Some subjects in the study of the Bible can be treated at “arm’s length.” Personal identity is not one of them. You can’t write a book about personal identity without saying something about yourself. At least that’s what people kept telling me; impersonal won’t do when it comes to a book answering the most personal of questions. In writing the book, this was quite a struggle for a biblical scholar still shaking off the modernist ruse of dispassionate neutrality towards the text. But I am convinced that the book is far more engaging for my having done so.
While this book can hardly be described as autobiographical—it is a book of biblical exegesis and theology—at one level it does tell the story of my own crisis of identity and the comfort I found in being known by God. And as Paul insists in 2 Corinthians 1:3–4, those who have received comfort from God are obliged to comfort those in trouble with the comfort they themselves have received. This book is my attempt to do just that.
The book seeks to show how profoundly helpful the Bible is in addressing the identity angst and confusion that is so rife in our day, drawing deeply on the neglected theme of being known by God. In writing the book I have, of course, used a wide range of secondary sources. Five authors stand out for addressing issues pertinent to questions of personal identity with considerable insight and are regularly cited: John Calvin, Marilynne Robinson, Tim Keller, Tom Wright, and Richard Bauckham.
Known by God has a long backstory. In 2005 I explored the theme in two giants of Christian literature in an Evangelical Quarterly article: “Known by God: C. S. Lewis and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.”1 In 2007 I gave the Tyndale Biblical Theology Lecture in Cambridge on the relevant biblical and Jewish material, which was later published in Tyndale Bulletin as “Known by God: The Meaning and Value of a Neglected Biblical Concept.”2 Parts of that article are adapted and used here with permission from the journal. Third, I had the privilege of coauthoring a chapter for an interdisciplinary book exploring the theme’s practical significance with academic psychiatrist Loyola McLean: “Theology and Human Flourishing: The Benefits of Being Known by God.”3
I owe a debt of gratitude to many other people who have contributed in various ways. In 2010 I worked for ten weeks at the Centre for Public Christianity in Sydney. My task was to work on the topic of personal identity, and it was during this time that the main lines of my thinking on the subject took shape. I am grateful to Vanda and Debbie Gould, generous Christian benefactors, whose support made that time of research and writing possible. I am also grateful to my friends at the Centre for Public Christianity for the opportunity to learn from their sterling example of Christian public engagement. Whilst that research was never published, it laid the foundation for the book you are about to read. Early in 2015 Ridley College ran a conference in partnership with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary on being known by God, a rich and stimulating event from which I learned a great deal. I wrote most of Known by God on study leave from Ridley College in the second half of 2015. I thank the Ridley Board for granting me leave and colleagues for their encouragement along the way.
I am particularly grateful to a number of people for their assistance. Michele Smart and Rebecca Hanlon read the entire manuscript, told me exactly what they thought, made invaluable suggestions, and helped with the questions that conclude each chapter. My personal assistant, Annabelle Crane, helped in many ways, as calmly and competently as ever. Natalie, my wife, who is my partner in every sense, supported me in ways too numerous to list.
I could not have asked for better editors. Jonathan Lunde provided critical advice at just the right moments and went the extra mile with the manuscript. Over at Zondervan, Katya Covrett was a pleasure to work with and acted with consummate professionalism at every stage. I am grateful to Christopher Beetham and Nathan Kroeze for their excellent work on final edits and marketing, respectively. Thanks also to John Schoer for preparing the indexes.
The book is dedicated to five good friends. There is indeed something reassuring and beautiful about someone really knowing you.
Writing this book and, more importantly, living it have been an enormous blessing to me personally. If knowing God is life’s greatest challenge, being known by God is life’s greatest comfort. My hope and prayer to God is that you will find this to be the case in your own life.
1. Brian S. Rosner, “Known by God: C. S. Lewis and Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” Evangelical Quarterly 77.4 (2005): 343–52.
2. Brian S. Rosner, “Known by God: The Meaning and Value of a Neglected Biblical Concept,” Tyndale Bulletin 59.2 (2008): 207–30.
3. Brian Rosner and Loyola McLean, “Theology and Human Flourishing: The Benefits of Being Known by God,” in Beyond Well-Being: Spirituality and Human Flourishing, ed. Maureen Miner, Martin Dowson, and Stuart Devenish (Charlotte, NC: Information Age, 2012), 65–83.