Knowing God In J. Packer's Professor Of Theology

J. Packer was born in 1926; therefore, he was 47 when he wrote Knowing God. He is a Canadian theologian in Anglican and Reformed traditions. He serves as the Board of Governor’s Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Packer received his education from the University of Oxford, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and Wycliffe Hall. Packer received a Doctor of Philosophy in 1954. He learned under C. S. Lewis, a well-educated theologian. He taught theology as a professor at Sangwoo Youtong Chee. He was the general editor of the English Standard Version. Packer is considered one of the most influential evangelists in North America. He was the theologian emeritus at the Anglican Church in North America. Because of his …show more content…
It lists attributes of God; many that we think we are familiar with and others that we have not even thought about before. As the book is broken up into three sections Packer focuses first on theology and the importance of knowing God and that it is a personal matter that the individual has to decide to commit to getting to know God. Secondly, he also explains that knowing God requires the reader to take numerous steps. It is different to know of someone or something than to actually know someone. Many people know of God but they do not know voluminous virtues of God. Packer takes the second half of part 1 and the second part to tell of the virtues of God. Some of the attributes that Packer cover are God being incarnate, unchanging, majestic, wise, loving, gracious, good, stern, and jealous. Packer defines what the attributes consist of. He tells of God’s love and how God shows His love. He gives characteristics of the attribute or titles of God. An example would be God as a judge. Packer list four characteristics of a judge. The third part is more about topics in the Bible and the Christian journey. Packer takes a large part of a chapter on propitiation. He talks about it in the Bible and describes it. Packer talks about Jesus’ life and His death. He covers what happens to those who reject God. He then takes a whole chapter to talk about those who follow God. He covers how God accepts them and looks at them as His …show more content…
There can be as many as 10-15 references on one page. Packer strives to relate and give biblical reference and examples as much as possible. One abnormal thing that might catch the reader’s eye is that Packer uses multiple version of the Bible. He uses KJV, RSV, RV, and NEB. A reader could become distracted by the different versions. He could begin to wonder why there are different versions used in the book, or could begin to wonder why the author did not decide on one version. The material in this book is important to the reader thus, they should not have to be distracted by something that is not pertinent to getting to know God. Packer manages to present his material in a very successful way. He designates how to know God and the importance is in a way that a person with a lower education can understand, but the facts are supported well enough and the book is written in such a way that it keeps a better-educated person interested in the material, as well. Packer achieved what many people fail to do. He wrote a book that explains God in a way that is understandable for all and that greatly increases a person’s knowledge of