Are our concentration spans so short these days that even a Christian classic must be divided up into bite-size chunks? Or could this be a brave attempt to bring some inspiring teaching to a brand-new audience?
Tozer’s central premise is that God wants us to pursue him because he has put that longing into our hearts, and that making the pursuit of God our lifelong goal will impact every area of our existence. His writing is not inaccessible, but it is the language of its time and requires some effort on the reader’s part. Presumably in an attempt to overcome any resistance to approaching the original text, this edition divides it into sections. Each takes no more than a few minutes to read, but should certainly take longer to digest.
The ‘31 day experience’ subtitle is a hint that completing these readings could have an effect which is out of all proportion to their length. The publishers have presented them in a highly visual way with a liberal use of illustrations and explanations of terms and people referred to in the original text that might be unfamiliar today. The font is larger than average and alternates between black and white. It all succeeds in attracting attention to the content and value of Tozer’s original writing and making the ‘experience’ one that is well worth attempting.
Caroline Newbold is associate minister at St Stephen’s Church, Ealing
