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Desiring God by John Piper


In the introduction of “Desiring God,” John Piper explains how he became Christian Hedonist.  He gives five reasons in how he came to the conclusion that “it is unbiblical and arrogant to try to worship God for any other reason than the pleasure to be had in Him” (18).  Which Piper says that is what Christian Hedonist is all about.  

Five reason in why John Piper became a Christian Hedonist:

First:  “During my first quarter in seminary, I was introduced to the argument for Christian Hedonism and one of its great exponents, Blaise Pascal”  (19).  

Second:  “I had grown to love the work of C.S. Lewis in college.  But not until later did I buy the sermon called ‘The Weight of Glory.’  The first page of that sermon is one of the most influential pages of literature I have ever read”  (19).

Third:  “The third insight was there in Lewis’s sermon, but Pascal made it more explicit” (18).

Fourth:  “The next insight came again from C.S. Lewis, but this time from his Reflections on the Psalms.  Chapter 9 of Lewis’s book bears the modest title ‘A Word about Praise.’  In my experience it has been the word about praise—the best word on the nature of praise I have ever read.”  (21)

Fifth:  “Then I turned to the Psalms for myself and found the language of Hedonism everywhere.  The quest for pleasure was not even optional, but commanded:  ‘Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart”
(Psalm 37:4).  


The point of life as John Piper says is: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (17).  

That raises some questions, what do we live for?
Is it to have as much satisfaction any way we can?

As much as I can think and reason, there is no point of life that is apart from knowing God and that he created this world.  People could offer few suggestions, but is that really why I (as a humane) exist in the first place?  I live that’s a fact, so do you (since you are reading this), but can there be a clear understanding in why we live on this planet? 
My answer: God created this world, the world that we can’t control or protect, the media speaks for it self.  And if a person doesn’t live for the glory of God, and enjoys Him as he lives, then he (the human) is missing the big picture, the point of life.  

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