Desiring God

by John Piper

Publisher:

Multnomah

, 2003

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Overview

The pursuit of pleasure is not optional. It is essential. Scripture reveals that the great business of life is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. In this paradigm-shattering work, John Piper reveals that the debate between duty and delight doesn’t truly exist: Delight is our duty. Join him as he unveils stunning, life-impacting truths you saw in the Bible but never dared to believe. The message of Desiring God is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. In this book, Piper calls this worldview “Christian Hedonism” and explains why pursuing maximum joy is essential to glorifying God. He discusses the implications of this for conversion, worship, love, Scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions, and suffering. R.C. Sproul says this book is a “modern manual of true spirituality.” “A soul-stirring celebration of the pleasures of knowing God… A must-read for every Christian and a feast for the spiritually hungry,” says John MacArthur.

Wait! You can get a better deal by purchasing this resource in the John Piper Collection.

The updated version of Desiring God flows from John Piper's decades of experience as a Christian teacher and leader. In college, he struggled with the idea that doing good was ruined by deriving pleasure from those good actions. In seminary, his studies challenged that notion.

Piper's book invites the reader into this journey and presents a road map for understanding what Christian Hedonism is and how to live it out to the glory of God. He covers ten essential elements of the Christian life, helping the reader understand what happiness in God looks like in the context of these different aspects of life.

The tenth chapter is new to the latest edition of Desiring God. It addresses suffering. This may seem counterintuitive in a work on happiness, but all Christians will face suffering. Piper shows how "all suffering in a Christian calling is with Christ and for Christ." This final chapter was a necessary capstone to his classic book on Christian happiness.

The reader will learn what Christian Hedonism is and how to apply it to their lives.

Introduction: How I Became a Christian Hedonist
Chapter - 1 - The Happiness of God: Foundation for Christian Hedonism
Chapter - 2 - Conversion: The Creation of a Christian Hedonist
Chapter - 3 - Worship: The Feast of Christian Hedonism
Chapter - 4 - Love: The Labor of Christian Hedonism
Chapter - 5 - Scripture: Kindling for Christian Hedonism
Chapter - 6 - Prayer: The Power of Christian Hedonism
Chapter - 7 - Money: The Currency of Christian Hedonism
Chapter - 8 - Marriage: A Matrix for Christian Hedonism
Chapter - 9 - Missions: The Battle Cry of Christian Hedonism
Chapter - 10 - Suffering: The Sacrifice of Christian Hedonism
Epilogue: Why I Have Written This Book: Seven Reasons
Appendix 1 - The Goal of God in Redemptive History
Appendix 2 - Is the Bible a Reliable Guide to Lasting Joy?
Appendix 3 - Is God Less Glorious Because He Ordained That Evil Be? Jonathan Edwards on the Divine Decrees
Appendix 4 - How Then Shall We Fight for Joy? An Outline
Appendix 5 - Why Call It Christian Hedonism?

Top Highlights

“That God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him” (Page 10)

“Praising God, the highest calling of humanity and our eternal vocation, did not involve the renunciation, but rather the consummation of the joy I so desired. My old effort to achieve worship with no self-interest in it proved to be a contradiction in terms. God is not worshiped where He is not treasured and enjoyed. Praise is not an alternative to joy, but the expression of joy. Not to enjoy God is to dishonor Him. To say to Him that something else satisfies you more is the opposite of worship. It is sacrilege.” (Page 22)

“Love is the overflow of joy in God that gladly meets the needs of others.” (Page 119)

“Faith is the evidence of new birth, not the cause of it.” (Page 67)

“God’s glory is the beauty of His manifold perfections.” (Page 42)

Through ten detailed chapters, John Piper's Desiring God lays out the road map and argument for why and how a Christian should become a Christian Hedonist.

At the center of this argument is the appeal to make God the uppermost of the Christian's affections. All else in the book flows out of this basic understanding. To prove this, he strives to exposit Scripture and show five convictions to be true:

1. The longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not sinful.

2. We should never try to deny or resist our longing to be happy, as though it were a bad impulse. Instead, we should seek to intensify this longing and nourish it with whatever will provide the deepest and most enduring satisfaction.

3. The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God. Not from God, but in God.

4. The happiness we find in God reaches its consummation when it is shared with others in the manifold ways of love.

5. To the extent that we try to abandon the pursuit of our own pleasure, we fail to honor God and love people. Or, to put it positively: The pursuit of pleasure is a necessary part of all worship and virtue.

Readers will go on a journey as Piper proves that Christian Hedonism is not simply a idea. It is a calling of every Christian that they may learn to enjoy God forever.

There are many books on the market about Christian living. Not only is Desiring God a modern classic, but John Piper does not shy away from potentially controversial subjects. Instead, he invites readers to see how finding their satisfaction in God will lead them to the most profound pleasure and happiness.

Title: Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Third Edition)
Author: John Piper
Publisher: Multnomah
Print Publication Date: 2003
Logos Release Date: 2007
Language: English
Resources: 1
Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
Subjects: God › Worship and love; Desire for God; Happiness › Religious aspects--Christianity; Praise of God
Resource ID: LLS:DESIRINGGOD
Resource Type: Monograph
Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T07:56:11Z

John Piper (b. 1946) is a widely respected theologian and bestselling author who serves as founder and lead teacher at Desiring God and is chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, Piper served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church. He has authored more than 50 books, and more than 30 years of his preaching and writing are available free of charge at desiringGod.org. Piper resides in the Minneapolis area with his wife of 51 years, and has five children and 14 grandchildren.

Piper attended Wheaton College where he majored in literature and minored in philosophy. He completed his Bachelor of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he studied under Dr. Daniel Fuller. Piper received his Doctorate in Theology from the University of Munich and taught biblical studies for six years at Bethel College.

In 1994, Piper founded Desiring God Ministries, which provides Piper’s sermons, articles, and information on titles he has authored. One of his bestsellers, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, prompted the name of the ministry.

Several of Piper’s books have been Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Christian book award winners including What Jesus Demands from the World, Pierced by the Word, and God’s Passion for His Glory. The Crossway John Piper Collection (39 vols.) includes 39 titles from Piper, including Love Your Enemies and A Hunger for God. His preaching ministry of more than 30 years is available in the John Piper Sermon Archive (1980–2014).