The Pursuit of God · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer.
Chapter 1
Epigraph
The chapter presents a single verse from Hosea 6:3, emphasizing the promise of knowing the Lord through persistent pursuit, with His coming as certain as the morning.
Chapter 2
The Pursuit of God
This chapter introduces the central theme of the soul's deep longing and active pursuit of God, initiated by God Himself. It contrasts the shallow religiosity of the age with a true, inward hunger for the Divine, calling believers to a personal and earnest quest for God's presence.
Chapter 3
I: Following Hard After God
The chapter emphasizes the necessity of a deep, personal pursuit of God, initiated by God's prevenient grace. It critiques shallow religion and complacency, urging believers to seek God with intense desire, simplicity, and a focus on God Himself rather than religious externals. The chapter highlights that knowing God is a continuous, conscious, and personal relationship, not a one-time event.
Chapter 4
II: The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing
This chapter explores the spiritual discipline of renunciation, using Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac as the central illustration. It argues that true blessedness comes from possessing nothing externally while holding all things inwardly through surrender to God, and that the possessive clinging to 'things' is a root sin that must be uprooted by the Cross.
Chapter 5
III: Removing the Veil
This chapter explores the concept of the veil that separates humanity from the manifest presence of God, identifying it as the self-life—composed of self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, and similar sins. Tozer emphasizes that this veil can only be removed through the cross's work in spiritual experience, not by mere instruction, and calls believers to yield to God's destructive work on the self so they may enter into the enjoyed presence of God.
Chapter 6
IV: Apprehending God
This chapter argues that most people know God only by inference or hearsay, not by personal experience. It calls believers to recognize the reality of the spiritual world and to use their God-given spiritual faculties—activated by faith—to apprehend God directly, shifting their focus from the visible to the unseen.
Chapter 7
V: The Universal Presence
This chapter explores the doctrine of divine immanence—the truth that God is present everywhere at all times. Tozer distinguishes this from pantheism, emphasizing that God is both transcendent and immanent. He argues that while God is always present, most people are unaware of His presence, and the key to experiencing it is spiritual awareness and surrender. The chapter calls for a return to biblical standards and a deeper, more conscious relationship with God.
Chapter 8
VI: The Speaking Voice
This chapter explores the nature of God as continuously speaking, emphasizing that God's Voice is not confined to the written Bible but is an active, living force in the universe. It argues that true faith requires listening to God's present Voice, which illuminates Scripture and brings life and communion with Christ. The chapter critiques modern religion's preference for noise and activity over silence and attentive listening.
Chapter 9
VII: The Gaze of the Soul
This chapter explores the nature of faith as the soul's gaze upon God, emphasizing that faith is a simple, inward looking at Jesus Christ rather than a complex intellectual exercise. It draws on the writings of Nicholas of Cusa to illustrate eternal life as a blessed regard between God and the soul, and argues that this gaze is accessible to all believers at any time and place, regardless of their circumstances or calling. The chapter also critiques shallow religious formalism and encourages a habitual, inward beholding of God that transforms the whole life.
Chapter 10
Restoring the Creator-Creature Relation
This chapter argues that the root of human misery is a moral dislocation—the disruption of the proper relationship between the Creator and the creature. Salvation is essentially the restoration of that right relation, not merely judicially but as a conscious, experienced change. The author insists that God must be the fixed center against which all else is measured, and that the only proper response is complete submission and the exaltation of God above all. This voluntary surrender brings simplicity, honor, and the restoration of the soul's original habitat.
Chapter 11
IX: Meekness and Rest
This chapter explores the Beatitude 'Blessed are the meek' and contrasts the virtues Jesus taught with the pride, pretense, and self-love that burden humanity. Toews explains that meekness is not weakness but a release from the heavy burdens of pride, pretense, and artificiality. By accepting God's estimate of ourselves and ceasing to defend our own honor, we find soul rest in Christ's easy yoke.
Chapter 12
X: The Sacrament of Living
This chapter challenges the common division of life into sacred and secular realms, arguing that all actions—whether eating, drinking, or working—can be done to the glory of God. Through Christ's example and Paul's teachings, the author asserts that every act becomes worship when offered in faith, and that the sacred-secular antithesis is a misunderstanding that robs believers of peace. The chapter calls for a unified life where every moment is sacramental and the whole world is a sanctuary.
Chapter 13
Endnotes
This chapter provides source citations for the work, specifically referencing Nicholas of Cusa's 'The Vision of God' published by E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, 1928.
