Knowing God

Knowing God is one of the books that you read in your knees, with a Bible opened, a mind that is alert, a heart that is passionate for God,and strength to move out into worship, adoration, prayer and mission.

This book made my cry, worship, pray, read more the Bible passages and humbled me in my teaching, preaching and caring for my family.

I hope God will countinue using Packer for his glory.

(Posted on 3/1/12)

Loved the book

(Posted on 2/8/12)

I was surprised to hear Packer write about idols and the use of even a cross which he took from Exodus(10 Commandments). He wrote almost an entire chapter from something that does not appear in Scripture. I was very turned off from this book that I thought was a classic. I stopped listening a few chapters into the book because of the way he handled that passage. Too bad. I wanted to like this a lot.

(Posted on 1/31/12)

J.I. Packer is a brilliant biblical scholar. One fo the great voids of modern Christianity is the lack of biblical doctrine among Christ's followers. This 'book' will give you a clear understanding of much of the biblical doctrine. Knowing God better/deeper will produce a stronger faith. Listen to this to add depth to your Christian walk.

Highly recommended.

- Rupert

(Posted on 1/20/12)

Knowing God by J. I. Packer is one of those books that is often recommended as a modern classic, and for good reason. In what is often considered Packer’s signature work, he helps believers to understand several important attributes of God. Unlike some other authors, Packer is not writing about God’s attributes to merely fill our heads with theological concepts, but is instead challenging believers to allow their understanding of the person of God to lead them to greater devotion and holiness.

There is much to love about this book, which explains why so many people have recommended it to me for so many years. Packer takes his readers deeply into many characteristics of God that are often neglected. A reader who works through this material will certainly come away with a deeper understanding or at least a deeper appreciation of the God of the bible.

One particular area that I enjoyed was Packer’s handling of the word propitiation. In explaining what God has done for us to satisfy his wrath and atone for our sins, Packer unpacks the theological concept of propitiation in a thorough and accessible way.

I listened to a free audio copy of this work provided for me through the reviewers program at ChristianAudio.com. Simon Vance has just the right reading voice, accent and cadence, to bring to life Packer’s work.

(Posted on 12/20/11)

Speaking from the point of view of an average listener, this book is helping me to reestablish many principles of my christian life. Basically: bringing me back to Christ as the center of my christian life. Not anything else.

(Posted on 8/30/11)

Packer writes this book not as a treatise on G-d, but his own admission, even though its length greatly suggests such. Packer considers this to be a series of small studies concerning G-d, as separate messages, but provided a whole in this audio book edition, narrated by Simon Vance.

Vance provides a husky voice, presented in a discussion format. Vance does an excellent job at proper intonation, inflection, and authentic reading. Small groups will identify will with the narration, but find struggle keeping up with the material. In truth, this book, in itself, is evidence that audio books will never replace traditional format books (to be read, that is, not necessarily printed). Greatly complex, this book is not suited well for audio, despite the narrator's best attempts.

The Score:
+4 for talented narration
+4 for popular reading
-3 for complexity found in narration
= +5

SG recommends the print edition, for sure, but not the audio, unless one has a doctorate in Theology.

Christian Audio provided a copy of the audio for reviewing purposes.

Read this review and more at scriptedgenius.com.

(Posted on 8/20/11)

This is my personal review on Knowing God audiobook by J.I Packer, as part of christianaudio reviewer program

Knowing God is a book by J.I Packer that focuses on explaining the true God in biblical manner. Often in this modern world, our concept about God has diminished or simply been clouded by current trends, society, culture, and many more.

Some people find it hard nowadays to see the true God such as His real characters and what He approves and disapproves. Some even believe they have known God really well and close, where in fact, they haven’t.

J.I Packer explains from the Bible about God and He covers almost everything you can imagine about God – such as His Grace, His Wrath, His Sovereignity, and many more.

It’s a good book for new Christians but also a good book for Christians in general. Knowing God in practice is of course not as easy as it may sound. Even with 9.5 hours long, this audiobook cannot simply cover everything about God and we can never uncover 100% about God as He is simply way beyond our knowledge and brain to understand. However, this book does cover many foundational doctrines about God and in biblical truth. There are a few minor interpertations that I disagree but they are pretty minor (such as the author mentioning that it was a volcanic erruption that hit Sodom and Gomorrah – which was never mentioned directly in the Bible, etc).

The audiobook is narrated by Simon Vance and in general, being read wonderfully. It can be monotonous at times, but this is not a “story telling” kind of book, so it’s understandable. The book is unfortunately, not the type of book you can just read or listen to in one whole swoop as there are lots of things to grasp slowly. It’s then recommended to read/listen to this book by chunks and ponder them before you continue on to the next chapters.

Published on http://www.writeforgod.com/knowing-god-by-j-i-packer.html

(Posted on 7/22/11)

The first time that I read J.I. Packer’s Knowing God I was a first-year seminary student. The book was a required text for my systematic theology course. As I listened to this audiobook I was reminded of how I felt back then—this book doesn’t read like a textbook. But that’s what you have with Packer’s Knowing God, a top notch systematic theology work that is not only readable, but hard to put down (or in this case, hard to hit pause on the iPod).

While Packer doesn’t hit every subject under the heading of systematic theology, he does touch on a number of topics beyond the doctrine of God. Packer helps the reader (or listener) think through such subjects as God’s revelation through Scripture, the Trinity, the person and work of Jesus Christ, and soteriology (the doctrine of salvation).

When I read a book or listen to an audiobook I am always looking for that “worth-the-price-of-admission” factor. Not every book has it, but the best ones often do. For Knowing God it is Section Three, Chapter 18: The Heart of the Gospel. Packer tackles the the term propitiation, a word that can scare readers. But Packer not only unpacks the term, he explains the whole concept in such a way that provides the reader with a better sense of how atonement relates to the gospel. Chapter 18 is certainly worth the price of admission. (Apparently others felt the same way. The chapter was included in In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement by Packer and Mark Dever.)

As an audiobook Knowing God is an easy listen. The length of the chapters lend themselves to be manageable track lengths. The narrator (Simon Vance) does a good job of giving a voice to Packer’s text, one that keeps the listener engaged.

[Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from christianaudio.com as part of their christianaudio Reviewers Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.]

(Posted on 4/7/11)

I have nothing but positives regarding Packer’s Knowing God. As mentioned above, the chapter on idol worship (ch. 4) is worth the rest of the book by itself. I first read this book a couple years after becoming a believer and was deeply impacted by it. If you are to know God at all, you need to quickly realize that you cannot know Him. Rather, He, God, allows Himself to be known by you. Furthermore, you will learn that it was not you who sought God, but He who sought you. These are glorious truths that will bless and comfort the child of God.

The audiobook, read by Simon Vance, was done so with the gravity that each chapter, sentence, and word carries inherently with it. One need not listen long to know that what you are hearing is profound. At times, the chapters got long, and I would not suggest listening to for longer than a chapter or two. Doing this will keep your mind fresh and focused on the deep truths you are encountering. This is even truer if this is the first time you have stumbled upon this book.

If you have never read Knowing God and you enjoy reading, pick this book up. It made the list of the 5 books every Christian must own and read for a reason. It has impacted my walk with Christ as well as my understanding (or knowledge of my lack) of God in ways that I am sure I don’t quite get as of yet. This is a book that you will want to periodically read over and over for the rest of your life. In the six years since I first read this book, I have read it four times and each time I do, I discover something new or find myself saying, “So that’s where that conviction originated.” Drink deeply from the pen of J.I. Packer—you can hardly find a living author with more depth.

(Posted on 4/5/11)