"Religious muddle around us is frantic and furious. How urgently we need, in these days, to get clear about the Holy Spirit!" --J.I. Packer

QUICK REFERENCE ENTRY:

There is nothing trendy about J.I. Packer's Knowing God (1973), a Christian classic that has reputedly sold more than one million copies worldwide. Packer appreciates Martin Luther King's dictum that three forms of activity and experience make the theologian: sustained prayer, meditation and fidelity to truth.

Born in England in 1926, James Innell Packer is an unabashed Calvinist who studied classics and theology at Oxford, receiving his Ph.D. in 1954. He came to Vancouver and was appointed professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Regent College in 1979. In 1989, he became the first Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology.

Packer has also been senior editor and visiting scholar for Christianity Today. Considered one of the most influential evangelicals in North America, Packer remains active on Regent College's board of governors.

B.C. is rife with authors and books pertaining to religion and spirituality. The notorious Brother XII [see John Oliphant entry] left behind several works of spiritual nonsense, and Finnish utopian leader Matti Kurikka published works of visionary idealism. Books by New Age guru Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now, A New Earth) have generated impressive sales worldwide while some view his prose as bafflegab for the needy and gullible. More ennobling is sufi teacher Murat Yagan's spiritual autobiography, I Come from Behind Kaf Mountain. Journalist Douglas Todd continues to write about contemporary religion and ethics with dignity and clarity.

FULL ENTRY:

One of British Columbia's bestselling authors, James Innell Packer was born in England in 1926 and studied Classics and Theology at Oxford. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in 1954. After nine years as warden of Latimer House, an Anglican evangelical study centre in Oxford, he became principal of Tyndale Hall in 1970. He came to Vancouver and was appointed professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Regent College in 1979. In 1989 he became the first Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology. He has also been senior editor and visiting scholar for Christianity Today. Packer appreciated Martin Luther King's dictum that three forms of activity and experience make the theologian: sustained prayer, meditation and temptation (fidelity to truth). J.I. Packer's Knowing God has reportedly sold over one million copies worldwide.

[For other religious and spiritual-oriented authors, see abcbookworld entries for Adams, Neale; Anderson, Charles; Anderson, Mark; Arctander, John William; Atkinson, Ron; Baker, J.C.; Beanlands, Arthur J.; Beavon, Chester; Benjamin, Verna; Bergsma, William; Best, Marion; Botting, Gary; Bowman, Phylis; Brabant, Augustin Joseph; Bramham, Daphne; Brown, Brian; Browne, Don; Browne, Donald Elgin; Burkinshaw, Robert Kenneth; Burrows, Bob; Carmichael, William; Celis, Luisa Maria; Coggins, James; Cohen, Martin S.; Colebrook Peace, Barbara; Cronin, Kay; Crosby, Thomas; Curtis, Eileen; Das, Jagessar; Davis, E.A.; De Roo, Remi; Down, Edith E.; Downs, Barry; Dubois, Veronica; Dunn, Alexander; Durgananda, Swami; Ehman, Daniel; Ferguson, Julie H.; Forsee, David; Foster, Chris; Franklin, Jill; Gerard, Bernice; Glavin, Terry; Good, Linnea; Gowen, Hubert H.; Gresko, Jacqueline; Grove, Lyndon; Guyatt, Nicholas; Hadley, Michael; Hamilton, Rosemary; Hayden, Brian; Henderson, R.W.; Hills, George; Horsfield, Margaret; Iredale, Jennifer; Jamieson, Patrick; John Paul, Pope; Kokai-Kuun, Zoltan; Lascelles, Thomas A.; LeClair, Marcia; Lunny, William; Mackay, Ellen; Mackey, Lloyd; Maltwood, Katharine; Manji, Irshad; McCullagh, James B.; McGrath, Alister; McKervill, Hugh; Milton, Ralph; Montgomery, Charles; Mornin, Lorna; Nayar, Kamala; Nicol, Mary; O'Brian, Michael; Page, Christopher; Pallant, Roy J.V.; Palmer, Debbie; Peake, Frank A.; Pearson, Leslie Trayer Holt; Powers, Margaret Fishback; Powers, Paul Radha, Swami Sivananda; Read, Wendy; Roddan, Sam; Sale, Thomas; Sanguin, Bruce; Schneider, Birgit; Schofield, Emily M.; Schwartzentruber, Michael; Sheepshanks, John; Snowber, Celeste; Sovereign, A.H.; Stouck, Mary-Ann; Szydlowski, Pawel; Talbot, Cathie; Taylor, James; Townsend, Arthur H.; Tyson, Janet; Underhill, Stuart; Upton, Primrose; Vessey, Mark; Ward-Harris, E.D.; Wellcome, Henry; Wentworth, Elaine; Weyler, Rex; Whitehead, Margaret; Williams, Cyril.] @2010.

BOOKS:

* Fundamentalism and the Word of God (1958; reprinted 1984) ISBN 0-8028-1147-7
* Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (1961 by Inter-Varsity Fellowship) (reprinted 1991) ISBN 0-8308-1339-X
* Our Lord's Understanding of the Law of God (1962)
* The Church of England and the Methodist Church: Ten Essays (1963)
* God Speaks To Man: Revelation and the Bible (1965)
* Tomorrow's Worship (1966)
* Guidelines: Anglican Evangelicals Face the Future (1967)
* What did the Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution (1973)
* Knowing God (1973, reprinted 1993) ISBN 0-8308-1650-X
* I Want To Be A Christian (1977) ISBN 9780842318426
* The Ten Commandments (1977) ISBN 9780842370042
* The Evangelical Anglican Identity Problem: An Analysis (1978) ISBN 9780946307005
* The New Man (1978) ISBN 9780802817686
* For Man's Sake! (1978) ISBN 9780853642176
* Knowing Man (1979)
* God Has Spoken (1979) ISBN 9780877846567
* Beyond the Battle for the Bible (1980) ISBN 9780891071952
* Freedom and Authority (1981: International Council on Biblical Inerrancy)
* A Kind of Noah's Ark? : The Anglican Commitment to Comprehensiveness (1981) ISBN 9780946307098
* God's Words: Studies of Key Bible Themes (1981) ISBN 9780877843672
* Freedom, Authority and Scripture (1982) ISBN 9780851104454
* Keep In Step With The Spirit: Finding Fullness In Our Walk With God (1984, reprinted 2005) ISBN 0-8010-6558-5
* The Thirty-Nine Articles: Their Place and Use Today (1984)
* Through the Year with J. I. Packer (1986) ISBN 9780340401415
* Hot Tub Religion (1987) ISBN 9780842318549
* Among God's Giants: Aspects of Puritan Christianity (1991) ISBN 9780860654520
* A Passion for Holiness (1992) ISBN 1-85684-043-3
* Rediscovering Holiness (1992) ISBN 0-89283-734-9
* A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (1994) ISBN 0-89107-819-3
* Knowing Christianity (1995) ISBN 9780877880585
* A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom from the Book of Nehemiah (1995) ISBN 9780891077336
* Decisions - Finding God's Will: 6 Studies for Individuals or Groups (1996) ISBN 9780851113760
* Truth & Power: The Place of Scripture in the Christian Life (1996) ISBN 9780877888154
* Life in the Spirit (1996) ISBN 9780340641743
* Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (2001) ISBN 0-8423-3960-4
* Meeting God (2001) ISBN 9781859994801
* God's Plans for You (2001) ISBN 9781581342901
* Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility (2002)
* Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J. C. Ryle (2002) ISBN 9781581343588
* The Redemption and Restoration of Man in the Thought of Richard Baxter (2003, based on his 1954 Oxford dissertation) ISBN 1-57383-174-3
* Knowing God Through The Year (2004) ISBN 9780830832927
* 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know (2007)
* Praying the Lord's Prayer (2007) ISBN 9781581349634
* Affirming the Apostles' Creed (2008) ISBN 9781433502101
* Collected Shorter Writings in four volumes

[edit] In the Anglican Agenda Series

* Taking Faith Seriously (2006) ISBN 9780978165307
* Taking Doctrine Seriously (2007) ISBN 9781897538005
* Taking Repentance Seriously (2007) ISBN 9780978165345
* Taking Christian Unity Seriously (2007) ISBN 9780978165369

[edit] Collections

* The J. I. Packer Collection, edited by Alister McGrath (1999) ISBN 9780830822874
* Collected Shorter Writings of J. I. Packer
o Volume 1: Celebrating the Saving Work of God (1998) ISBN 9780853648963
o Volume 2: Serving the People of God (1998) ISBN 9780853649045
o Volume 3: Honouring the Written Word of God (1999) ISBN 9780853648826
o Volume 4: Honouring the People of God (1999) ISBN 9780853649052

[edit] Co-authored

* The Spirit Within You: The Church's Neglected Possession with Alan Stibbs (1979) ISBN 9780801081422
* The Bible Almanac with Merrill C. Tenney and William White (1980) ISBN 9780840751621
* Christianity: The True Humanism with Thomas Howard (1985) ISBN 1-57383-058-5
* New Dictionary of Theology with Sinclair B Ferguson and David F Wright (1988) ISBN 9780830814008
* Knowing and Doing the Will of God with LaVonne Neff (1995) ISBN 9780892839278
* Great Power with Beth Feia (1997) ISBN 9780854768363
* Great Grace with Beth Feia (1997) ISBN 9780854768370
* Great Joy with Beth Feia (1999) ISBN 9780854768387
* Never Beyond Hope: How God Touches and Uses Imperfect People with Carolyn Nystrom (2000) ISBN 9780830822324
* Knowing God Journal with Carolyn Nystrom (2000) ISBN 9780830811854
* Hope, Never Beyond Hope: Six Studies for Individuals or Groups with Leader's Notes with Carolyn Nystrom (2003) ISBN 9780851113555
* One Faith: The Evangelical Consensus with Thomas Oden (2004) ISBN 0-8308-3239-4
* Battle for the Soul of Canada: Raising up the Emerging Generation of Leaders (2006) ISBN 9780978202200
* Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty To Delight with Carolyn Nystrom (2006) ISBN 9780830833450
* Guard Us, Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life's Decisions with Carolyn Nystrom (2008) ISBN 9780801013034
* In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement with Mark Dever (2008) ISBN 9781433502002

[edit] Works about

* Alister E McGrath, To Know and Serve God: A Life of James I. Packer (1997) ISBN 9780340565711
* Alister E McGrath, J. I. Packer: A Biography (1997) ISBN 9780801011573
* Roger Steer, Guarding the Holy Fire: The Evangelicalism of John R. W. Stott, J. I. Packer and Alister McGrath (1999) ISBN 9780801058462
* Don J Payne, The Theology of the Christian Life in J. I. Packer's Thought: Theological Anthropology, Theological Method, and the Doctrine of Sanctification (2006) ISBN 9781842273975
* Timothy F George, J. I. Packer and the Evangelical Future: The Impact of His Life and Thought (2009) ISBN 9780801033872

[BCBW 2010]