‘Knowing God’ Turns 50: Why We Still Need J. I. Packer’s Classic Book
By Sam Storms, TGC.
When J. I. Packer entered into the presence of his Lord on July 17, 2020, five days short of his 94th birthday, the evangelical world lost one of its most articulate, intelligent, humble servants.
Count Zinzendorf is known for saying, “Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.” I appreciate the sentiment, but J. I. Packer won’t be forgotten—and not because he built a legacy for himself. His aim in life was never to perpetuate the memory of his labors. Yet his multitudinous written works ensure his efforts will continue exerting a Christ-exalting influence on generations to come.
Substantive, Not Simplistic
If you mention Packer’s name to many Christians today, you may hear, “Yes, I read his classic Knowing God, and it transformed my understanding of who God is.” That was precisely Packer’s goal in penning it.
“I wrote Knowing God over a period of years,” he reflected in the preface, “during which I was deeply concerned . . . to help people realize God’s greatness.” Packer then confesses that before his conversion he was “self-absorbed in just about every way, a silly, twisted adolescent who needed a great deal of straightening out.” One milestone in this journey of spiritual growth was discovering that the first thing to ask of Scripture isn’t what it tells us about ourselves but what it says about our God.
Published in 1973—50 years ago—Knowing God is Packer’s attempt to tell us what Scripture says about God. It isn’t a technical dive into the doctrine of God, accessible only to seasoned theologians, but neither is it a merely anecdotal survey of God’s character and deeds. It’s substantive without being off-putting. It’s straightforward while avoiding the shallowness that characterizes so much contemporary writing about God.
Packer points to J. C. Ryle, John Calvin, John Owen, and Jonathan Edwards as the most influential voices in his journey of discovery. That alone should alert us to the depth, clarity, and biblically saturated perspective on God that Packer brings. So much could be said about Knowing God; enough, I trust, to encourage those unfamiliar with the book to obtain it and spend precious moments pondering the greatness of our God.
Read here.
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