Walking with God by W. Phillip Keller   Kingsway 1982.

When complacency or idleness enmeshes me in their seductive snares, there are one or two authors who would help free me from their paralysing bonds. One of them is A.W.Tozer and another is W. Phillip Keller.

Keller’s sees human beings as consisting of three parts, spirit, soul and body. I would have liked to have read about how he arrived at this idea but it proves a useful structure on which to hang some vital Biblical truths. I would also like to have read how these three part act on each other. Man may be tripartite but he is also one.

 I found as the book proceeded the more precise and helpful it became. For me his analysis of the spiritual aspects of humanity was difficult, particularly his treatment of intuition. Perhaps the deficiency is with me. He is clear on the conditioning of the conscience and his helpfulness increases when He deals with that communion with God that should be the feature of the life of every Christian.

From then on it is practical and helpful. The emotions, mind and will are seen as aspects of the soul. No part of what it is to be human escapes Keller’s scrutiny. His treatment of the body is healthy.

The author’s approach to the reader is understandably dated, being more prescriptive than we are used to nowadays. It is good to see that  he has not submitted to the modern commandment  “Thou shalt not offend anybody.”  Despite a few imperfections this is a valuable book for the author deals with topics that are seldom dealt with in such a forthright manner. Perhaps a good follow up read would be Twenty four by Krish Kandiah

Peter M. Grinham  10^th August 2015