the person of Jesus.
Most importantly, you'll read about God's character and attributes: he is judge, wise, and the source of all truth. You'll explore his majesty and wrath, his jealousy and grace. You'll consider the doctrinal concepts of propitiation, regeneration, justification, and adoption—and how Christianity is set apart from all other religions and belief systems. And then Packer will challenge you to begin a journey toward knowing God as your sovereign protector and the decisiveness of his covenant commitment to you—what it means when Scripture says, "God is for me."
Then, in his gentle and practical way, Packer will ask you to consider what you will do with knowledge of God once you have it.
Preface (1993)
Preface (1973)
I. Know the Lord
1. The Study of God
2. The People Who Know Their God
3. Knowing and Being Known
4. The Only True God
5. God Incarnate
6. He Shall Testify
II. Behold Your God!
7. God Unchanging
8. The Majesty of God
9. God Only Wise
10. God?s Wisdom and Ours
11. Thy Word Is Truth
12. The Love of God
13. The Grace of God
14. God the Judge
15. The Wrath of God
16. Goodness and Severity
17. The Jealous God
III. If God Be For Us . . .
18. The Heart of the Gospel
19. Sons of God
20. Thou Our Guide
21. These Inward Trials
22. The Adequacy of God
Index of Biblical Passages
As you journey through J. I. Packer's Knowing God, you will learn how to "listen" to God's written word as the Holy Spirit speaking directly to you and watch as God begins to illuminate his nature and character. As you do, you'll start to more joyfully and voluntarily apply these truths about God to how you live and think and to what you value and cherish.
You'll learn why it's essential to explore the multifaceted ways God has revealed himself in Scripture and how earnest study of God's character and actions will produce a deep communion with him and passionate adoration and celebration of who he is and what he has done. At the same time, you'll learn why studying the Bible to "have all the answers" is the wrong motive; instead, you should study God's Word purely to know him better.
Plus, you'll find answers to many common questions about faith, including:
Ultimately, you'll discover that because God is unchanging, and because he is the same from the first pages of Genesis to the last words of Revelation, you can learn much about him—who he is and his will for your life—simply by studying his Word.
"Week by week and day by day, Packer gives advice that is sure to motivate and inspire readers to reach for more in their quest to unite with God. A fine read for any devoted Christian."
"This is a book that urges us to know about God and then to know God in Jesus Christ. It is a book that serves up real meat—a thought-provoking call to apply ourselves to knowing who God is and to develop a close relationship with Him."
"Something must be said for the staying power of a book like J. I. Packer's Knowing God. With some of the language and rhetoric updated, the foundational elements of the book are as powerful and strong as ever."
"Packer was magisterial in substance, but adopted the tone of a fellow traveler. He convinced us that the study of God 'is the most practical project anyone can engage in.'"
"If I can't put the Bible on this list, I'll choose a Packer book instead. Every national and world leader must seek to know the nations and world in which they serve. And in order to know this world and its people, we must first know the God who shaped and molded us all. Packer simply and powerfully re-introduces us to God: his attributes, actions, and, most important, his grace."
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