A. W. Tozer

Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963) was an American Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor, preacher, editor and devotional writer. He was associated with evangelicalism, the Holiness movement and Keswick spirituality. He became one of the most influential figures in 20th-century evangelicalism through works such as The Pursuit of God (1948) and The Knowledge of the Holy (1961), which emphasize holiness, contemplative prayer, reverence, self-denial, death to self and conscious awareness of the presence of God. Although firmly committed to biblical authority and evangelical theology, Tozer drew extensively upon premodern Catholic literature, including Augustine of Hippo, Bernard of Clairvaux, Julian of Norwich, Thomas à Kempis, John of the Cross, Brother Lawrence, Jeanne Guyon, François Fénelon, and Miguel de Molinos. Scholars have frequently discussed his work in connection with Protestant mysticism and the history of contemplative spirituality within evangelical Christianity.