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Knowing God
Binding: Paperback
Author: J. I. Packer
Manufacturer: InterVarsity Press
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Features:
Average Rating: 4.5
Total Customer Reviews: 88
List Price: $22.00
Our Price: $12.96
Sales Rank: 4651
Product Description
During the past 20 years, J. I. Packer's classic has revealed to over one million Christians around the world the wonder, the glory and the joy of knowing God. This anniversary edition is completely retypeset, with Americanized language and spelling, and a new preface by the author. During July 2000, winner of the Platinum Book Award from Evangelical Christian Publishing Association in recognition of more than one million copies sold (and that's just in North America!)
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Users Product Reviews: |
Product Review Summary: Excellent Book "Knowing God" is one of the most eloquent, scripture-driven, inspiring books I have ever read. Chapter 19 on being "Sons of God" is one of the gems of the book, painting a glorious picture of God adopting sinners.
Product Review Summary: Glorious chapter on adoption! I know and agree that this book is a classic. So I should give it five stars, but I didn't. I think that many of my Christian friends would not have the patience to read it. It is reasonably readable, but has a rather strong intellectual bent. It also has a British style which doesn't flow so well for American readers, I think. The book has no anecdotes, either personal ones that would give us more insight into Packer as a person, or anecdotes about others, which would appeal to a lot of people and could help to convey the ideas. It does have a lot of Biblical quotes. It quotes a lot of hymns, mostly ones that I was not familiar with.
I thought the treatment of sovereign grace, election and regeneration could have been more direct and clear. These concepts are there, but they are presented in a subtle way at times, and someone who isn't already grounded in them (or who disagrees with the Reformed view) will likely not pick up on their full significance. You might argue that these doctrines are not central to "knowing God", but Packer inevitably bumps into them. There is a chapter on grace, but the actual presentation of grace is lacking in clarity and directness, devoting one sentence to regeneration (Page 135). It is not clear enough in showing that regeneration is the instrument of God's grace that brings people to saving faith.
If the reader has spent a little time studying the Bible and theology, some of the topics will be very familiar and there won't be anything new, and the presentation will be rather average. However, the chapter on propitiation is way better than average, and the chapter on adoption is glorious! When written in 1973, Packer noted that adoption is a neglected topic throughout the church. I believe it still is, just as much now as it was then. I see that 18 notable Christians have endorsed this book, but as far as I know, none of them have done much to advance the understanding of adoption. I believe that Packer correctly and clearly presents this doctrine.
There is no bibliography. Sometimes quotes or ideas are documented in the text, sometimes not. It would be a little difficult to track down the source documents.
The problems that Packer describes inside and outside the church are much the same today as they were in 1973. So the book is still very current. In the general culture, pluralism is perhaps a little stronger today. Rejection of object truth is stronger today. Within the church, there are stronger concentrations of both the good and the bad. Using the internet, you can find pastors who preach the whole truth of God's Word, and you can find pastors (and congregations) who avoid important parts of the Word and who do not encourage good Bible study or a high view of Scripture.
Product Review Summary: Great Theology Knowing God is an indispensable, theologically didactic piece of literature that every Christian should be required to read. I came away from this book with a strong inclination for a deep study of Scripture. I only have a few discrepancies, otherwise, I find Packer to be an extraordinary theologian who God has highly favored. That I spend time in refutation of some of his views in no way retracts from the veracity of the book as a whole.
First, Chapter 15 - The Wrath of God, pages 148-157:
In this section, Packer makes it clear that he holds an infralapsarian view. It is obvious he believes God decreed election and reprobation after the fall of man. This is incorrect and impossible as well. There is no way God looks into the future without creating the future Himself. There is no way God can look into the future and see humans making choices apart from any of His own determination. He does not look into the future as if He is ignorant, and make His own choice only after He sees what the creature will do. This only makes the creature's will the absolute determining factor over God's will, and therefore contradicts Scripture that speaks of God's will always being accomplished and His purposes always coming to pass. If this view is correct and the creature wills one thing while God wills another, the conflict arises that the creature's will is always done, and God's will is thwarted, that is, if the two wills were opposed to one another.
Subsequently, Packer believes humans go to hell because they made the decisive choice to put themselves there. This is erroneous. Humans indeed choose hell, but this is only after God prepares their mind, works, and will for such. Before the foundation of the world, before any human did good or evil, God prepared His elect for heaven, and the rest for hell. God's wrath is not judicial from the beginning, it is by choice. But it is true that on judgment day, it will indeed be a judicial and retributive act.
In opposition to Packer, it should be known that God's wrath abides on the reprobate from all eternity, before they did any good or evil. God's wrath is further incurred upon the actions and actual committing of the reprobates personal sinning, and His wrath will reach full consummation on the day of wrath. Just as the elect are saved in stages, the reprobate is also damned in stages. This view is called "Equal Ultimacy," which is widely rejected by most Reformed Theologians due to their concocted doctrine of "Theodicy." No where in Scripture are we instructed to "Protect" God, we are to teach what the bible says, period. God says He predestines sin, and that He is also blameless in doing so. We will receive further understanding of this mystery when we die, but in the meantime, we are not to eisegete Scripture in a feeble human attempt to "Protect" our Father.
Besides my above mentioned discrepancy, I love this book. Maybe one day I will even be able to speak with Packer about some of these doctrines. I do not know if this hope of mine will ever come to pass in this lifetime, but I know one thing;
Jesus is God
Product Review Summary: One of the top ten books you should own. Buy it and read it more than once -- maybe once a year. The best of the best -- classic Packer.
Product Review Summary: Great But Not Perfect... Great book with a great premise. Those who know God... Have great energy for God... Have great boldness for God... Have great contentment in God. Truly this book opens the door to a wealth of understanding that will inspire the reader with more energy, boldness & contentment as they learn more of God's character. God's love in this book, however, is described as only being selective and is guaranteed to have the opposite effect on any reader who swallows this error. Just remember that even the best of thinkers are wrong sometimes. Boost your energy with John 3:16 as you work your way through the love chapter.
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