Book Review: The Dangers of a Shallow Faith by A.W. Tozer

Regal Books has recently marketed a series of “never before published” books by A.W. Tozer.  These collective works have been compiled by James L. Synder.  Although this material was never organized in book form by Tozer, it does appeal to those of us who can’t get enough of his writings.

In the book, The Dangers of a Shallow Faith, you have the classic prophetic tone that is typical of Tozer’s style.  Tozer had a way of removing all the fluff of religious rhetoric.  He was able to get down to the core of our indifference and apathy.  He never majored on fads, trends, or personal popularity, and this book reveals that.

Those who refuse to swim in the deep waters of faith will be tempted to entertain fleshly and carnal desires in the shallow end.  The deeper you go in spiritual waters, the less your flesh is exposed.   Tozer not only warns the church of the coming apostasy, he challenges us to refuse casual, non-responsive religious activity through consistent and intentional spiritual disciplines.

I have been an avid Tozer fan for most of my Christian life, so it is refreshing to find some “new” material from this eccentric  and influential man of God.

Favorite Quotes from The Dangers of Shallow Faith include:

“Apostasy starts when certain creep in unaware and replace the Holy Spirit as the guiding force of the Christian movement.  The church was never designed to be piloted by men; rather, the Holy Spirit birthed the church on the day of Pentecost as a vehicle through which He could do His work in each generation.”

“The true Christian will, by a kind of spiritual instinct, find a body of believers somewhere, identify himself with it and try to by every proper means promote its growth and prosperity.”

“I fear we have become too apologetic in our apologetics, and in trying to please everyone we end up destroying truth”

“We have quenched the powers of moral reflection, even in Church circles, so that we are demanding of religious writers that they give us something condensed, brief, colorful, dramatic and full of illustrations, geared to the events and the times, which requires no thinking at all”

“The human mind is so constituted that it must consider something; so it compromises by considering other people’s ways”

“Wherever we do the will of God we are free, wherever we break from the will of God we are slaves”

“Spirituality does not lie in the length of your hair or the length of your beard.  It does not lie in the style of your garment or the quality of your garment.  The rule I would lay down is the easiest rule in the world: If it is modest and you can afford it, it is appropriate”

“Just because you tack the word ‘worship’ onto a phrase does not mean that it is worship acceptable to God.  We dance before God, wearing our silly little costumes and doing our silly little jingles, thinking that this in some way impresses God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth”