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Introduction
“And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John” was written and compiled
by James L. Snyder on teachings and sermons by A.W. Tozer. According to Snyder one of A.W.
Tozer’s favorite books of the Bible was the gospel of John and A.W. Tozer preached on the book
weekly. “For more than a year, Dr. Tozer preached weekly on the Gospel of John, one of his
favorite books of the Bible.”1 “Tozer believed that John represented the best of the “Mystical”
thinkers”2 “John was like the lark that rose at the break of day, shook the dew of night from its
wings and soared to heaven’s gate in song.”3 This book presents some of A.W. Tozer’s most
impactful sermons as Snyder states “More people acknowledged new life in Christ during this
series of sermons than in any series Tozer ever preached in Chicago.”4 In this brief book critique
this student author will give a summary, analyze and critique this composition of A.W. Tozer’s
writings on the gospel of John..
Author Information
A.W. Tozer was born April 21, 1897, on a small farm in Pennsylvania. “Tozer without
formal education was called to be the pastor of a small church in West Virginia.”5 Tozer’s
ministry spanned 44 years and includes many books, essays and sermons which are still used
today. “A.W. Tozer was a minister in the Christian and Missionary Alliance from 1919 to 1963
and was the editor of the Alliance Witness (now Alliance Life) from 1950 to 1963.”6
1 A.W. Tozer, And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John, ed. James L. Snyder (Ventura, CA:
Regal, 2009),7.
2 Ibid, 9.
3 Ibid, 9.
4 Ibid, 7.
5 A.W. Tozer - A.W. Tozer - Short Biography (ochristian.com) http://articles.ochristian.com/article150.shtml,
accessed online 4/7/2021.
6 Ibid, book cover.
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Summary
“And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John” by A.W. Tozer starts
where John starts his gospel. In the Beginning. Either the complier of the book ; James Snyder or
A.W. Tozer purposely started in the beginning to highlight Jesus’s divinity and thus the reference
to the book of John or more precisely to John as mystical as “In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God”(John 1:1) “we are elevated into the realm of
“everlasting.”7 The book continues in a fashion that works through the gospel with each chapter
working through a verse of the Bible. Tozer throughout his writings works through the gospel of
John while referencing the Old Testament, Psalms, and wisdom books to give the hearer a better
understanding of what Tozer feels is important for the hearer to understand.
The first few chapters focus on Jesus and “In the Beginning” and our understanding of
Jesus/God as having no beginning contrary to the world which has a beginning. “God had no
beginning because “beginning is a creature word and means that someone was working on
something. God started to work on it; He worked awhile and finished it. And it had a beginning
and a “finish,” and that is a creature word. But God is not a creature. God is the Creator; so, you
can never say that God had a beginning.”8 Tozer teaches this so that the hearer will understand
that Jesus is the messiah and not a created thing.
The fourth Chapter “The Tragic Side of Christ Becoming Flesh” is this student authors
favorite chapter as it deals John 1:1 “He came unto the world, and his own received him not.”
Here Tozer points out five reasons why his own rejected him and these five reasons are the same
reasons people reject him to this day. “1. The first reason for rejecting Christ has to do with
7 A.W. Tozer, And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John, ed. James L. Snyder (Ventura, CA:
Regal, 2009),16.
8 Ibid, 31.
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personal priorities”, “To accept Jesus Christ means absolutely no compromising with the
world.”9 This is true for men today. People want eternal life but desire to live in the world.
People desire fancy cars, big, beautiful houses and financial security and are willing to
compromise and most the time forfeit the gospel message to do so. “2. The second reason has to
do with our habits. To receive Jesus Christ will mean a change in our living. Some people are not
going to change their way of living, no matter what.”10 People get stuck and set in their ways.
There are so many times when this student author counsels someone who wishes to quit “this or
that” but they are stuck because they cannot stop going to the places that cause them to relapse.
“3. The third reason for refusing Christ had to do with their personal cleansing. Accepting Christ
would have meant a thorough inward housecleaning.”11 Many people would rather be ugly on the
inside then have to look and change to be more Christ like. This student author has talked with
many “Christianese” people who are filled with hate and venom who are not willing to deal with
the problems that cause them to be filled with hate. Like Tozer says “This is the reason people
today do not receive Him. They have the Bible, a hymnbook, churches, radio preachers and
evangelists. They have opportunities; they have light; they have information; but they will not
receive Him, because if they do, they are going to have to clean up. Some people will not clean
up. They do not want their houses to be clean. They love their dirt.”12 “4. A fourth reason they
would not accept Jesus was that it would mean a complete change in direction for them.”13 This
student has seen so many who leave the church and who go right back to the person they were
before entering the church house. The want church to be a one day 2 hour change in direction.
The rest of the time they want to be and head the direction that they choose instead of following
9 A.W. Tozer, And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John, ed. James L. Snyder (Ventura, CA:
Regal, 2009),70.
10 Ibid, 71.
11 Ibid, 71.
12 Ibid, 72.
13 Ibid, 72.
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Jesus. They do not wish to pick up their cross, surrender it all and follow Jesus. The 5th reason is
“That it would have meant having faith in the unseen.”14 Having faith is hard to do especially
when you have to give up having control.
The next chapter ( Chapter 5) focuses on God becoming flesh and the sixth does a fine job
of using the Old Testament to show how Jesus fulfilled the messianic prophecies. The seventh
chapter and close to the midpoint in the book in the famous John 3:16 verse teaching. Here Tozer
clarifies that each and every person matters to God. Tozer also points out “Satan’s lie into the ear
of man is “you do not really matter to God. God does not have any emotional connection to you.
God is not concerned about you.”15 Tozer points out that “for God so loved the world
“contradicts this lie of Satan, the Christian message boasts ‘God cares about you as an
individual. No matter what the circumstances around your life at the present, God still cares
about you.”16
The 8th chapter clarifies that Jesus came to save us not condemn us. While the 9th deals
with harmony of the Trinity. The 10th discusses that Jesus is our judge and savior. While the final
chapters discuss the importance of Jesus identifying with man, living victoriously, and having a
proper concept of God.
Analysis
A.W. Tozer’s “And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from The Gospel of John” is a book
of sermons that this student author has found interesting. Sometimes the verse does not fully line
14 A.W. Tozer, And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John, ed. James L. Snyder (Ventura, CA:
Regal, 2009),73.
15 Ibid, 110.
16 Ibid, 114.
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up with the teachings. For example, in the first chapter the verse is “In the beginning was the
word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”(John 1:1) A.W. Tozer teaches on
“longing for immortality and a search for the everlasting.”17 How do we get here from this verse,
well Tozer says by reading this verse “we are elevated into the realm of everlasting”18 and Tozer
works off the word everlasting a word that is not even in the verse but it is how he describes the
verse. Tozer goes from there to a verse that has everlasting in it (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and writes his
sermon on this word everlasting. The other chapters are more on point but Tozer in this
student’s opinion does tend to go sideways at times to make his point.
The book does have some keen insights and this student does feel for the most part Tozer
clarified things like “why people did not receive him and why people do not receive him today.
Tozer’s teaching on the Trinity could have highlighted each individual role of the Trinity at little
better and clearer. But for the most part Tozer’s teachings are compiled so that laypeople would
be able to understand his teachings and should be able to find insights into John’s gospel and by
doing so have a better understanding of who Jesus is, what He came to do and what He will do
when he returns.
Conclusion
In conclusion, A.W. Tozer’s “And He Dwelt Among us” book is educational and
inspirational. He teaches so that most people will be able to follow along and gain insights into
the gospel of John and into Jesus the Son of God. The selected sermons complement each other
17 A.W. Tozer, And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John, ed. James L. Snyder (Ventura, CA:
Regal, 2009),18-25..
18 Ibid 16.
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and would benefit scholars and laypersons alike. This is a book that this student enjoyed reading
and would recommend for others to read as well. This student only found a few instances where
A.W. Tozer did not connect the scripture with the teaching as well as this student would have
liked and for the most part this book is an easy to understand book.
Bibliography
Tozer, A.W. And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John. Edited by James L.
Snyder. Ventura, CA: Regal, 2009.
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