Character guide

Unknown Narrator

major

Also known as myself, Thou

He speaks as a soul in motion, praying in the first person and addressing God as 'Thou,' a pilgrim who has grown suspicious of a faith that leaves the heart neither hungry nor thirsty. His tension is the paradox of prevenient grace: he cannot claim credit for seeking, yet he must still rise and pursue, since God's drawing and his following are not rivals but one motion. His longing sets the book's early arc, turning doctrine into desire and mapping the interior journey from the outer court toward the Holy of Holies.

Jesus Christ

major

Also known as Christ, Jesus, One Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ, The Lord Jesus Christ Himself

He stands as the beginning, middle, and end of everything for the seeking soul, the joy of heaven who enters sorrowful hearts and cannot be exhausted by eternity's praise. The tension he exposes is that Christ may be 'received' without kindling any love in the receiver, leaving a man saved but not thirsty, content with little. He matters to the early arc because the whole pursuit only makes sense if God is a knowable Person rather than an inference, an ideal, or a mere principle.

Abraham

supporting

Also known as thee

He is the patriarch whose long-awaited son became the delight and idol of his heart, the living bundle of every promise, covenant, and messianic hope. His agony on the slopes near Beersheba is the book's dramatic picture of the surrendered life, an uncleansed love meeting a command that seems to cancel the very promise it came from. He matters to the early arc because his dark-night solution, that God could raise Isaac from the dead, illustrates the first Beatitude and the step-by-step ascent no seeker can bypass.

Moses

supporting

Also known as thy

He is the man who met God in fiery manifestation, the one whose shining face proves that divine self-revelation is not a distant visit but a transforming nearness. His story anchors the tabernacle imagery that structures the book's journey: the outer court, the holy place, and the Holy of Holies where Jehovah himself dwells behind the veil. He matters to the early arc because he shows that God did not have to be persuaded to reveal Himself, and that the rending of the veil opens the same Presence to every worshipper.

David

supporting

He is the poet of longing who wrote 'my soul followeth hard after thee,' and who traced God's seeing hand back to the mystery of his own unfolding life before birth. His tension is Jacob's problem in psalm form: God is present at every point in space, yet men do not know it, and the Presence and the manifestation of the Presence are not the same. He matters to the early arc because his psalms give the book its warm language of personal feeling, turning deep calling unto deep into the very texture of the pursuit.

Nicholas of Cusa

minor

Also known as Nicholas

Medieval theologian quoted on the nature of God's presence.

Paul

supporting

He is the epistle-writer whose words keep surfacing as the book's doctrinal spine, insisting that God can be known in personal experience rather than merely inferred from evidence. His tension is with a Christianity that has made conversion mechanical and spiritless, where Christ is received without creating any special love in the receiver. He matters to the early arc because his teaching on prevenient grace and the knowable God supplies the theological ground beneath the narrator's restless, first-person pursuit.

Frederick Faber

minor

Also known as Faber

Hymn writer and theologian quoted on divine love and the soul's rest.

Israel

minor

The chosen people of God, referenced as a collective historical figure.

Isaac

minor

Also known as thy

Son of Abraham, mentioned in the context of patriarchal faith.

Jacob

minor

Patriarch who wrestled with God and received a new name.

Adam

minor

First man, referenced in discussing the fall and original sin.

Christians

minor

Also known as Their

Collective body of believers, often addressed as the audience.

The Christian

minor

Generic individual believer used as a type for spiritual instruction.

Levi

minor

Also known as thy

Priestly tribe of Israel, mentioned in passing regarding worship.

Elijah

minor

Also known as Eli

Prophet who encountered God in a still small voice.

The Godhead

minor

Also known as Godhead

The triune nature of God, discussed in theological context.

Solomon

minor

King of Israel, cited for his wisdom and temple dedication.

The Holy Spirit

supporting

Also known as the Spirit

The Holy Spirit works not through crowds but within the individual conscience, coming into the field of awareness where a person can know God as directly as any fact of experience. That inward quickening awakens a kinship the soul senses and leaps to greet, yet it is an inception, not an end. The Spirit thus stands at the hinge of Tozer's argument: the One who begins the glorious pursuit and keeps the burning heart longing for a God it has already found.

Self

minor

Also known as It

The ego or carnal nature that must be surrendered to God.

John

minor

Apostle and author of the Gospel and Epistles, cited for his teachings.

Thomas à Kempis

minor

Medieval author of The Imitation of Christ, quoted on humility.