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| Evangelist A. W. Tozer | |
|---|---|
| Name | A. W. Tozer |
| Birth date | 1897-04-21 |
| Birth place | La Jose, Pennsylvania |
| Death date | 1963-05-12 |
| Death place | Chicago, Illinois |
| Occupation | Pastor, Evangelist, Author |
| Notable works | The Pursuit of God; The Knowledge of the Holy |
Evangelist A. W. Tozer
A. W. Tozer was an American pastor, evangelist, and author influential in twentieth‑century Protestant circles. He served long pastoral tenures and wrote devotional and theological works that engaged readers associated with denominations such as the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Fundamentalism, Mainline Protestantism, Pentecostalism, Baptist movements and readers linked to institutions including Wheaton College (Illinois), Princeton Theological Seminary, Moody Bible Institute, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary. His writings continue to be cited in discussions involving figures like C. S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, J. I. Packer, John Stott, and institutions such as Zondervan and Baker Publishing Group.
Born in La Jose, Pennsylvania in 1897, he grew up during the eras of the Spanish–American War aftermath and the Progressive Era, within communities shaped by Pennsylvania Dutch culture and itinerant revivalism. Influenced by traveling evangelists and the revival legacy of the Second Great Awakening lineage, he experienced a conversion that connected him to networks around Methodism, Presbyterianism, and the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Largely self‑educated, he read works by John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, and Oswald Chambers while interacting with ministers trained at Princeton Theological Seminary and Moody Bible Institute.
He served as pastor of churches in towns such as Perrysburg, Ohio and later in Chicago, Illinois, where he led congregations connected to the Christian and Missionary Alliance and participated in urban ministry networks allied with organizations like The Salvation Army, YMCA, and YWCA. His evangelistic approach reflected influences from revivalists such as D. L. Moody, Charles Finney, Billy Graham, and Aimee Semple McPherson, while engaging theological interlocutors including R. A. Torrey and F. F. Bosworth. Tozer preached in tent meetings, conference halls, and on radio programs that intersected with broadcasters linked to National Broadcasting Company and faith publishers such as Tyndale House Publishers.
Beginning with sermons and articles, he published in periodicals and through publishing houses tied to Zondervan, Baker Publishing Group, and Christianity Today‑adjacent networks. His books, including title works in devotional literature, were read alongside classics by Martin Luther, John Wesley, George Whitefield, and modern writers such as Dallas Willard and Eugene Peterson. Influential among pastors at institutions like Gordon‑Conwell Theological Seminary and readers at Regent College, his essays circulated in parachurch movements associated with Youth for Christ and Campus Crusade for Christ.
His central themes included the pursuit of intimate knowledge of God—expressed in conversation with theological traditions from Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas to Karl Barth—and the call to holiness reminiscent of John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards. He critiqued what he saw as nominal Christianity tied to trends represented by liberal theology proponents in Harvard Divinity School and argued for experiential piety akin to Pietism, Keswick Convention spirituality, and elements appreciated by Pentecostalism leaders. Doctrinally, his work dialogued with doctrines expounded by Reformed theology writers and raised concerns about materialism linked to industrial centers such as Chicago and financial institutions like New York Stock Exchange culture.
Described by contemporaries and biographers as austere, contemplative, and pastoral, he modeled habits similar to clerics in the line of Augustine of Hippo and Charles Haddon Spurgeon while corresponding with lay leaders and clergy connected to Billy Sunday and E. Stanley Jones. He valued spiritual disciplines that echoed resources from The Imitation of Christ and devotional calendars used at Westminster Abbey and in monastic traditions influenced by Benedict of Nursia. Friends and critics compared his ascetic piety to figures like Fyodor Dostoyevsky in literary circles and to pastors trained at Princeton Theological Seminary.
After his death in 1963, his writings were republished and promoted by publishers such as Zondervan and Baker Publishing Group, and his works influenced twentieth‑ and twenty‑first‑century leaders including J. I. Packer, John Piper, Tim Keller, Eugene Peterson, and lay movements connected to Promise Keepers. Scholarly assessment placed him among American devotional writers alongside Sarah Young and Henri Nouwen, and critics debated his stance relative to evangelical institutions like The National Association of Evangelicals and academic centers such as Harvard Divinity School and Yale Divinity School. His legacy is visible in seminaries, bookstores, and church libraries associated with Moody Bible Institute, Wheaton College (Illinois), and global ministries operating in regions including Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
- The Pursuit of God — widely reissued by Zondervan and read alongside classics by C. S. Lewis - The Knowledge of the Holy — studied in contexts similar to works by J. I. Packer and Francis Schaeffer - Men Who Met God — circulated among readers associated with Youth for Christ - The Root of the Righteous — often stocked by bookstores such as Christian Book Distributors - The Best of A. W. Tozer — anthologized by publishers like Baker Publishing Group
Category:American pastors Category:Christian writers Category:1897 births Category:1963 deaths