A Passion for God

For the purpose of this review, I will assume you have at least a little knowledge of A.W. Tozer. If you don’t then just stop reading this right now and go get yourself a copy of his books - The Pursuit of God or The Knowledge of the Holy.

This new biography of Tozer by Lyle Dorsett is both inspiring and troubling.

The inspiration comes from imagining that I too could gain such an interest in the Savior as did Tozer. I like to think I too could come to the point in my prayer life where I wore out the knees of my pants praying with an informed head and an enflamed heart. Taking note of Tozer’s forthright speech in the pulpit, I hope to speak the truth with little, if any, fear of man residing in my heart. To eschew riches, to not be a slave to modern entertainment and distraction, to be a lifelong learner, to work hard till my dying day – these are all things that Dorsett’ wonderful biography of Tozer bring to my mind, inspiring me to follow in his footsteps.

However, showing himself once again to be a good biographer, Dorsett also brings forth troubling aspects of the life of Tozer. From the beginning of the book to the end, Tozer’s loneliness, his aloofness and neglect of his wife, his emotional absence in the life of his children – these aspects of Tozer’s life were deeply troubling. They are troubling not because I am shocked that a great man of God could have shortcomings, but because deep down I know that I am a spiritual pygmy compared to Tozer… so what are my blind spots and who am I hurting?

Regarding Tozer’s strengths, Dorsett writes:

“A.W. Tozer heralded biblical truth. He loved the Bible and unflinchingly preached what he believed people needed to hear, regardless of what they wanted.”

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“Like the ancient Hebrew prophets, Tozer alienated religious leaders. He spoke publicly of his disdain for materialism, consumerism, and worldliness, wherever he detected it infiltrating the church.”

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“There is no way to measure the hours he spent in a typical day or week reading books and wrestling with ideas, but it was substantial. In a similar vein, we know that he increasingly devoted many hours each week praying, meditating on Scripture, and seeking deeper intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ. During the 1930s Tozer read voraciously, and he also developed a magnificent obsession to be in Christ’s presence- just to worship Him and to be with Him.

However, in revealing the lack of family intimacy between Aiden and his wife Ada, Dorsett writes:

“Aiden’s traveling schedule wounded Ada. Consequently, their marriage never knew the intimacy for which she so deeply longed. As painful as this reality became to Ada- and there is no evidence that Aiden ever longed for more than a surface relationship- she learned to cope. During the West Virginia years Ada found ways to put on a mask of contentment, and she channeled her affections to the children and needy families in the church.

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“By early 1928 the Tozers had a routine. Aiden found his fulfillment in reading, preparing sermons, preaching, and weaving travel into his demanding and exciting schedule, while Ada learned to cope. She dutifully washed, ironed, cooked, and cared for the little ones, and developed the art of shoving her pain deep down inside. Most of the time she pretended there was no hurt, but when it erupted, she usually blamed herself for not being godly enough to conquer her longing for intimacy from an emotionally aloof husband.

And the lack of intimacy existed between he and his seven children too:

“It is true that all seven children remembered periodic outdoor walks or the occasional times to shoot a rifle at attic or basement targets. But with the exception of Rebecca- the youngest- they all felt somewhat estranged from their father, albeit in differing degrees depending upon age. Lowell, the oldest, sardonically stated that his mother was a “single parent.” The other boys did not use identical language but they all acknowledged that even though their father was kind and never abusive, they felt they never knew him. Not one son said he experienced intimacy with his father.

Given his ministry of preaching the Word, it astounded me to read Dorsett’s words regarding Tozer’s practice, or lack thereof, of family worship:

“On and off over the years, Aiden exercised his role as head of the family by encouraging times of family devotions. These never lasted more than a few weeks. As one son explained, the children just did not want it and they were seldom all together for extended periods in any case.

Tozer’s thoughtlessness extended to financial concerns, never purchasing a car for the family even with seven children to care and provide for. Dorsett gives this anecdotal evidence:

“The woman [Ada] was left to shift for herself and her busy husband refused to invest in a car. Clara Moore remembered “Mrs. Tozer coming to church freezing from the long cold walks in the winter.” Clara saw her “trying to bum rides to get places.” In brief, it seemed to this young woman [Moore] that for Mrs. Tozer, life was “very hard for her.”

Dorsett wraps up Tozer’s legacy as a family man in this manner, “For numerous and perhaps tangled reasons, Aiden Tozer increasingly found time to invest in people other than his sons and wife.” He also quotes Ada’s words about her husband, coming several years after his death when she herself was experiencing joy in a new marriage to a widower:

“My husband was so close to God, a man of such deep prayer, always on his knees, that he could not communicate with me or our family. No one knew what a lonely life I had, especially after the kids left home.” How ironic and sad that Ada Tozer experienced such loneliness when Aiden was overheard commenting to a pastor not long before he died: “I’ve had a lonely life.”

Dorsett does let the reader know that something good was obviously going on in the home, and that by God’s grace, it can be written of Tozer’s children:

“All seven of Tozer’s children became solid Christians and not one of them carried bitterness in their heart toward their father. Each one became relatively successful by the world’s standards and functioned quite well in society, and they all expressed gratitude to God for their mother and father and with good reason.”

In closing this review, I have emphasized all these negative qualities of Tozer’s life as a family man only because this was a main emphasis of the book. On one hand, it is obvious that Dorsett greatly admires Tozer and assumes the reader already does too. Therefore, great pains are taken to avoid the charge of writing hagiography, seeing no faults in the life of the one being examined. Certainly Dorsett does not fall into that error.

The book itself contains some repetitiveness in that Dorsett will reuse an anecdote several times giving the reader a sense of déjà vu. Also, I really desired to learn more about Tozer’s “mysticism”. In reading the biography it seems as though if Tozer was mystic, that word simply means he was a man given much to prayer and Scripture meditation. Certainly that is not all there was to it though, and I would have liked to have heard more about it. Also, since Tozer was involved in the Keswick movement, what national leaders did he interact with? What did they think of him? Further, Dorsett mentions ministerial criticism of Tozer, but does not provide any of the details. So, my main critique is simply that I wish the biography was 400 pages instead of 200.

There is much more to say about this book, including an interesting connection between Tozer’s Chicago church and the current news conversation regarding Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But time escapes me for now, so let me encourage you to pick up a copy of Dorsett’s work – it will both delight and depress you. But in doing so, I think this biography will transform your own ministry, both in your church and in your home.