Knowing God

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Summary: A seeming contradiction.
Review: Mr. Packer confuses me a bit. He seems to say 'seek Godly knowledge but don't dig too deep lest you become conceited'. All Christians need to 'know' for certain the entire gospel of Christ, how can anyone follow God unless they 'know' exactly what He's saying to us? The Corinthians had a 'wrong' knowledge of God and that's why Paul was admonishing them because they were following 'after men' (wrong knowledge) rather than Christ. The 'knowledge of God' is good and brings humility but the 'commandments of men'corrupts.

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Summary: Are You Grounded in God's Word?
Review: Your answer to the question above determines my answer as to whether or not you should read this book. If your answer is no, don't read it.
While the book brings the reader into a higher level of thinking and explores things most individuals haven't thought about, it can be misleading. It is written at a higher level than most Christian books and a reader who finds it difficult to understand may also find it difficult to correctly understand or discern the truthfulness of some of the ideas presented.
It is important to remember that while this book is written with the voice of authority, it does not hold the authority of the Bible and is merely one man's understanding of the Bible. In this book the author quoted many scriptures using only sections of the actual scripture, rather than the entire verse. While I understand his efficiency in doing so, all readers should be hesitant to take the authors explanation of the scripture without knowing its context and full content.

Let God's Word be your foundation first.

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Summary: Traditionally Well Done
Review: After the recommendations of many people I respect, I picked up this book with the intention of finding out what everyone was talking about with J.I. Packer. This book does not dissapoint, and really transcends generations with a clear picture of evangelical theology, and for those who believe, God. Packer carefully makes his way through all aspects of the divine, and makes a strong argument for why to believe, and what God is really like. It would be interesting to give this book out as a tool to introduce someone who did not believe in God, to the whole concept.

Packer is a humble man, after hearing him speak a few years ago, I know his heart is in a great place. This book does put a strong emphasis on pre-destination, and if that is not up your alley it may rub you the wrong way. Overall this is a classic theological book for the 20th century, one that will be remembered long into the future.

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Summary: Highest recommendation
Review: This is a great book. I have used it in no less than three different Bible studies. By now, my copy is bent and worn from use and I have grown a great deal through studying with it. I would recommend this book highly, particularly if you are looking for a book to go through as a group. Packer's book has been used to introduce thousands to the theological study of God's word. Indeed, it was the first Christian book I read as a youth that engaged my mind in a meaningful way. "Knowing God" is theological - and completely grounded in the Bible - but it is also very readable and includes suggested questions at the end of each chapter. There is something in this book for both mature and beginning Christians.
The book is divided into three parts. The first concerns (roughly) how we can know God, the second speaks of the attributes and character of God, and the final reflects on the Christian life and the way in which knowing God affects that life. Buy it and read it.

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Summary: My favorite book on Christian living
Review: The most important thing in this life is knowing God. Packer uses scripture to show you this. I was not the same after reading this classic.

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Summary: Excellent source of Knowlege of GOD
Review: This is excellent for people who is hungry to understand who GOD is. This helps to expand our knowledge of GOD, and the way Packer had organized the book, help us to thoroughly understand. It is dense, but it is easy to read for all people who are hungry for God whether a new believer or old-time Christians. This is highly recommended to ALL out there.

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Summary: Knowing & knowing about God
Review: Many churches today emphasize a Christian's "personal relationship with God," highlighting spiritual experiences and emotions. J.I. Packer brings our attention to God's attributes, as revealed in the Scriptures. Some criticize Packer for his predominately objective approach. However, I believe you will find that he intends not to portray God as a mere 'idea' or 'doctrine.' Instead, he wants his readers to understand an essential part in knowing God more is knowing more about Him. In other words, as it is evident in our relationships, we simply cannot grow closer to someone until we find out more about them. Relationships based mainly upon feelings are unstable, just as relationships involving the exchange of data or information, but witholding emotions are also unstable.

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Summary: Great Book!
Review: This is one of the most beautifully, simply written systematic theology books ever. It is easy to understand and to follow, without leaving behind a bit of the Truth that the Word has for us. Packer again does a great job at getting into the heart of the word, and taking us to who God really is. He shows us in this book what it is really like to Be Knowing God.

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Summary: A Classic Treatise on "knowing" the God of the Bible
Review: This book is considered a contemporary Christian classic in Christian circles. The list of names who have endorsed and praised this book is like a 'who's who' of Christian thought. Needless to say, this book has quite a reputation to live up to. After reading it, my opinion is that it does indeed live up to its billing.

This book is a lengthy, methodical, and comprehensive analysis of the God of the Bible, and how we should respond to what the Bible says about Him. At the outset, Packer draws a compelling distinction between 'knowing God', and simply knowing 'about' God. The rest of his book then seeks to flood the reader with knowing God and how awesome a task this really is.

On an overall scale, I took two main things away from this book, both of which are desperately needed in the body of Christ today:

1) To its credit, this book does not sugarcoat God. Packer directly takes on the conventional practice of defining God exclusively as a 'God of love' in a humanly subjective sense. This book clearly demonstrates that God is indeed a God of love, but in ways that are not regularly talked about in our churches or felt by professing believers. Further, Packer does justice to God by discussing at length the judicial aspect of God as repeatedly discussed in Scripture. Any analysis of God that's even remotely worthwhile will enter into this domain. Packer does it without apology and presents God not as a benevolent and non offensive deity that doesn't care enough about sin and evil to judge it accordingly (and to then call this kind of god a god of love), but as a God who is zealously interested in His creation and wants human beings to live upright lives and that because of His loving holiness, cannot allow evil and injustice to go unpunished. This concept is essential to any real understanding of God, and understanding that when the idea of 'God is love' is meant to communicate the idea that God should never judge anybody or anything because it would somehow be unloving for the Creator of the universe to do so, that this kind of 'love' does not resemble the God of the Bible, and that we should be thankful that God's love does not resemble an approach as unloving, apathetic, and crippling as this.

2) Packer, by analyzing the nature and character of God, also spends considerable time analyzing the nature and character of human beings. And similar to his ongoing examination of God, Packer does not sugarcoat his analysis of the human condition. Throughout the book, Packer's essential theme is that God is completely holy and perfect, and that human beings aren't, and that as human beings, we would be wise to continually recognize the difference between us and God. I think Packer impeccably drives home the point that as human beings, we simply can't have an adequate appreciation for God's holiness and love for us until we come to grips with how sinful and unholy we are, and how this sinful nature manifests itself in the world we live in each day.

On both of these points, Packer uses straight talk, straight out of Scripture. Packer is clearly writing in response to what he believes is a systematic watering down within the body of Christ of the holiness of God and the hopelessness of humanity outside of God's grace. Packer clearly believes that large segments of the body of Christ today are scared to preach these things or declare personal allegiance to such ideas, because they seem so 'unenlightened', 'outdated', or bordering too close to the fire and brimstone kind of messages that folks today recoil at. So as not to be misunderstood, I don't believe this book to be a fire and brimstone book. But I do believe it be a level headed and thoroughly Bible-based examination of God and humanity. And while certain parts of this book may be uncomfortable for some to read (I was a little uncomfortable with some of what was written), it was really clear to me that the thorough and genuine joy, hope, and purpose of the Christian life is best achieved when we understand both God and ourselves in light of what Scripture says about both. Without 'knowing' this, we are inevitably left with a reduced view of the perfection of God, as well as an inflated view of ourselves. And this worldview is very dangerous, and also very debilitating. Such a worldview provides scant comfort when we are suffering or enduring trials and difficulties. But a true knowledge of God, as Packer so eloquently shows, leads to an entirely different perspective and can truly lead to a dependence on God that knows no limits as to the benefits we will receive from such a dependence.

A great book, a true classic. A must have, in my opinion.

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Summary: A Modern Christian Classic
Review: Knowing God, though not yet thirty years old, is already considered by many to be a classic. Mr.Packer identifies and emphasizes the most important thing there is in life; to know God. Another salient feature of Packer's 'Knowing God' is that it encourages the reader to direct their thoughts Godward and shows some of the great benefits that are reaped by so doing. On p.14 the author makes this illuminating comment "Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest,continued investigation of the great subject of the deity." Surely there is no greater subject that can engage our minds. Of course to contemplate about God is desirable,profitable,necessary and of the utmost importance. However, our thoughts of God must be formed by His self revelation given to us in His Holy Word if they are to be accurate. Thus more than a third of the book is devoted to the setting forth of some of the attributes or characteristics of the God with whom we are to dwell upon. Another important and crucial emphasis of this book, is that it seeks to lead us to not just a theorhetical knowledge of God, but how our knowledge of God should be applied , and that if rightly applied, it should have a transforming effect upon our lives. If this book under God's blessing is sucessful in doing that, it will result in a life that is more holy and God centered, which I would venture to guess was the authors main intent.