The Pursuit of God by Awe Tozer

A parallel novel, The Cloud of Unknowing, was anonymously written in the fourteenth-century about the journey of transitioning from a secular life to a God centered life. It begins with the writer addressing the reader in a fatherly manner- this way, the reader is able to connect with the writer even when the journey gets rough. The author states the journey to know God is contemplative, through giving up all previous understandings of God and traveling through a “cloud of unknowing” to obtain a oneness with God. The author also notes that the journey will not be easy and that frustration can happen, but that frustration should be channeled into focus as greater understanding will come as the frustration ends. The hard part of this journey, according to the author, is in having a desire or willingness to work over time to come to oneness with God.

It assisted me in how to look closely at my journey, vocation, devotional and meditational times. As I take on this journey trying my best to stay on path with God, who will lead me in a righteous way I plan to stay close to him. What is my journey consisted of? Paying attention to my call, make sure I am aware that it is a journey that I will not along in, but I will always feel like I am in the presences of God.

Gustavo Gutierrez is a well-known theologian and priest thats considered to be one of the founders of liberation theology. Originally, it’s a Christian manifested response for treacherous conditions in Latin America revolving around an unjust social system. In his award winning book, A Theology of Liberation: history, politics, and salvation, he analyzes and reflects on theology as a focal point for ‘truths’ and the importance behind them. In other words, his intent for each phrase has a significant meaning in its subtext. In Gutiérrez’s book, he emphasizes his beliefs and sentiments when by stating, “A theology which has as its points of reference only "truths" which have been established once and for all -- and not the Truth which is also

Malala Yousafzai, 18 year old Nobel Prize winner and women’s rights activist, once exclaimed: “I raise up my voice- not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back”. The idea of speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves is extremely important when it comes to striving for change, so being able to express the needs of marginalized people is a great and awesome power. Yousafzai’s quote specifically connects to women’s rights, therefore it can be used to support the feminist movement seeing as she is advocating for the equality, in treatment and opportunity, of men and women. Feminist beliefs do not only apply to society, but to theology as well, seeing as the teachings of the bible are extremely influential in the day to day lives and values of religious people. The text that I chose to highlight this idea comes from Elizabeth A. Johnson’s book Quest for the Living God, chapter 5 ‘God Acting Womanish’ because it directly connects spirituality and feminism.

The premise scripture for this chapter speaks volumes to the greatness of our God. Psalm 139:7-8 states, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there”. This chapter explains the omniscient of God and reveals His character of being the Creator of the universe. There is neither depth, nor height that he did not create in his infinite wisdom.

The books that we were required to read for Bible 115 class were Engaging God’s World – A Christian Vision Of Faith, Learning And Living by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. and The Call – Finding And Fulfilling The Central Purpose For Your Life by Os Guinness. Both books offered very useful advice for today’s Christians. Engaging God’s World is written for students and will help them make sense of their education in a Christian perspective. Both authors use scripture, humor and common sense to validate their points.

In Shaped by the Word, by Robert Mulholland Jr., one finds a way to read scripture in order to provide a deeper understanding of God and allow His Word to shape one’s spiritual life. In the Introduction, in chapter 1, the reader is introduced to the idea that there is a movement in the church that seeks to become deeper and stricter in spiritual formation. He claims there are many books written for this purpose, and his intending purpose for this book is for God to use however he may want in the reader’s spiritual life. Mulholland provides the reader with a prayer to pray in preparation of reading this book and states there may be points where God is knocking and calling the reader’s attention to something new.

The bible warns of the pride within ones heart and elated perception of self that grips them deceived. Its apparent in both stories the essence of deceit and how it handicaps the mind. The author’s choice of words and style of writing illuminates the overall presence of sin and

Aiden Wilson Tozer's "Knowledge of the Holy" is a novel that attempts to clarify the concept of the Lord's infinitude. He mentions throughout the novel how God's love, grace, and mercy are so immeasurable the human mind will not ever be able to truly comprehend it. The author describes God as the only perfect entity, due to his complete lack of need. His authoritative power is often times misconstrued by how people in general associate their societal views, personal experiences, and miraculous occurrences they've seen to create a single existence worthy of praise. Tozer rationalizes this is the manner of which humans commit to their own perception of God.

For my book review I chose The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. I have read this book before, but I wanted to go through again, summarize and analyze it. The purpose of this paper will be to summarize The Reason for God and analyze it’s writing style and arguments. The Reason for God defends knowledge of God and is naturally an apologetic work. Interestingly enough though, it reads more like a pastoral than it does an apologetic work.

The Trial of God is a play that was written by Elie Wiesel. The play was first published in 1979. The play was set in a feudal European settlement where three travelling Jewish artistes put God on trial to answer for His quietness during a pogrom. It is a powerful drama with historical and especially post-Shoah concerns surrounding faith. While imprisoned in Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel witnessed a trial. It was not unusual for prisoners to witness trials, this one would be different and very unusual. It was unusual because of the defendant. God was on trial. God was tried for turning his back and ignoring the Jewish people in their ultimate hour of need. God was tried in absentia. I mean how you can put God on the witness stand is a question all in itself. There was one problem, no one was willing to take on the role of God's attorney. God was eventually found guilty. After the verdict was announced, the "court" prayed. How is that for an oxymoron? But this incident, which served as the inspiration for The Trial of God, is part of the long Jewish tradition of arguing with God.

George MacDonald conveys an attractive soul struggle with God in his poem, Obedience, moreover, there is an awareness of the soul on a narrow road leading to divine light, as a faithful follower abides in God. Possible MacDonald recalled the scriptures, “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17, English Standard Version), and in John 15:1-17, the vine and the branches, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4, ESV).

Starting off with the quote from Oswald Chambers, Leave the broken, irreversible past in God’s Hand, and step out into the invisible future with him (Francis, 103). This quote connects chapter three to itself and my life. Leaving the past to make my future, God does have a plan for me even if some times I doubt his path for me it will lead me to a successful future. At the end of the chapter, I really liked the passage John 21:16-17 (Francis, 105). As a Christian sometimes I wonder if God loves me as much as I love him.

After summarizing the main 3 parts of this reading, I then discussed two quotes that I found helpful for understanding this reading. The first quote I found helpful was at the bottom of the first page and it read, “...humanity has an obligation to offer God an infinite satisfaction, which only God can meet. Therefore a God-man would have both the ability (as God) and obligation (as a human) to pay this satisfaction.” I thought this quote was useful because it explained why not just anyone can give satisfaction for sin, it has to be God-man. Another quote that relates to this idea, can be found towards the end of the reading and it states, “Anyone who can give God something more valuable than all things possessed by God must be greater than everyone, but God himself.” after summarizing and discussing the meaning of this reading, i asked three follow up questions. The first question I asked was, “ Why can’t you just mix God and human?” and my group responded that is would not be

As religious men, we should avoid the peril of becoming so engrossed in our theological studies that we neglect our personal devotion. Warfield’s caveat to us is Christian service or work alone cannot replace the depth of Christian affection to God. Work does not equal prayer it is the combination of work and prayer that will develop as ministers. By maintaining a strong devotion to God we are setting an example of holding fast to the confession of our hope. We must frequently examine ourselves against God’s Word to verify our hearts. It is as Warfield says, we should have our hearts on fire brightly so that in our innermost being we are men of God. The greatness of our calling as ministers should flow from the depth of our understanding of the unsurpassed greatness of God. This understanding should motivate, empower, equip and direct us in our