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Knowing God
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. This 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:
1. Knowing about God and
2. 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.
Stemming from Packer's profound theological knowledge, Knowing God brings together two important facets of the Christian faith:
1. Knowing about God and
2. 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.
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
About the author
J.I. Packer
430 books857 followersWhat do J. I. Packer, Billy Graham and Richard John Neuhaus have in common? Each was recently named by TIME magazine as among the 25 most influential evangelicals in America.
Dr. Packer, the Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology at Regent College, was hailed by TIME as “a doctrinal Solomon” among Protestants. “Mediating debates on everything from a particular Bible translation to the acceptability of free-flowing Pentecostal spirituality, Packer helps unify a community [evangelicalism] that could easily fall victim to its internal tensions.”
Knowing God, Dr. Packer’s seminal 1973 work, was lauded as a book which articulated shared beliefs for members of diverse denominations; the TIME profile quotes Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington as saying, “conservative Methodists and Presbyterians and Baptists could all look to [Knowing God] and say, ‘This sums it all up for us.’”
In a similar tribute to Dr. Packer almost ten years ago, American theologian Mark Noll wrote in Christianity Today that, “Packer’s ability to address immensely important subjects in crisp, succinct sentences is one of the reasons why, both as an author and speaker, he has played such an important role among American evangelicals for four decades.”
For over 25 years Regent College students have been privileged to study under Dr. Packer’s clear and lucid teaching, and our faculty, staff and students celebrate the international recognition he rightly receives as a leading Christian thinker and teacher.
(https://www.regent-college.edu/facult...)
Dr. Packer, the Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology at Regent College, was hailed by TIME as “a doctrinal Solomon” among Protestants. “Mediating debates on everything from a particular Bible translation to the acceptability of free-flowing Pentecostal spirituality, Packer helps unify a community [evangelicalism] that could easily fall victim to its internal tensions.”
Knowing God, Dr. Packer’s seminal 1973 work, was lauded as a book which articulated shared beliefs for members of diverse denominations; the TIME profile quotes Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington as saying, “conservative Methodists and Presbyterians and Baptists could all look to [Knowing God] and say, ‘This sums it all up for us.’”
In a similar tribute to Dr. Packer almost ten years ago, American theologian Mark Noll wrote in Christianity Today that, “Packer’s ability to address immensely important subjects in crisp, succinct sentences is one of the reasons why, both as an author and speaker, he has played such an important role among American evangelicals for four decades.”
For over 25 years Regent College students have been privileged to study under Dr. Packer’s clear and lucid teaching, and our faculty, staff and students celebrate the international recognition he rightly receives as a leading Christian thinker and teacher.
(https://www.regent-college.edu/facult...)
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September 7, 2012
Absolutely the most significant book I've read in the past year, and, next to the Bible, probably had the biggest impact on me of any book I've ever read. I don't even know what to say about it. I could detail/analyze the contents, but others have done that already, and better than I could; I think I'll just say that the Lord used Knowing God (in conjunction with a few other books) to re-calibrate my focus, adjust my priorities, and teach me some huge, huge lessons, at a time when I was in great need of those things happening. J.I. Packer is straight-forward, hard-hitting, and very, very wise -- and it's obvious that he writes from the standpoint of someone who really does know God in the truest sense possible here on earth.
There are so many things in this book that I wish I could write about -- Packer's incredible exposition of each of God's attributes (for example, a quote on God's love: "So the love of God who is spirit is no fitful, fluctuating thing, as human love is, nor is it a mere impotent longing for things that may never be; it is, rather, a spontaneous determination of God's whole being in an attitude of benevolence and benefaction, an attitude freely chosen and firmly fixed"); his amazing, amazing explanation of propitiation and the atonement (so clear and plain and beautiful -- I honestly don't think I understood half of it all before); his reprimand to us for largely forgetting the Holy Spirit and overlooking his incredible role in our redemption ("Is it not a hollow fraud to say that we honor Christ when we ignore, and by ignoring dishonor, the One whom Christ has sent to us as his deputy, to take his place and care for us on his behalf? Ought we not to concern ourselves more about the Holy Spirit than we do?"); his wise, clear-sighted explanation of how we as Christians should think about the difficult things that happen to us ("Every single thing that happens to us expresses God's love to us, and comes to us for the furthering of God's purpose for us. Thus, so far as we are concerned, God is love to us---holy, omnipotent love---at every moment and in every event of every day's life. Even when we cannot see the why and the the wherefore of God's dealing, we know that there is love in and behind them, and so we can rejoice always, even when, humanly speaking, things are going wrong. We know that the true story of our life, when known will prove to be, as the hymn says, "mercy from first to last"---and we are content"); and his reminder of what will be the incredible fruit of those tough times, if we respond to them with faith ("This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort and another; it is to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast") -- but you really must read the book for yourself, because I can't do it any sort of justice.
I guess if I tried to put down the summation of what I came away with, it would be this: All of the secondary things, all those good things that we/I spend so much time thinking and talking about (high moral standards, good relationships with people, our forays into history or economics or music or law or even theology) are all rubbish -- pure trash -- if they don't have as their foundation and driving-force a living, breathing, active knowledge of, and relationship with, God. We're so weak and stupid and forgetful, and we pour all our energies into "good things" and forget why we're even doing them in the first place. We don't know anything if we don't know our God. God is ultimately the only important thing.
I don't know if I'm making any sense, but Packer sums it up beautifully: "What makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective, something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance, and this the Christian has in a way that no other person has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?"
"Thus says the LORD: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.'" [Jer. 9:23-24]
There are so many things in this book that I wish I could write about -- Packer's incredible exposition of each of God's attributes (for example, a quote on God's love: "So the love of God who is spirit is no fitful, fluctuating thing, as human love is, nor is it a mere impotent longing for things that may never be; it is, rather, a spontaneous determination of God's whole being in an attitude of benevolence and benefaction, an attitude freely chosen and firmly fixed"); his amazing, amazing explanation of propitiation and the atonement (so clear and plain and beautiful -- I honestly don't think I understood half of it all before); his reprimand to us for largely forgetting the Holy Spirit and overlooking his incredible role in our redemption ("Is it not a hollow fraud to say that we honor Christ when we ignore, and by ignoring dishonor, the One whom Christ has sent to us as his deputy, to take his place and care for us on his behalf? Ought we not to concern ourselves more about the Holy Spirit than we do?"); his wise, clear-sighted explanation of how we as Christians should think about the difficult things that happen to us ("Every single thing that happens to us expresses God's love to us, and comes to us for the furthering of God's purpose for us. Thus, so far as we are concerned, God is love to us---holy, omnipotent love---at every moment and in every event of every day's life. Even when we cannot see the why and the the wherefore of God's dealing, we know that there is love in and behind them, and so we can rejoice always, even when, humanly speaking, things are going wrong. We know that the true story of our life, when known will prove to be, as the hymn says, "mercy from first to last"---and we are content"); and his reminder of what will be the incredible fruit of those tough times, if we respond to them with faith ("This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort and another; it is to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast") -- but you really must read the book for yourself, because I can't do it any sort of justice.
I guess if I tried to put down the summation of what I came away with, it would be this: All of the secondary things, all those good things that we/I spend so much time thinking and talking about (high moral standards, good relationships with people, our forays into history or economics or music or law or even theology) are all rubbish -- pure trash -- if they don't have as their foundation and driving-force a living, breathing, active knowledge of, and relationship with, God. We're so weak and stupid and forgetful, and we pour all our energies into "good things" and forget why we're even doing them in the first place. We don't know anything if we don't know our God. God is ultimately the only important thing.
I don't know if I'm making any sense, but Packer sums it up beautifully: "What makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective, something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance, and this the Christian has in a way that no other person has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?"
"Thus says the LORD: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.'" [Jer. 9:23-24]
Read
October 31, 2024I came to Packer as a griping senior citizen who had yet to learn the virtue of patience. His book has sat beside me these two weeks, so I have inhaled its Puritan fragrance as I worried, so that the knowledge of the Heavenly Father changed my ragged seventyish life by osmosis.
He has simplified my Faith.
Back in 1969, I had nowhere to go and no one to turn to, for the whole world fell upon me, ugly and inimical. I was in a place I had never been before - a psych ward. Why?
Packer has told me now.
I did not Know God. Sure, I worshipped him, but big, jovial Mr. Cookzit at St Prichett’s had alienated me, belting out Bringing in the Sheaves, meaning affluence.
But back then I didn’t know God, in Whom there is no such alienation.
We say we have become a mere Outsider to the world. No problem, says Packer, just know the Inside of God. His acceptance. His patience.
His LovingKindness (my only comfort in the Royally Awful Hospital).
That, my friends, is All You Need to Know!
And now I notice the late Mr. Cookzit smiling down on me, from atop a little white cloud way, way up on high.
And his smile makes this perfect summer day more lovely.
He has simplified my Faith.
Back in 1969, I had nowhere to go and no one to turn to, for the whole world fell upon me, ugly and inimical. I was in a place I had never been before - a psych ward. Why?
Packer has told me now.
I did not Know God. Sure, I worshipped him, but big, jovial Mr. Cookzit at St Prichett’s had alienated me, belting out Bringing in the Sheaves, meaning affluence.
But back then I didn’t know God, in Whom there is no such alienation.
We say we have become a mere Outsider to the world. No problem, says Packer, just know the Inside of God. His acceptance. His patience.
His LovingKindness (my only comfort in the Royally Awful Hospital).
That, my friends, is All You Need to Know!
And now I notice the late Mr. Cookzit smiling down on me, from atop a little white cloud way, way up on high.
And his smile makes this perfect summer day more lovely.
January 5, 2015
If, like me, you were raised going to a Christian church, reading the Bible, and participating in Bible studies, you might think you know all there is to know about God. But the goal of the Christian shouldn't be merely to know about God. We must realize, first, how little we know God and secondly, why it's important to do so. In "Knowing God," Packer stresses the importance of really understanding who God is and attempts to excite and motivate the Christian to strive towards knowing Him better. Theology is often downplayed and seems to receive little attention in many churches these days. But every professing Christian should have as a lifelong pursuit the subject of theology, which is simply the study of God. And as a student of God's Word, Packer says, the Christian must ask himself, "What do I intend to do with my knowledge about God, once I have got it?" Packer points out that one may know a lot about God and godliness, and still hardly know Him.
Possessing a true knowledge of God will have an effect on and be evident in a person's life. Packer names four things that will be the result of knowing God: Great energy for God, Great thoughts of God, Great boldness for God, and Great contentment in God.
In order to really know God, He has to speak to us and teach us about Himself. We must come to know God as He revealed Himself to the prophets and apostles as given to us in the Scriptures. The Westminster Catechism tells us, "The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man."
With this in mind, Packer discusses why it is important to know who God is, what He is like, and God's relationship with and actions towards man. Packer discusses and explains the important doctrinal concepts of propitiation, regeneration, justification, and adoption -- doctrines of Christianity that set it apart from all other religions and belief systems.
A favorite quote of mine from the book is this one:
"To be right with God the judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the father is a greater...We do not fully feel the wonder of the passage from death to life which takes place in the new birth till we see it as a transition not simply out of condemnation into acceptance, but out of bondage and destitution into the 'safety, certainty, and enjoyment' of the family of God."
Packer ends his book with a chapter on the adequacy of God. He expands on the ideas that God is adequate as our sovereign protector, benefactor, champion, and keeper. To the person who has come to trust Christ as his Savior and who has come into a personal relationship with God, He is all these things and more, and we need no other beside Him.
For a more thorough discussion of this book, visit my blog: ImAllBooked.com
Possessing a true knowledge of God will have an effect on and be evident in a person's life. Packer names four things that will be the result of knowing God: Great energy for God, Great thoughts of God, Great boldness for God, and Great contentment in God.
In order to really know God, He has to speak to us and teach us about Himself. We must come to know God as He revealed Himself to the prophets and apostles as given to us in the Scriptures. The Westminster Catechism tells us, "The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man."
With this in mind, Packer discusses why it is important to know who God is, what He is like, and God's relationship with and actions towards man. Packer discusses and explains the important doctrinal concepts of propitiation, regeneration, justification, and adoption -- doctrines of Christianity that set it apart from all other religions and belief systems.
A favorite quote of mine from the book is this one:
"To be right with God the judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the father is a greater...We do not fully feel the wonder of the passage from death to life which takes place in the new birth till we see it as a transition not simply out of condemnation into acceptance, but out of bondage and destitution into the 'safety, certainty, and enjoyment' of the family of God."
Packer ends his book with a chapter on the adequacy of God. He expands on the ideas that God is adequate as our sovereign protector, benefactor, champion, and keeper. To the person who has come to trust Christ as his Savior and who has come into a personal relationship with God, He is all these things and more, and we need no other beside Him.
For a more thorough discussion of this book, visit my blog: ImAllBooked.com
October 25, 2014
"As clowns yearn to play Hamlet, so I have wanted to write a treatise on God. This book, however, is not it."
J.I. Packer begins this book by pointing out that there are two types of probable readers for his book. There are those who are on a journey or in the arena - rather, whatever metaphor you wish to use for actually exploring the notion of Knowing God - and then there are the balcony watchers. The 'balconeers' and travelers may think about the same concept, but there are two different ways of doing so and Packer explains that he writes this book for the travelers rather than for those looking on academically into the subject of God. In that sense to critique this book as a 'guide book' of theology is in my view apt and it's a useful book, though as with any work of theology you must always test the use of scripture and the spiritual insight provided.
The most powerful part of this book is the way that Packer so clearly sets out to explain two concepts that are crucial to the Christian faith. The first is that it is to be considered that the purpose of mankind is the worship of God, of the creator. The second is that God is not like a man. This second may seem like a simple statement, yet it is far more elusive than it would appear. Too often people make statements like 'I cannot accept a God who...' or 'I don't believe in a God who...' Frankly it doesn't matter if God is real whether you can or cannot accept a God who fits your particular paradigm: being God he is bigger than your paradigm. I suspect it's this concept that G.K. Chesterton references when he paradoxically states: “If there were no God, there would be no atheists.”
These two concepts are so crucial because they set out the entire perimeter for the book. Packer sets off to basically use the first concept to explain why knowing God is so very important in terms of this notion of worship. He notes that there is a difference between knowing about someone and knowing them personally and it is the second - the intimate knowing of God that Packer writes this work about. The second concept is crucial because Packer refers to how God is not a man, but is spirit (or as scripture also references: light and love), to explain how an all-loving God can also be a God of judgement, wrath, jealousy and so on. Packer clearly explains further that the God in the Old Testament could appear to be different to the one in the new, but it is not God who changes - God does not change, but rather it is human perceptions of God that change: our position in relation to him.
All up this is a work of theology that anyone on a journey to discovering more about God or trying to discover God should read in my opinion. You may find it useful if you are a balconeer, looking on academically at religion, but you won't get to the real heart of the book which is deep and insightful and has caused me to reflect on several views of God I had taken for granted. And taking anything for granted is not a great way to live life...
June 15, 2023
Packer's dispensation of wisdom is matched only by the dispensation of tote bags at university open-days. His delivery of insight only matched by Amazon prime. The grounded-ness of his doctrine matched only by the groundy-ness of terribly made coffee.
Each chapter discusses something different about God as Packer unPACKs (see what I did there) potent biblical doctrines; doctrines of a very much varied and occasionally overlooked nature. I really enjoyed the way in which the author addresses the addressee. The goal of his writing always seems to be to instil greater devotion and love towards God via a greater and increasingly accurate view of God's character, and I certainly feel like I have grown in understanding and appreciation over the 18 months it took to get through it!
It's a called a classic for a reason folks. Highly highly highly recommended.
Each chapter discusses something different about God as Packer unPACKs (see what I did there) potent biblical doctrines; doctrines of a very much varied and occasionally overlooked nature. I really enjoyed the way in which the author addresses the addressee. The goal of his writing always seems to be to instil greater devotion and love towards God via a greater and increasingly accurate view of God's character, and I certainly feel like I have grown in understanding and appreciation over the 18 months it took to get through it!
It's a called a classic for a reason folks. Highly highly highly recommended.
March 29, 2023
Listened on audio. Early on in the book, I thought that I might give it 3 stars, because it didn't seem that groundbreaking, as far as what I was learning from it. I realized that that was a testament to the good teaching that I have received throughout the years. But as I heard more, some really good parts jumped out, and I came to value the book much more. I should read my paperback edition sometime, which includes the preface from 1993. Packer turned 93 soon before I finished in 2019. He died in 2020.
Preface (1973)
feels like a clown wanting to play Hamlet
meant to be more practical than theoretical
Part I: Know the Lord
Ch. 1: The Study of God
The proper study of man may be man, but the proper study of God's elect is God.
Westminster Shorter Catechism on God
Ch. 2: The People Who Know Their God
Ch. 3: Knowing and Being Known
Marie Antoinette fever: absurdism ("nothing tastes")
knowing is something that others allow us to do (we can't do it if they don't provide access)
Ch. 4: The Only True God
JIP takes 2CV (Second Commandment Violations) seriously.
Ch. 5: God Incarnate
53: "Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation."
58: Charles Wesley's "Let earth and Heaven combine": "Our God contracted to a span; / Incomprehensibly made man."
58–59: 2 Cor. 8:9 interprets the Incarnation better than John 1:14.
59: Phil. 2:7 and kenosis: laying aside (restraining) divine glory/dignity, not metaphysical qualities
59–60: Bishop Gore (1889) and kenosis
63: Christmas spirit: becoming poor so others may be made rich (see 2 Cor. 8:9)
Ch. 6: He Shall Testify
Trinity stuff
Part II: Behold Your God!
Ch. 7: God Unchanging
Immutability
Ch. 8: The Majesty of God
Greatness
Ch. 9: God Only Wise
best means to achieve the best ends; Job
Ch. 10: God's Wisdom and Ours
Wisdom is a communicable attribute. We receive it through God's word, so we'd be foolish not to read it.
Ecclesiastes
Ch. 11: Thy Word is Truth
Ch. 12: The Love of God
good inclusion of discipline and sternness
Ch. 13: The Grace of God
God's Riches At Christ's Expense
reference to Carnegie's How to Win Friends
Ch. 14: God the Judge
people prefer God as a father
judgment overshadows everything in the OT, and the NT only intensifies with Christ as the judge
ancient kings were judges because a judge has the highest authority
143: the final judgment isn't just a bogey to scare men into conformity to conventional behavior, but a revelation of God's moral character
Ch. 15: The Wrath of God
151–52: wrath doesn't make God a monster: 1) God's wrath is always just, 2) those who receive wrath have chosen it
reference to Edwards's sermon
Ch. 16: Goodness and Severity
Santa Claus
severity comes when goodness is spurned
Ch. 17: The Jealous God
zeal to protect a relationship
God's jealousy presupposes His covenant faithfulness.
it's the motive for both wrath and mercy
Part III: If God Be for Us...
Ch. 18: The Heart of the Gospel
pagan propitiation (Agamemnon)
Dodd eliminated wrath (changes "propitiation" to "expiation")
Ch. 19: Sons of God
God as Father
adoption
rewards
gospel = adoption thru propitiation
See here for a great quote.
Ch. 20: Thou Our Guide
Scripture > inward sensation
vocational choices
The Holy Spirit will never guide you outside the bounds of Scripture. See here.
Ps. 23: He leads me in paths of righteousness.
God's guidance leads us into both light and darkness—way of the cross
Ch. 21: These Inward Trials
good navigation between antinomianism and sinless perfectionism
"grace"; defeating sin
growth in sanctification
active, not passive
concludes with a Newton quotation (ironically)
Ch. 22: The Adequacy of God
Romans (Luther, Calvin, Tyndale)
Romans 8
law
loaded gun analogy (Arminianism: Christ's work loaded the gun, but we have to pull the trigger)
assurance
Preface (1973)
feels like a clown wanting to play Hamlet
meant to be more practical than theoretical
Part I: Know the Lord
Ch. 1: The Study of God
The proper study of man may be man, but the proper study of God's elect is God.
Westminster Shorter Catechism on God
Ch. 2: The People Who Know Their God
Ch. 3: Knowing and Being Known
Marie Antoinette fever: absurdism ("nothing tastes")
knowing is something that others allow us to do (we can't do it if they don't provide access)
Ch. 4: The Only True God
JIP takes 2CV (Second Commandment Violations) seriously.
Ch. 5: God Incarnate
53: "Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation."
58: Charles Wesley's "Let earth and Heaven combine": "Our God contracted to a span; / Incomprehensibly made man."
58–59: 2 Cor. 8:9 interprets the Incarnation better than John 1:14.
59: Phil. 2:7 and kenosis: laying aside (restraining) divine glory/dignity, not metaphysical qualities
59–60: Bishop Gore (1889) and kenosis
63: Christmas spirit: becoming poor so others may be made rich (see 2 Cor. 8:9)
Ch. 6: He Shall Testify
Trinity stuff
Part II: Behold Your God!
Ch. 7: God Unchanging
Immutability
Ch. 8: The Majesty of God
Greatness
Ch. 9: God Only Wise
best means to achieve the best ends; Job
Ch. 10: God's Wisdom and Ours
Wisdom is a communicable attribute. We receive it through God's word, so we'd be foolish not to read it.
Ecclesiastes
Ch. 11: Thy Word is Truth
Ch. 12: The Love of God
good inclusion of discipline and sternness
Ch. 13: The Grace of God
God's Riches At Christ's Expense
reference to Carnegie's How to Win Friends
Ch. 14: God the Judge
people prefer God as a father
judgment overshadows everything in the OT, and the NT only intensifies with Christ as the judge
ancient kings were judges because a judge has the highest authority
143: the final judgment isn't just a bogey to scare men into conformity to conventional behavior, but a revelation of God's moral character
Ch. 15: The Wrath of God
151–52: wrath doesn't make God a monster: 1) God's wrath is always just, 2) those who receive wrath have chosen it
reference to Edwards's sermon
Ch. 16: Goodness and Severity
Santa Claus
severity comes when goodness is spurned
Ch. 17: The Jealous God
zeal to protect a relationship
God's jealousy presupposes His covenant faithfulness.
it's the motive for both wrath and mercy
Part III: If God Be for Us...
Ch. 18: The Heart of the Gospel
pagan propitiation (Agamemnon)
Dodd eliminated wrath (changes "propitiation" to "expiation")
Ch. 19: Sons of God
God as Father
adoption
rewards
gospel = adoption thru propitiation
See here for a great quote.
Ch. 20: Thou Our Guide
Scripture > inward sensation
vocational choices
The Holy Spirit will never guide you outside the bounds of Scripture. See here.
Ps. 23: He leads me in paths of righteousness.
God's guidance leads us into both light and darkness—way of the cross
Ch. 21: These Inward Trials
good navigation between antinomianism and sinless perfectionism
"grace"; defeating sin
growth in sanctification
active, not passive
concludes with a Newton quotation (ironically)
Ch. 22: The Adequacy of God
Romans (Luther, Calvin, Tyndale)
Romans 8
law
loaded gun analogy (Arminianism: Christ's work loaded the gun, but we have to pull the trigger)
assurance
May 24, 2023
My thoughts 30 years ago were: This is one of the best basic theology books available. Don't let the word "theology" make you think it's dry and boring because Packer writes in a fresh and inspiring manner. Every Christian should read this.
This time (2020) I read it through slowly with a new believer (one chapter a week over many months) and did not come away with the same enthusiasm. It is clear why this is a modern Christian classic because Packer combines theology with a deep love for God and reverence for His word. But because of the emphasis on election and predestination I would not recommend this for every Christian, but only for those with a mature enough faith to sift through those ideas.
On page 166, Packer writes, "The Bible could be called the book of God's wrath, for it is full of portrayals of divine retribution from the cursing and banishment of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 to the overthrow of 'Babylon' and the great assizes of Revelation 17-18 and 20." I have no problem acknowledging that the Bible teaches God's wrath. But it's unbelievable to say that the Bible could be titled that way. The example he gives of Adam and Eve in the garden is loaded with references to GRACE. When Adam and Eve sin, God does not destroy them. Instead He seeks them out. He takes away their ridiculous foliage and gives them new clothing. Yes, they suffer the consequence of their sinful choice by having to leave, but wrath is not the primary attribute of God displayed in the story.
I appreciated many truths that Packer outlines in this book and underlined passages profusely, but came away with some reservations.
This time (2020) I read it through slowly with a new believer (one chapter a week over many months) and did not come away with the same enthusiasm. It is clear why this is a modern Christian classic because Packer combines theology with a deep love for God and reverence for His word. But because of the emphasis on election and predestination I would not recommend this for every Christian, but only for those with a mature enough faith to sift through those ideas.
On page 166, Packer writes, "The Bible could be called the book of God's wrath, for it is full of portrayals of divine retribution from the cursing and banishment of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 to the overthrow of 'Babylon' and the great assizes of Revelation 17-18 and 20." I have no problem acknowledging that the Bible teaches God's wrath. But it's unbelievable to say that the Bible could be titled that way. The example he gives of Adam and Eve in the garden is loaded with references to GRACE. When Adam and Eve sin, God does not destroy them. Instead He seeks them out. He takes away their ridiculous foliage and gives them new clothing. Yes, they suffer the consequence of their sinful choice by having to leave, but wrath is not the primary attribute of God displayed in the story.
I appreciated many truths that Packer outlines in this book and underlined passages profusely, but came away with some reservations.
September 24, 2018
2018: When a Theology book touches the mind and the heart, it is worth reading.
2012: A Theology book that touches deep within your heart, brings you to your knees and makes you cry is worth reading/ listening at least once a year, every year.
I had read this book before but this time (August 2012), I am listening to this audio version which I am loving. The narrator, Simon Vance, does an amazing job, not to mention that he is British which is perfect because Packer is British as well. Each chapter is about 25 mins. average so it makes it easy to listen to one chapter a day. I would not read/listen more than one chapter a day, because this is the kind of book that deserves to be digested slowly.
If you have not read/listen to this book, I would strongly recommend that you make it the next book you read or listen (yes, read it before the other 50 in your TBR list):)
2012: A Theology book that touches deep within your heart, brings you to your knees and makes you cry is worth reading/ listening at least once a year, every year.
I had read this book before but this time (August 2012), I am listening to this audio version which I am loving. The narrator, Simon Vance, does an amazing job, not to mention that he is British which is perfect because Packer is British as well. Each chapter is about 25 mins. average so it makes it easy to listen to one chapter a day. I would not read/listen more than one chapter a day, because this is the kind of book that deserves to be digested slowly.
If you have not read/listen to this book, I would strongly recommend that you make it the next book you read or listen (yes, read it before the other 50 in your TBR list):)
December 23, 2023
Once my prof and personal friend .. we didn’t have to agree on everything because I’m not a Calvinist or Puritan .. but we enjoyed mutual respect and even a good human love 🫶🏼 I liked that he told me once that the one thing he could not abide was cruel teaching .. when we came to eating Asian cuisine at UBC he inevitably ordered four or five dishes, touched none of them, and happily tucked into the dishes I had brought to the table 🍤 🍚 🍱 😄
February 10, 2024
Packer’s Knowing God was both an absolutely excellent and doctrinally rich manual for the airy and light contemporary church, and also a superb introduction to reformed theology all in one.
I wish I had read this sooner! It was fantastic!
I wish I had read this sooner! It was fantastic!
December 14, 2024
Every Christian must read this book, and it is a gift from God that I picked it up. It has changed my life. Never before have I found such sound doctrine, such Biblical theology. I felt utterly safe in the writings of JI Packer, which is such a rarity nowadays (unfortunately).
I deepened in my relationship with the Lord in more ways than I can write here. As my knowledge OF Him grew, so did my KNOWING Him: grace, adoption, the adequacy of God - I could go on and on…
This book has changed the trajectory of my my life, I do believe. After each chapter I leapt into prayer and worship. MY JOY INCREASED SO MUCH because of fellowshipping with the Lord more.
I was greatly challenged every single page, taking a longg time to read this book, purely because I wanted to digest every single word (my book is covered in highlighter and notes…literally) and following each hard-hitting truth was always the gospel. It was only in reading this book that I truly grasped God’s love for me displayed on the cross.
As an avid reader, Christian books are the greatest gift. To grow in my faith while doing something I love? Thank You Lord! And thank you JI Packer for being so real, honest and loving in your writings. Life-changing stuff.
“Have you been holding back from a risky, costly course to which you know in your heart God has called you? Hold back no longer. Your God is faithful to you, and adequate for you. You will never need more than He can supply, and what He supplies, both materially and spiritually, will always be enough for the present.”
Amen.
I deepened in my relationship with the Lord in more ways than I can write here. As my knowledge OF Him grew, so did my KNOWING Him: grace, adoption, the adequacy of God - I could go on and on…
This book has changed the trajectory of my my life, I do believe. After each chapter I leapt into prayer and worship. MY JOY INCREASED SO MUCH because of fellowshipping with the Lord more.
I was greatly challenged every single page, taking a longg time to read this book, purely because I wanted to digest every single word (my book is covered in highlighter and notes…literally) and following each hard-hitting truth was always the gospel. It was only in reading this book that I truly grasped God’s love for me displayed on the cross.
As an avid reader, Christian books are the greatest gift. To grow in my faith while doing something I love? Thank You Lord! And thank you JI Packer for being so real, honest and loving in your writings. Life-changing stuff.
“Have you been holding back from a risky, costly course to which you know in your heart God has called you? Hold back no longer. Your God is faithful to you, and adequate for you. You will never need more than He can supply, and what He supplies, both materially and spiritually, will always be enough for the present.”
Amen.
July 18, 2023
There are three books every Christian ought to read once a year: the Bible (of course), John Bunyan's classic allegory Pilgrim's Progress, and Knowing God by J.I. Packer. In a remarkable 300 pages is given the portrait of the Creator of the universe and our relationship to Him. If you have ever wanted to know the One behind the intelligent design of the natural world (including the manner in which you are fearfully and wonderfully made), read this book. Believer, if you want to know your Abba Father better, read this book.
April 7, 2012
I initially bought and read Knowing God almost 35 years ago. I was a new Christian, young and ignorant; but as is true of many young people, I had no idea just how ignorant I really was.
I don't think I can adequately express how thankful I am for Packer's book. It was a Godsend to me. It taught me not simply how to approach theology, but how to approach God himself. It shaped my heart and my mind in ways that I'm certain saved me from making even more mistakes than I did in my exuberant, youthful ignorance.
We do ourselves a tremendous disservice, and our souls incalculable damage, if we casually dismiss the study of God. Or, as Packer put it in chapter one:
"Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul."
Another thing I realized was that theology was a two-edged sword--having on the one hand immense value, and on the other potentially damning dangers. Packer went on to issue a warning in that first chapter that probably needs to be trumpeted more often (and more loudly) than it is.
"If we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bound to go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. The very greatness of the subject matter will intoxicate us, and we shall come to think of ourselves as a cut above other Christians because of our interest in it and grasp of it; and we shall look down on those whose theological ideas seem to us crude and inadequate and dismiss them as very poor specimens. For, as Paul told the conceited Corinthians, "Knowledge puffs up.... The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know" (1 Cor 8:1-2).
"To be preoccupied with getting theological knowledge as an end in itself, to approach Bible study with no higher a motive than a desire to know all the answers, is the direct route to a state of self-satisfied self-deception."
By the grace of God my goal is to do everything in my power to avoid self-satisfied self-deception. I know I haven't always succeeded, but I have no intention of giving up the fight.
Those are just a few of the reasons that I'm thankful for Knowing God. If I could make it required reading for every new Christian, I would.
I don't think I can adequately express how thankful I am for Packer's book. It was a Godsend to me. It taught me not simply how to approach theology, but how to approach God himself. It shaped my heart and my mind in ways that I'm certain saved me from making even more mistakes than I did in my exuberant, youthful ignorance.
We do ourselves a tremendous disservice, and our souls incalculable damage, if we casually dismiss the study of God. Or, as Packer put it in chapter one:
"Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul."
Another thing I realized was that theology was a two-edged sword--having on the one hand immense value, and on the other potentially damning dangers. Packer went on to issue a warning in that first chapter that probably needs to be trumpeted more often (and more loudly) than it is.
"If we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bound to go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. The very greatness of the subject matter will intoxicate us, and we shall come to think of ourselves as a cut above other Christians because of our interest in it and grasp of it; and we shall look down on those whose theological ideas seem to us crude and inadequate and dismiss them as very poor specimens. For, as Paul told the conceited Corinthians, "Knowledge puffs up.... The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know" (1 Cor 8:1-2).
"To be preoccupied with getting theological knowledge as an end in itself, to approach Bible study with no higher a motive than a desire to know all the answers, is the direct route to a state of self-satisfied self-deception."
By the grace of God my goal is to do everything in my power to avoid self-satisfied self-deception. I know I haven't always succeeded, but I have no intention of giving up the fight.
Those are just a few of the reasons that I'm thankful for Knowing God. If I could make it required reading for every new Christian, I would.
May 9, 2022
If you have not read this Christian classic it needs to be on your next up list. This book is so good, Packer writes in a beautiful way that articulates the depth and beauty of God. I can’t say enough positive words about this piece of Christian history. It will be added to my rotation of books that I try to read at least once a year. Practically speaking, this book is a concise for the people systematic theology, and I’d recommend it to pastors, lay people, and non-Christians interested in the God of the Bible.
January 22, 2023
Knowing God was one of the phenomenal books that I read, morning by morning, after I graduated from College. It almost certainly took me from hating the Evangelical language of a "personal relationship with God" to loving it. It's also easy to see why I really loved this book so much at the time: J.I. Packer is much more obviously engaged with the Keswick movement in several passages in this book.
The Keswick movement was a pretty big tent. I reviewed Charles Trumbull's Victory of Christ, and I like a lot of that book still, but the big problem that Packer rightly criticizes is that it talks about overcoming sin as being done through "let go and let God," sometimes married to "second consecration language." I grew up with that language and it didn't help me as I struggled with particular sins, and I always had this desire for some sort of knowledge or trick that would help me go through life unruffled. Packer really threaded the needle for me at the time and explained how there is no "trick," no "formula," to avoiding suffering and resisting temptation, and yet he also was so clearly in favor of having emotions for God and he could word them so well. The chapter on adoption was heaven in this re-read.
It also resonated with me much more emotionally last time because at the time I had come to an uneasy acceptance of penal atonement. Packer definitely convicted me more by giving lots and lots of time to defending this doctrine. Packer is extremely careful not to sugar-coat the difficulties of the Christian life and in particular of God's hatred of sin, and like the few Puritans I have read, he wants to make Christians rejoice in the relief of forgiveness. While attacks on penal atonement have not been as frequent recently in my circles, we still need it in 2023 as Evangelical culture continues to go soft.
One other thing that is striking is that Packer is constantly evangelizing in this book. I was recently reading Romans and I noticed that, though Paul is writing to "the church in Rome," he clearly is offering a gospel presentation that would speak to anyone unconverted, in or out of the Church. At any rate, I appreciated on this read that J.I. Packer is an Anglican: he speaks, like C.S. Lewis, to a dead church and does not assume orthodox Christianity but has to prove it and educate his readers about it at every turn.
The end of the book is particularly moving this time: Packer ends the book with a call to act in faith and to not count the cost of showing love and financial generosity. It's been a while since I heard that, but I loved it from Packer.
One of the things Carl Trueman observed in his tribute to Packer was that Packer aged well and ended his days with dignity. That's the reason I probably accepted this book: it never comes across as senstational or overstated. One of the marks of a great book is that it cuts to the heart of things and is not full of lies or postures or hedges. This book is truth.
I sent a letter to Packer before he passed away. I probably said something like, "This book meant a lot to me and helped me know God better." I got no reponse, but re-reading this book I still feel that.
Old Review:
After Piper's Desiring God, I somewhat dreaded this book, but I was happily surprised and challenged. This is a wonderful book which could easily be read as full of cliches, but if you actually stop to take the cliches seriously, it gets deep and very uncliched very fast. Here's a sampler:
"“Nor is it the spirit of those Christians-alas, they are many-whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the sub-middle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.
The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor-spending and being spent-to enrich their fellowmen, giving time, trouble, care and concern to do good to others-and not just their own friends - in whatever way there seems need."
And that in the context of a book that presents the traditional and time-honored view of God. The best thing about Packer, I think, is his prose, which is just surprising and very ... English: "How should we explain Jesus’ belief in the necessity of his death? How should we account for the fact that what drove him on throughout his public ministry, as all four Gospels testify, was the conviction that he had to be killed? And how should we explain the fact that, whereas martyrs like Stephen faced death with joy, and even Socrates, the pagan philosopher, drank his hemlock and died without tremor, Jesus, the perfect servant of God, who had never before showed the least fear of man or pain or loss, manifested in Gethsemane what looked like blue funk, and on the cross declared himself God-forsaken?"
"To drive well, you have to keep your eyes skinned to notice exactly what it is in front of you. To live wisely, you have to be clear-sighted and realistic–ruthlessly so–in looking at life as it is. Wisdom will not go with comforting illusions, false sentiment, or the use of rose-coloured spectacles. Most of us live in a dream world, with our heads in the clouds and our feet off the ground; we never see the world, and our lives in it, as they really are. This deep-seated, sin-bred unrealism is one reason why there is so much little wisdom among us–even the soundest and most orthodox of us."
Oh, Packer's an Anglican. Can you beat that?
"The Puritans had to face these 'antinomian' ideas, and sometimes made heavy weather of answering them. If one allows it to be assumed that justification is the bee-all and end-all of the gift of salvation, one will always make heavy weather of answering such arguments. The truth is that these ideas must be answered in terms, not of justification, but of adoption: a reality which the Puritans never highlighted quite enough." I'm almost certain now that the Puritans were the Federal Visionists of their day and to the extent that we do not slow down the movement, it will result in similar consequences.
I think the best description of him is that he does not mince words, yet is not vulgar. (I use that word in the older sense.) His sweet spot is when he talks about trusting in God and not over-realizing the eschaton in our sanctified lives:
"We feel that, for the honour of God (and also, though we do not say this, for the sake of our own reputation as spiritual Christians), it is necessary for us to claim that we are, so to speak, already in the signal-box, here and now enjoying the inside information as to the why and wherefore of God’s doings. This comforting pretence becomes part of us: we feel sure that God has enabled us to understand all His ways with us and our circle thus far, and we take if for granted that we shall be able to see at once the reason for anything that may happen to us in the future. And then something very painful and quite inexplicable comes along, and our cheerful illusion of being in God’s secret councils is shattered. Our pride is wounded; we feel that God has slighted us; and unless at this point we repent, and humble ourselves very thoroughly for our former presumption, our whole subsequent spiritual life may be blighted."
He is sometimes quite terrifyingly good:
"Those who are new in the faith often advance into their new life joyfully certain that they have left all the old headaches and heartaches behind them. And then they find that it is not like that at all. Long standing problems of temperament, of personal relationships, of felt wants, of nagging temptations are still there—sometimes, indeed, intensified. God does not make their circumstances notably easier; rather the reverse. Dissatisfaction recurs over wife, or husband, or parents, or in-laws, or children, or colleagues or neighbors. Temptations and bad habits which their conversion experience seemed to have banished for good reappear. As the first great waves of joy rolled over them during the opening weeks of their Christian experience, they had really felt that all problems had solved themselves, but now they see that it was not so ... Things which got them down before they were Christians are threatening to get them down again."
"Many are caught in these toils today. What help is needed here? we ask. The light shed by the truth of adoption on the ministry of the Spirit gives the answer. The cause of such troubles as we have described is a false, magical type of supernaturalism, which leads people to hanker after a transforming touch as from an electric impersonal power that will make them feel wholly free from the burdens and bondages of living with themselves and other people. They believe that this is the essence of genuine spiritual experience. They think the work of the Spirit is to give them experiences that are like LSD trips. (How unhelpful it is when evangelists actually promise this, and when drug takers equate their fantasies with religious experience! Will our age never learn to distinguish things that differ?) In fact, however, this quest for an inward explosion rather than inward communion shows deep misunderstanding of the Spirit’s ministry. ... [I]t is not as we strain after feelings and experiences, of whatever sort, but as we seek God himself, looking to him as our Father, prizing his fellowship, and finding in ourselves an increasing concern to know and please him, that the reality of the Spirit’s ministry becomes visible in our lives. This is the needed truth which can lift us out of the quagmire of non-spiritual views of the Spirit in which so many today are floundering.
The last chapter on the adequacy of God captured me with its terrible beauty and there were many moments, usually scattered hither and thither throughout the book. Read it and look for the darkness of the cross, underlaid by the shining glory of adoption of sons of God. Once I read a theologian that pointed out how many Christians think of justification as the heart of the Gospel, when really adoption is the heart; Packer gets that without going crazy.
The Keswick movement was a pretty big tent. I reviewed Charles Trumbull's Victory of Christ, and I like a lot of that book still, but the big problem that Packer rightly criticizes is that it talks about overcoming sin as being done through "let go and let God," sometimes married to "second consecration language." I grew up with that language and it didn't help me as I struggled with particular sins, and I always had this desire for some sort of knowledge or trick that would help me go through life unruffled. Packer really threaded the needle for me at the time and explained how there is no "trick," no "formula," to avoiding suffering and resisting temptation, and yet he also was so clearly in favor of having emotions for God and he could word them so well. The chapter on adoption was heaven in this re-read.
It also resonated with me much more emotionally last time because at the time I had come to an uneasy acceptance of penal atonement. Packer definitely convicted me more by giving lots and lots of time to defending this doctrine. Packer is extremely careful not to sugar-coat the difficulties of the Christian life and in particular of God's hatred of sin, and like the few Puritans I have read, he wants to make Christians rejoice in the relief of forgiveness. While attacks on penal atonement have not been as frequent recently in my circles, we still need it in 2023 as Evangelical culture continues to go soft.
One other thing that is striking is that Packer is constantly evangelizing in this book. I was recently reading Romans and I noticed that, though Paul is writing to "the church in Rome," he clearly is offering a gospel presentation that would speak to anyone unconverted, in or out of the Church. At any rate, I appreciated on this read that J.I. Packer is an Anglican: he speaks, like C.S. Lewis, to a dead church and does not assume orthodox Christianity but has to prove it and educate his readers about it at every turn.
The end of the book is particularly moving this time: Packer ends the book with a call to act in faith and to not count the cost of showing love and financial generosity. It's been a while since I heard that, but I loved it from Packer.
One of the things Carl Trueman observed in his tribute to Packer was that Packer aged well and ended his days with dignity. That's the reason I probably accepted this book: it never comes across as senstational or overstated. One of the marks of a great book is that it cuts to the heart of things and is not full of lies or postures or hedges. This book is truth.
I sent a letter to Packer before he passed away. I probably said something like, "This book meant a lot to me and helped me know God better." I got no reponse, but re-reading this book I still feel that.
Old Review:
After Piper's Desiring God, I somewhat dreaded this book, but I was happily surprised and challenged. This is a wonderful book which could easily be read as full of cliches, but if you actually stop to take the cliches seriously, it gets deep and very uncliched very fast. Here's a sampler:
"“Nor is it the spirit of those Christians-alas, they are many-whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the sub-middle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.
The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor-spending and being spent-to enrich their fellowmen, giving time, trouble, care and concern to do good to others-and not just their own friends - in whatever way there seems need."
And that in the context of a book that presents the traditional and time-honored view of God. The best thing about Packer, I think, is his prose, which is just surprising and very ... English: "How should we explain Jesus’ belief in the necessity of his death? How should we account for the fact that what drove him on throughout his public ministry, as all four Gospels testify, was the conviction that he had to be killed? And how should we explain the fact that, whereas martyrs like Stephen faced death with joy, and even Socrates, the pagan philosopher, drank his hemlock and died without tremor, Jesus, the perfect servant of God, who had never before showed the least fear of man or pain or loss, manifested in Gethsemane what looked like blue funk, and on the cross declared himself God-forsaken?"
"To drive well, you have to keep your eyes skinned to notice exactly what it is in front of you. To live wisely, you have to be clear-sighted and realistic–ruthlessly so–in looking at life as it is. Wisdom will not go with comforting illusions, false sentiment, or the use of rose-coloured spectacles. Most of us live in a dream world, with our heads in the clouds and our feet off the ground; we never see the world, and our lives in it, as they really are. This deep-seated, sin-bred unrealism is one reason why there is so much little wisdom among us–even the soundest and most orthodox of us."
Oh, Packer's an Anglican. Can you beat that?
"The Puritans had to face these 'antinomian' ideas, and sometimes made heavy weather of answering them. If one allows it to be assumed that justification is the bee-all and end-all of the gift of salvation, one will always make heavy weather of answering such arguments. The truth is that these ideas must be answered in terms, not of justification, but of adoption: a reality which the Puritans never highlighted quite enough." I'm almost certain now that the Puritans were the Federal Visionists of their day and to the extent that we do not slow down the movement, it will result in similar consequences.
I think the best description of him is that he does not mince words, yet is not vulgar. (I use that word in the older sense.) His sweet spot is when he talks about trusting in God and not over-realizing the eschaton in our sanctified lives:
"We feel that, for the honour of God (and also, though we do not say this, for the sake of our own reputation as spiritual Christians), it is necessary for us to claim that we are, so to speak, already in the signal-box, here and now enjoying the inside information as to the why and wherefore of God’s doings. This comforting pretence becomes part of us: we feel sure that God has enabled us to understand all His ways with us and our circle thus far, and we take if for granted that we shall be able to see at once the reason for anything that may happen to us in the future. And then something very painful and quite inexplicable comes along, and our cheerful illusion of being in God’s secret councils is shattered. Our pride is wounded; we feel that God has slighted us; and unless at this point we repent, and humble ourselves very thoroughly for our former presumption, our whole subsequent spiritual life may be blighted."
He is sometimes quite terrifyingly good:
"Those who are new in the faith often advance into their new life joyfully certain that they have left all the old headaches and heartaches behind them. And then they find that it is not like that at all. Long standing problems of temperament, of personal relationships, of felt wants, of nagging temptations are still there—sometimes, indeed, intensified. God does not make their circumstances notably easier; rather the reverse. Dissatisfaction recurs over wife, or husband, or parents, or in-laws, or children, or colleagues or neighbors. Temptations and bad habits which their conversion experience seemed to have banished for good reappear. As the first great waves of joy rolled over them during the opening weeks of their Christian experience, they had really felt that all problems had solved themselves, but now they see that it was not so ... Things which got them down before they were Christians are threatening to get them down again."
"Many are caught in these toils today. What help is needed here? we ask. The light shed by the truth of adoption on the ministry of the Spirit gives the answer. The cause of such troubles as we have described is a false, magical type of supernaturalism, which leads people to hanker after a transforming touch as from an electric impersonal power that will make them feel wholly free from the burdens and bondages of living with themselves and other people. They believe that this is the essence of genuine spiritual experience. They think the work of the Spirit is to give them experiences that are like LSD trips. (How unhelpful it is when evangelists actually promise this, and when drug takers equate their fantasies with religious experience! Will our age never learn to distinguish things that differ?) In fact, however, this quest for an inward explosion rather than inward communion shows deep misunderstanding of the Spirit’s ministry. ... [I]t is not as we strain after feelings and experiences, of whatever sort, but as we seek God himself, looking to him as our Father, prizing his fellowship, and finding in ourselves an increasing concern to know and please him, that the reality of the Spirit’s ministry becomes visible in our lives. This is the needed truth which can lift us out of the quagmire of non-spiritual views of the Spirit in which so many today are floundering.
The last chapter on the adequacy of God captured me with its terrible beauty and there were many moments, usually scattered hither and thither throughout the book. Read it and look for the darkness of the cross, underlaid by the shining glory of adoption of sons of God. Once I read a theologian that pointed out how many Christians think of justification as the heart of the Gospel, when really adoption is the heart; Packer gets that without going crazy.
April 21, 2020
What a book! Maybe this is premature, but likely my top recommended Christian book of the year! Really found this book impacting my spiritual life, my view of God and subsequently myself.
In the first chapter of the book, Packer quotes “A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about him” yet encourages us to “turn each truth that we learn about God unto matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God”. I found this to be true as I learned a great deal about God by the theology study of scripture in this book which ultimately led me to know and be known by God deeper.
The chapters in this book go through attributes of God such as His majesty, His wisdom, His word, His wrath, His goodness, His jealousy, etc. The final chapters discuss what it means to be a son and an heir of this God we have just discussed. By more deeply/accurately understanding (or learning for the first time!) how God has revealed Himself through the Bible changes how I view God and myself. It changes what I think about, what I pray and how I pray. Not like a light switch from reading this book, but slowly and expectantly the more I meditate on God’s word.
I would highly encourage you to read this book! It is long and dense and has big words. Fortunately there are 22 chapters that are around 10 pages each. Read a chapter a week, a chapter a month! I found the most value when I read chapters in this book for the second time. Use this book to meditate on the nature of God and delight in being known by God!
In the first chapter of the book, Packer quotes “A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about him” yet encourages us to “turn each truth that we learn about God unto matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God”. I found this to be true as I learned a great deal about God by the theology study of scripture in this book which ultimately led me to know and be known by God deeper.
The chapters in this book go through attributes of God such as His majesty, His wisdom, His word, His wrath, His goodness, His jealousy, etc. The final chapters discuss what it means to be a son and an heir of this God we have just discussed. By more deeply/accurately understanding (or learning for the first time!) how God has revealed Himself through the Bible changes how I view God and myself. It changes what I think about, what I pray and how I pray. Not like a light switch from reading this book, but slowly and expectantly the more I meditate on God’s word.
I would highly encourage you to read this book! It is long and dense and has big words. Fortunately there are 22 chapters that are around 10 pages each. Read a chapter a week, a chapter a month! I found the most value when I read chapters in this book for the second time. Use this book to meditate on the nature of God and delight in being known by God!
September 10, 2020
I highly recommend this book for Christians.
I grew up in a church that made it a priority for us to learn the Bible thoroughly, and I went to Bible college, but I've learned that we need to keep reminding ourselves. Who God is, who we are, what the Gospel is and how it affects our lives. And one great way to do that is read books like this. Even with all my prior knowledge, I got so much out of this book- deeper understanding and new ways of looking at biblical passages and different theological concepts. This book is rock solid and readable, and you should read it and be reminded too.
I grew up in a church that made it a priority for us to learn the Bible thoroughly, and I went to Bible college, but I've learned that we need to keep reminding ourselves. Who God is, who we are, what the Gospel is and how it affects our lives. And one great way to do that is read books like this. Even with all my prior knowledge, I got so much out of this book- deeper understanding and new ways of looking at biblical passages and different theological concepts. This book is rock solid and readable, and you should read it and be reminded too.
November 26, 2024
"Knowing God" is such a wonderful book all the way through, but the last chapter, chapter 22, is the crowning glory!
I now have 3 books on my "must read again" list: "Knowing God", "Pilgrim's Progress", and "Institutes" (The shorter version that is only ~300 pages long. I haven't read the full version.)
I now have 3 books on my "must read again" list: "Knowing God", "Pilgrim's Progress", and "Institutes" (The shorter version that is only ~300 pages long. I haven't read the full version.)
February 29, 2024
Writing a positive review for this book is like telling you to listen to “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. Everyone already knows it’s great, I’m just 40 years late to the party.
I think Packer does a wonderful job of hitting every major theological point in a clear and approachable way, both comforting those who believe while challenging those who don’t.
I think Packer does a wonderful job of hitting every major theological point in a clear and approachable way, both comforting those who believe while challenging those who don’t.
February 5, 2022
Jan14-Febt, 2022, 30th reading, on Audible, excellent!
Jan4-Feb6, 2021, 29th reading
Jan8-Mar20, 2020, starting the 28th reading, looking forward to it! Finished, always challenging and inspiring!
Jan 2, 2019... starting the 27th reading. Finished on Jan 27, all I can say is WOW, what a blessing!
Jan 13, 2018... reading for the 26th year. 20180204
(Feb 6, 2017... starting this book for the 25th year...20170418)
(Mar 30, 2016) ALMOST LIKE FIREWORKS. Just finished my 24th reading-- can't wait 'till next year again! For years I have considered the 22nd chapter (The Adequacy of God) as the best one I've ever read outside the Bible. It's kind of like the eight nights of the international fireworks show at San Sebastián every August. Each company starts off sort of slow, but for the next 20 minutes, the episodes crescendo into a deafening and beautiful display of color, rhythm, sound, and power! This last chapter of the book also builds up momentum until it seems to almost launch the soul up into the heavenlies as it attempts to describe the awesome glory of knowing God.
Jan4-Feb6, 2021, 29th reading
Jan8-Mar20, 2020, starting the 28th reading, looking forward to it! Finished, always challenging and inspiring!
Jan 2, 2019... starting the 27th reading. Finished on Jan 27, all I can say is WOW, what a blessing!
Jan 13, 2018... reading for the 26th year. 20180204
(Feb 6, 2017... starting this book for the 25th year...20170418)
(Mar 30, 2016) ALMOST LIKE FIREWORKS. Just finished my 24th reading-- can't wait 'till next year again! For years I have considered the 22nd chapter (The Adequacy of God) as the best one I've ever read outside the Bible. It's kind of like the eight nights of the international fireworks show at San Sebastián every August. Each company starts off sort of slow, but for the next 20 minutes, the episodes crescendo into a deafening and beautiful display of color, rhythm, sound, and power! This last chapter of the book also builds up momentum until it seems to almost launch the soul up into the heavenlies as it attempts to describe the awesome glory of knowing God.
May 11, 2018
Though it was originally said of Jonathan Edwards, I feel that this can also be said of Packer in this book: his doctrine was all application, and his application was all doctrine. Therefore “Knowing God” is full of heart-searching application of amazing gospel truths and attributes of God. I especially appreciated and benefitted from his chapters on adoption and God’s guidance in the life of a believer.
August 8, 2024
Aside from simply reading Scripture, this is the quintessential book on understanding the importance of knowing God, particularly in the way He has revealed Himself to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Packer correctly identifies that as the ultimate priority for every person. This book gives the reader a detailed overview of who God is as seen in His Word, and how we ought to live in response as we seek to know Him more.
March 3, 2024
started this for VST and finished it for fun!
dense for good reason - full of moments that convicted me and reestablished my understanding of who God is.
dense for good reason - full of moments that convicted me and reestablished my understanding of who God is.
July 14, 2023
I LOVED this book. Probably my favorite book of the year, and it’s only July. Please do yourself a favor and read it!
March 17, 2013
An excellent work that I really should have read much sooner. Packer, in the pointed style of many solidly theological British authors before him, carries the reader through the nature of the Triune God; the attributes or perfections of God; and the work of God through justification, sanctification and glorification. I particularly appreciated his emphasis (certainly not excessive or unbalanced) on the work of the Holy Spirit, frequently overlooked, and on the gift of adoption and its implications. He also deals appropriately and frankly with the problem of assurance throughout. The book rings with praise and joy and the thrill of believing, and it encourages believers in the pursuit of the knowledge of God.
"What makes life worth while [sic] is having a big enough objective, something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance; and this the Christian has, in a way that no other man has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?" (Knowing God, page 30)
"What makes life worth while [sic] is having a big enough objective, something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance; and this the Christian has, in a way that no other man has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?" (Knowing God, page 30)
April 6, 2009
Excellent.
August 4, 2020
I have really struggled with reading apologetics and theology in the past year as I’ve gone through a period of deconstructing and reconstructing my faith. This book was such a blessing. It is so refreshing to read a Christian book where the author doesn’t make you feel like a failure of a believer for struggling with difficult concepts like God’s wrath. Packer wrote with grace and humility, and this is a book I’m sure I’ll regularly revisit.
February 24, 2020
Very helpful. I particularly loved Packer's points about adoption, about God's guidance, and his exposition of Romans 8 at the end. My theological and spiritual indebtedness to Packer not only remains, but increases.
November 13, 2023
First time reading. Excellent.
September 7, 2016
Knowing God by J.I. Packer is one of THE best books on being a Christian that I have ever read. Although Packer’s writing style is accessible and engaging, the topics he deals with are deep and require lots of thought so this is not a book to be read quickly. I took months to read through it in little bits and got so much out of it that I scarcely know where to begin.
The book turns on the central thesis that in order to pursue the Christian life rightly, the Christian’s life focus must be to KNOW God by searching the scriptures to understand His character and ways and then allowing that knowledge to inform your mind, will, feelings, commitments and identification. How well we know God impacts every aspect of our lives, from how we pray to how we respond to crises to how we interact with others.
In the exploration of knowing God, Packer digs deeply and insightfully into a wide range of topics. I don’t know how anyone could fail to learn from or be challenged by this book. In reading it, I gained not only knowledge about God, but also encouragement and insight on how to pursue God more fully in my life going forward.
I plan to add this book to my top reads for 2011, and would highly recommend it to you for your own reading or for a group Biblestudy. It is truly excellent and would be well worth your time.
{Read more of my reviews at A Spirited Mind.}
The book turns on the central thesis that in order to pursue the Christian life rightly, the Christian’s life focus must be to KNOW God by searching the scriptures to understand His character and ways and then allowing that knowledge to inform your mind, will, feelings, commitments and identification. How well we know God impacts every aspect of our lives, from how we pray to how we respond to crises to how we interact with others.
In the exploration of knowing God, Packer digs deeply and insightfully into a wide range of topics. I don’t know how anyone could fail to learn from or be challenged by this book. In reading it, I gained not only knowledge about God, but also encouragement and insight on how to pursue God more fully in my life going forward.
I plan to add this book to my top reads for 2011, and would highly recommend it to you for your own reading or for a group Biblestudy. It is truly excellent and would be well worth your time.
{Read more of my reviews at A Spirited Mind.}
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