The following are excerpts from part 2 of an article by my friend Craig W. Booth on John Piper’s thesis of “Christian Hedonism”. To read the entire article, you can click here http://thefaithfulword.org/chfaqspage2.html Piper’s philosophy is patently unbiblical as it create a new ‘foremost’ commandment which he phrases in different ways such as, “”Christian hedonism says more, namely, that we should pursue happiness with all our might.” and “The radical implication is that pursuing pleasure in God is our highest calling.” Think about what Scripture says we should do “with all our might”. It is the real foremost commandment “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and might.”Is not our ‘highest calling’ to LOVE God, not merely pursue pleasure in God? In fact, nowhere in the Bible will you find the command to “Pursue Joy”, yet we are called to pursue righteousness, pursue faith, pursue holiness, pursue peace. Even if there were a command to pursue joy, it certainly would be only one of a multitude of pursuits and not our “highest calling”. But Piper’s philosophy is not a balanced view of life, it is real hedonism, which means the goal of life is about maximizing self-pleasure. Piper gets to call it ‘Christian’ because he is using God as the source of this pleasure. As he puts it, “A Christian Hedonist is one who is devoted to maximizing his own pleasure and who has learned how to do it from the Bible.”
Article: Frequently Asked Questions about Christian Hedonism - The Faithful Word.org
Question 22.
If I reject the doctrine of Christian Hedonism, is there any spiritual condemnation in store for me?
Answer 22.
At least two times in Desiring God the statement is made, “God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.” (pages 9, 289) What evidence is given, what Scripture is quoted, to support this allegation? If there is no legitimate Scripture to back up this frightening allegation, it amounts to little more than scare tactics and abusive attention-grabbing verbal stunts. Such approaches to Bible study are not edifying, not helpful, nor are they in compliance with the Word when it says to accurately divide the Scriptures. On page 289 of Desiring God, we are told that those who will not be happy enough will suffer the curses described in Deuteronomy 28:47,48;
“What language shall we borrow to awaken joyless believers to the words of Deuteronomy 28:47,48? ‘Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart…therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you…and he will put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until he has destroyed you.’ How shall we open their eyes to the shout of Jeremy Taylor: ‘God threatens terrible things, if we will not be happy!’?”
But is Desiring God quoting Deuteronomy 28:47,48 in a legitimate manner? Does Deuteronomy 28 really threaten believers with curses, “terrible things”, and destruction if they are “not happy” enough? No, bluntly stated, Desiring God does not properly quote, nor interpret Deuteronomy 28 in a manner that any Christian should find legitimate or proper. And nowhere in all the Bible is there a passage of Scripture, when quoted and interpreted in context, that says God will curse and destroy believers for not having sufficient gladness or happiness.
Deuteronomy 28, in context, actually says that the reason these Jews were going to be judged was because they did not “diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today” (28:1b) and “obey the LORD your God” (28:2b), and they did not “listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” (28:13b,14).
And since the people did break the Law and disobey the commandments: “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.” (28:15)
The list of curses is quite lengthy, including wives being violated, children becoming slaves, and even the land being eaten by pests. Why such curses?
“So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. (28:45)
Good Bible study requires that we evaluate passages in context. From verse 1 of Deuteronomy 28 through the last verse, verse 68, the curses are given because the people “did not obey the LORD your God” (28:62b) and also “If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God” (28:58). Notice well, the entire Law, all the statutes, all the commandments were to be followed because the Law was God’s gift to the Jews. When the Jews failed to uphold it, and when they purposely turned to “go after other gods to serve them” (28:14b), then God would curse them with all these plagues.
It is in this context that verses 46 and 47 reside. These are not verses that describe the nation being cursed because the people “would not be happy” enough, but it describes the nation being cursed because they broke the Law of God and followed after other gods.
45. “So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46. “They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever.
47. “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things;
48. therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
Careful students of the Bible will see that in context (and quoted in full and not simply in part) that these verses rebuke the nation for grossly breaking the whole of the Law and for serving other gods instead of gladly obeying the entire Law and joyfully serving the true God. Put another way, service to the true God is a joyful duty, a light burden, an easy yoke by comparison with breaking the Law. In other words which are more familiar to us, the more obedient we are the more blessed we are, and the more blessed we are, the more we can express our gratitude back to God with a glad and joyful heart (see Matthew 5:1-12). Happiness attends and follows obedience. Happiness attends and follows duty.
In Deuteronomy 28 if the people abandoned their duty and their obedience then they would be punished; if they threw off their joyful duty to pursue their pleasures and to chase after hedonism. Punished if they followed a false god. Then they were to be cursed.
It is all but impossible to read Deuteronomy 28 and conclude that the sin the people were cursed for was that they did not have sufficient happiness. Only someone who is blinded by devotion to a manmade philosophy will presuppose such a thing from a full reading of Deuteronomy 28. The people were cursed for breaking the Law and for chasing false gods to satisfy their own desires.
Since no legitimate passage of Scripture says that we will be cursed by God if we are not happy enough, one is all but forced to conclude that the book Desiring God uses the shocking statement “God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy” so that we will be intimidated into adopting the tenets of the philosophy of hedonism. Is this truly how God desired for us to make use of His Word? In fact, I wonder if it is not too strong a thing to speculate if that phrase (”God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy”) amounts to a counterfeit commandment which only appears to come from God but indeed does not?
Question 26.
As a summary statement of the Bible, isn’t “pursue pleasure” more encompassing than “love God” ( Matthew 22:37)?
Answer 26.
Asked another way the question might be: “Isn’t Christian Hedonism just a summary statement of all the Bible teaches?” In either case, the answer is still the same. No, the pursuit of pleasure and Christian Hedonism are not summary statements that in aggregate describe in single phrases everything that the Bible attempts to explain and teach.
This question has been asked to me and even stated at me as a “fact” many times. For anyone to think that the Bible adds up to one giant summation that means “pursue your own pleasure in God as your highest calling and most important duty” is to ignore what the Bible says of itself.
Of itself, the Bible says that there is one all encompassing summary statement that combines the intent of every law from the Old Testament and every precept uttered by a prophet in the New Testament.
And He said to him, ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.‘ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” ( Matthew 22:37-40)
The word “depend” means “to hang from”, as a suspension bridge would hang from one of its two giant support cables. The bridge and the lives of all those who use it are completely reliant on those two cables for their support and usefulness of the bridge. Every law and every word of the prophets are reliant on one of two summary statements:
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Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
· Love your neighbor as yourself.
Paul understood well that love for God and love for your neighbor were the two summations of the Word.
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
Even the scribe who questioned Jesus came to understand that there was no higher summary of all that is written in the Word than to love God with all your strength and to love your neighbor with as much sincerity as you love yourself.
One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions. ( Mark 12:28-34)
And what does it mean to love God? Many answers are possible, but one answer is predominant through the entirety of Scripture:
o
“TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33b)
o Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)
o “Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” ( Joshua 22:5)
o If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. ( John 14:15 )
o He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me…( John 14:21 )
o If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. ( John 15:10 )
o …what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. (1Cor.7:19 )
o …you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God…for you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. (1Thes.4:1,2 )
o And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. (1 John 2:3 )
o But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. (1 John 2:5a)
o By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. (1 John 5:2)
o For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3 )
o And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. (2 John 1:6a)
There is no higher summary statement of the Word than the two which Jesus Himself delivered to us: Love God with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Everything written in the Word depends on these two summary statements. And what is love except that we fear and obey the Lord.
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Eccl.12:13 NIV)
Question 31.
You quoted Dr. Piper’s writing well enough, but the quote does not really communicate what he really wanted to say.
Answer 31.
This is similar to the often noted objection, “Dr. Piper did not actually mean what it appears he said”, or, “he was actually just using hyperbole to make a point.” Some have told me Dr. Piper really did not mean that experiencing the pleasurable sensation of joy was really the goal of worship, though that is what he appears to have said. Others have told me that Dr. Piper did not really mean that one must become a Christian Hedonist to be saved, though that is what it appears he has written. Still others have told me that he does not actually believe that the pursuit of pleasure is man’s highest calling, even though his writing certainly says this.
To me, this is an odd type of apologetic. Dr. Piper clearly writes that Christian Hedonism is about the pursuit of one’s own pleasure with all one’s strength as one’s highest calling and chief end which is a prerequisite for salvation, yet, those who would adhere to this philosophy of hedonism argue that its founding author did not understand English well enough to write just exactly what he meant by the term. Could it be that he did just miswrite all those concepts? I am unconvinced.
There is another possibility available to us. Perhaps the would-be adherents to hedonism are simply so embarrassed by the actual tenets of the philosophy that they wish that these comments had not been penned, and they simply and desperately desire them to be inaccurate representations of their adopted philosophy.
It must be kept in mind that the philosophy of Christian Hedonism is over 20 years old, and that there have been three re-printings of the book Desiring God (each with edits and new material added), and one publication of a condensed version of Desiring God called The Dangerous Duty of Delight (2001). If the above quotes were genuinely misstatements, written in error, and did not communicate what the author intended to say, they would most surely have been corrected by now.
The quotes stand, they mean what they convey. The philosophy is what it advertises itself to be. Dr. Piper must have meant and understood what he wrote.
If one is going to call themselves a Christian Hedonist, why not gladly embrace the above premises of the philosophy and be done with it? Why deny that the philosophy is what it is? And if one is inclined to feel that the above quotes are simply improper Christian doctrine, then why not gladly abandon the philosophy of Christian Hedonism?
Whatever the case, Dr. Piper wrote what he wrote, he has not modified his stand over the decades, his words are clear, and he has defined the philosophy as it is. Denying he means what he writes does nothing but a disservice to all individuals involved.
Question 33.
Weren’t C.S.Lewis and the Apostle Paul both Christian Hedonists?
Answer 33. It is somewhat insincere, and even a bit academically reckless to apply a label to a dead celebrity and thereby assume him into a modern special-interest community which did not exist during his lifetime. Imposing your label onto someone who is no longer able to speak for themselves is an inappropriate means of establishing a constituency.
“Christian Hedonism” as a philosophy did not appear until the publishing of a book a little over twenty years ago entitled, Desiring God–Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. At the core of the philosophy is the premise that God wants men to pursue pleasure in Him as their highest calling–pursuing that pleasure with all their might–and that the true goal of worship is the attainment of pleasure (”I came to see that it is unbiblical and arrogant to try to worship God for any other reason than the pleasure to be had in him.” — Piper, Desiring God, page 16, 1996 edition).
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Lewis was also very frightened that someone might use his concept (that all lawful pleasures can sensually show a bit of God’s glory no matter how tiny these pleasant experiences may be) and develop a philosophy around the pursuit of pleasures. He told Malcolm that there was in fact more to be pursued in life, more to be “wanted,” than merely seeking out these infinitesimally small pleasures. For this reason Lewis cautioned against turning the wanting of pleasurable experiences into a philosophy.
“One wants a great many things besides this ‘adoration in infinitesimals’ which I am preaching. And if I were preaching it in public…I should have to pack it in ice, enclose it in barbed-wire reservations, and stick up warning notices in every direction. Don’t imagine I am forgetting that the simplest act of mere obedience is worship of a far more important sort than what I’ve been describing (to obey is better than sacrifice).” (Lewis, Letter 17, Letters to Malcolm)
Since C.S. Lewis, in his own writings, was against pursuing pleasures (he called this greed) and was worried that focusing on pleasure would lead to pride (he called that conceit), and since he felt that experiencing pleasures in God was infinitesimally trivial in comparison to even the “simplest act of obedience” it is surely a leap of the worst kind of logic to imagine that Lewis would have adopted for himself the label of “Christian Hedonist.” Finally, it is clear that Lewis did not see any difference between lawful pleasures “in God” and lawful pleasures “in nature.” This being true, with Christian Hedonism calling men to pursue pleasure in God as their greatest duty, this pursuit of pleasure could have been of any or all lawful pleasures–they are all the same. It is my opinion (and merely my own opinion) that Lewis would have found chasing pleasures as the chief end of life to be a distraction to the real business of worship (which is obedience), and for that reason he would have been morally opposed to “Christian Hedonism.”
Was the Apostle Paul a Christian Hedonist? Once again we wrestle with the tangible fact that he never called himself by such a label and that the very philosophy itself was not even in existence in his lifetime. Therefore, a more adequate question would be, “Did Paul in his writings ever endorse the statement ‘pursue pleasure’ as if it were a command?” And, “Did Paul ever state that Christians should pursue their own happiness with all their might?” Finally, “Did Paul leave any evidence that he believed that the goal of worship was to seek our own pleasure?”
Such quotes as would lend evidence to answer any of these questions in the affirmative are pointedly absent in any of his epistles. In fact, some of his inspired comments might actually be construed as being in conflict with the principles of Christian Hedonism.
For example, Christian Hedonism teaches that all “acts of virtue” have as their foundation the self-interest of the pursuit of pleasure as the driving motivation. Yet Paul seems to find such thinking selfish. He cares so little for his own self-interests when compared to his love that had it been possible he would have traded places with his Jewish countrymen and gone to hell in their stead so that they might have gone to heaven. This is pure love.
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Paul’s Philosophy Statements
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Christian Hedonism’s Philosophy Statements
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On Love:I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons… ( Romans 9:1-4a)
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“[Love] is not a resolute abandoning of one’s own good with a view solely to the good of the other person.” (Piper, Dangerous Duty, page 45 )
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On Self-Interest:“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3,4
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“Christian Hedonism answers: the pursuit of pleasure is an essential motive for every good deed. If you aim to abandon the pursuit of full and lasting pleasure, you cannot love people or please God.” (Piper, Dangerous Duty, page 39)
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On the Pursuit of Pleasure:For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me. Romans 15:1-3
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Christian hedonism says more, namely, that we should pursue happiness with all our might. (Piper, quoted from www.desiringgod.org on May 29, 2003)
“The radical implication is that pursuing pleasure in God is our highest calling.” (Piper, page 21, The Dangerous Duty of Delight) |
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On the Goal of Worship:What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. (1 Corinthians 14:26)
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ( Romans 12:1) |
“Christian Hedonism does not put us above God when it makes the joy of worship its goal.” (Piper, Desiring God, page 85, 1996)”I came to see that it is unbiblical and arrogant to try to worship God for any other reason than the pleasure to be had in him.” (Piper, Desiring God, page 16, 1996 edition)
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Paul’s summary philosophy of all that the Bible teaches might have been expressed this way:
and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. ( Romans 13:9b,10)
Paul felt the summary of all that God taught through thousands of years of history is that we must love God and love our neighbors–love is the fulfillment of the law, our highest calling. Paul nowhere allows that the pursuit of pleasure is even a valid pursuit much less elevating it to our highest calling as Christian Hedonism does. While it is possible to lay claim to any dead person as if they were always a card-carrying convert to someone’s modern philosophy movement, in the case of C.S. Lewis and the Apostle Paul the weight of historical and written evidence argues against posthumously enlisting them into the ranks of Christian Hedonism.
Question 35.
If I just substitute the word “joy” for “pleasure” doesn’t Christian Hedonism become biblical?
Answer 35.
To test this hypothesis, compare the original published defining claims of Christian Hedonism to the same claim re-written as it would appear if “pleasure” and “happiness” were replaced by the word “joy.”
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Original Claim
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Same Claim Made for “Joy”
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“Christian Hedonism answers: the pursuit of pleasure is an essential motive for every good deed. If you aim to abandon the pursuit of full and lasting pleasure, you cannot love people or please God.” (Piper, Dangerous Duty, page 39)
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Christian Hedonism answers: the pursuit of joy is an essential motive for every good deed. If you aim to abandon the pursuit of full and lasting joy, you cannot love people or please God.
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Christian hedonism says more, namely, that we should pursue happiness with all our might. (Piper, quoted from www.desiringgod.org on May 29, 2003)
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Christian hedonism says more, namely, that we should pursue joy with all our might.
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“The radical implication is that pursuing pleasure in God is our highest calling.” (Piper, page 21, The Dangerous Duty of Delight)
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The radical implication is that pursuing joy in God is our highest calling.
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“Christian Hedonism does not put us above God when it makes the joy of worship its goal.” (Piper, Desiring God, page 85, 1996)
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“Christian Hedonism does not put us above God when it makes the joy of worship its goal.”
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“I came to see that it is unbiblical and arrogant to try to worship God for any other reason than the pleasure to be had in him.” (Piper, Desiring God, page 16, 1996 edition)
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I came to see that it is unbiblical and arrogant to try to worship God for any other reason than the joy to be had in him.
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“Unless a man be born again into a Christian Hedonist he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John Piper, Desiring God, page 55)
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“Unless a man be born again into a Christian Hedonist he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John Piper, Desiring God, page 55)
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“Could it be that today the most straightforward biblical command for conversion is not, ‘Believe in the Lord,’ but, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord’?” (John Piper, Desiring God, page 55)
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“Could it be that today the most straightforward biblical command for conversion is not, ‘Believe in the Lord,’ but, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord’?” (John Piper, Desiring God, page 55)
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“The pursuit of joy in God is not optional. It is not an ‘extra’ that a person might grow into after he comes to faith. Until your heart has hit upon this pursuit, your ‘faith’ cannot please God. It is not saving faith.” (John Piper, Desiring God, page 69)
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“The pursuit of joy in God is not optional. It is not an ‘extra’ that a person might grow into after he comes to faith. Until your heart has hit upon this pursuit, your ‘faith’ cannot please God. It is not saving faith.” (John Piper, Desiring God, page 69)
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“Christian hedonism says more, namely, that we should pursue happiness with all our might. The desire to be happy is a proper motive for every good deed, and if you abandon pursuit of your own joy you cannot please God.” (quoted from www.desiringgod.org on May 29, 2003)
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Christian hedonism says more, namely, that we should pursue joy with all our might. The desire to be filled with joy is a proper motive for every good deed, and if you abandon pursuit of your own joy you cannot please God.
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As it becomes clear from the above side-by-side comparison, all that happens by swapping the word “joy” in the place of pleasure is that one unprovable presumptive set of claims is replaced by another set of assumptions. In some instances, the claim does not change one bit. With every claim, there is not one concrete Bible verse by which to uphold and establish the claim. Christian Hedonism, whether it elevates joy or pleasure, is improper when it places “our pursuits” of joy and pleasure with all our might ahead of God’s commandment for men to instead pursue love “with all our strength.”
Now, it is true that joy is a fruit of the Spirit, whereas “pleasure” and “happiness” are not. By that single measure, the “pursuit of joy with all our might” appears closer to the standard of being biblical than did the expression “pursue pleasure with all our might”. Still, neither expression quite meets that standard.
As always, it is necessary to point out that several times the Word does tell us to be thankful to God for His gifts and His mercy and therefore to rejoice. Rejoicing as it is presented to us in the Bible is usually a mechanism of praising God, outwardly demonstrating our appreciation to God. The “pursuit of joy” as Christian Hedonism authors this odd precept, defines it as a taking in of pleasure, an attainment and internalizing of pleasurable feelings for the benefit of the rejoicer. So in the eyes of Christian Hedonism, pursuing joy is more focused on experiencing the joy as a pleasurable event and less focused on the act of praise as a way of showing gratitude. This is the very key to understanding why Christian Hedonism so often phrases it as one’s own “pursuit” instead of simply agreeing with Scripture that men ought to rejoice as a way to praise God for His works.
The Bible’s command to rejoice as a way of praising God is Godward directed. The Christian Hedonist command to pursue joy is a man-directed craving for good feelings and pleasurable sensations in God.
The “pursuit of joy” is still not an actual precept or literal command of Scripture. By way of comparison the expression “pursue love” and “love God with all your strength” are genuine commands, literal precepts, and overt statutes of the Word (1 Corinthians 14:1, 1 Timothy 6:11 Mark 12:28-31).
“Pursue love with all your strength” meets the standard of “being biblical” while “pursue joy with all your strength” remains speculative, a presumption which ought not to be imposed on man as if it were a command from God the Almighty.
Question 36.
Isn’t the doctrine of the Trinity similar to Christian Hedonism in that it is a label and a doctrine not explicitly taught in the Bible but is nonetheless true?
Answer 36. Many people have compared the speculative philosophy of Christian Hedonism to the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. The comparison is born on the assumption that extra-biblical labels may be freely created to apply to biblically derived doctrines. This assumption is acceptable enough. The comparison then continues using the logic that since labels are acceptable inventions (albeit they are not found in the Word) Christian Hedonism must be just as acceptable a doctrine as the Trinity because both are loosely based on Scripture, and are therefore both biblical concepts described by “artificial” labels. It is here that the logic of comparison is faulty.
Use of the Trinity as an analogous situation for Christian Hedonism is a false analogy because the Bible very clearly and explicitly teaches us the doctrine of one God consisting of three persons who are also called God. These tenets of the Trinity are based on explicit Bible verses that individually teach us that God is One, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Three make the One, or, Three in One (Trinity).
In contrast to the doctrine of the Trinity, Christian Hedonism fails to find such specific Bible verses for its primary tenets: the pursuit of one’s own pleasure with all one’s might is an actual command of Scripture, the pursuit of one’s own pleasure is one’s highest calling, one must become a Christian Hedonist to see the Kingdom of God and be saved, and the very goal of worship is attaining the pleasure which is found while worshipping God.
Perhaps it can be said another way. The “Trinity” is a very polite label for a gathering of specific Bible verses. It is not a label for a general idea or philosophy. Whereas Christian Hedonism is a philosophy that is not built from specific verses but from a system of logic and assumptions based loosely on abstract interpretations of a wide ranging set of passages that do not actually state or directly teach the very tenets of hedonism.
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Christian Hedonism Lacks Such Proof Verses
Now compare this to the philosophy of Christian Hedonism. To prove Christian Hedonism you need to demonstrate that the Bible calls devotion to pleasure the greatest pursuit and highest calling of mankind, and you must demonstrate that the Bible commands that one must be converted to Christian Hedonism to be saved, and that the worship of God is only valid when the goal of worship is to attain pleasure.
Tenet One of Christian Hedonism: the pursuit of your own pleasure in God is a command from the Bible
Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. ( Psalm 37:4)
[Note: nowhere in this verse are the words “pursue pleasure” found, nor is it proper to use logic to construe “delight yourself in the Lord” to infer a command to “pursue your own pleasure in God”–see FAQ 29]
Tenet Two of Christian Hedonism: the Pursuit of Pleasure is the greatest pursuit and highest calling of believers
“The radical implication is that pursuing pleasure in God is our highest calling.” (Piper, page 21, The Dangerous Duty of Delight) [Note: Christian Hedonism offers no Bible passages to support this tenet, so we offer this quote from Dangerous Duty.]
Tenet Three of Christian Hedonism: one must be converted to Christian Hedonism to be saved
“Unless a man be born again into a Christian Hedonist he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John Piper, Desiring God, page 55) “Could it be that today the most straightforward biblical command for conversion is not, ‘Believe in the Lord,’ but, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord’?” (John Piper, Desiring God, page 55)
“The pursuit of joy in God is not optional. It is not an ‘extra’ that a person might grow into after he comes to faith. Until your heart has hit upon this pursuit, your ‘faith’ cannot please God. It is not saving faith.” (John Piper, Desiring God, page 69)
[Note: Christian Hedonism offers no legitimate Bible passages to support this tenet, so we offer these quotes from Desiring God.]
Tenet Four of Christian Hedonism: the goal of worship is to attain pleasure in God
“I came to see that it is unbiblical and arrogant to try to worship God for any other reason than the pleasure to be had in him.” (Piper, Desiring God, page 16, 1996 edition)
[Note: Christian Hedonism offers no legitimate Bible passages to support this tenet, so we offer this quote from Desiring God.]
In fact, the Word says none of those things, anywhere. You cannot even find one passage that acknowledges that there is such as thing as “the pursuit of pleasure”, except where that pleasure is utterly lewd and detestable in the sight of God. Given you cannot find even one passage that elevates pleasure to a valid pursuit of any kind, much less our greatest pursuit (hence the label “hedonism”), it is an even harder task to imagine a Bible verse–much less find one–that requires conversion to hedonism as a condition of salvation.
And finally let us consider the tenet of Christian Hedonism that states that the worship of God is only valid when the goal of worship is to attain pleasure for the worshipper. Again, the diligent Bible student will discover that worship is valid or authentic when it aims to be verbally edifying (1 Corinthians 14:26), calls others to repent from sin (1 Corinthians 14:23-25), and causes us to put our physical bodies into motion serving God and one another ( Romans 12:1-13).
It should also be pointed out that worshipping God involves praising Him, and this is often called “shouting with joy to the Lord”. Even some of our labors of worship are to be done with “cheer” and with “joy”. Yet, what is the purpose or goal of worship: to experience joy and cheer, or, to praise God, edify the saints, and serve one another? The Bible states the goal of worship is to praise God, sometimes accompanied by the expression of joy; edify the saints, sometimes with the heart of cheerfulness; and to serve one another. The goal, according to plain Scripture, is never so that we can experience pleasure, experience joy, or experience cheer. Such experiences are attitudes that can accompany worship, but they are neither the goal nor the test for authenticating worship. Worship may be conducted in fear, in great sadness, or even in depression, and it will still be valid and God-honoring worship.
Consider Psalm 42. The Psalmist said his soul panted for God. Why? Because God had cut off His presence and His temple worship from His people when they were driven into exile by God for their sins. The Psalmist was not giving some romantic notion about his soul desiring a mystical rapturous pleasure of a hedonistic encounter with God as if that were some kind of normative event. The Psalmist was here worshipping God in deep depression that God had withdrawn Himself from him and the people because they had sinned. The Psalmist’s soul was panting for forgiveness from God, his desire was to quench his sorrow over his sins for which he cried night and day (verse 3). He longed to be able to go to temple again and to have his prayers heard and his sins covered by sacrifice again (verse 4).
Was the Psalmist in Psalm 42 worshipping God any less because his attitude was one of grief and sorrow instead of rapturous pleasure? No. In fact, Jesus, in a parable ( Luke 18), said of the tax collector who worshipped in anguish at the temple that his worship caused him to be proclaimed righteous whereas the man who stood up in his self-righteous pleasure and worshipped in his zeal left still in his sin. Such men who worship to attain pleasure and to attain the pleasure of being seen ought to consider with wise discretion and discernment what Jesus said about those who seek their spiritual rewards while still on Earth ( Matthew 6:1-6).
When we begin to think and to teach that the worship of God is so that we can attain heights of pleasing emotions we miss the point of worship entirely. It is true that sometimes pleasing emotions accompany or result from praising God or serving others, yet that is not why we are told to serve. God’s motives for giving us these commands is for the edification of others, for meeting the needs of others, for demonstrating to God our dependence and gratitude toward Him.
Worship is outward focused on those who are greater and more important than ourselves. When we get the silly notion that the worship is “for me” we begin quite literally worshipping ourselves.
Doctrine Comes From the Word, Philosophies Have No Such Burden
Christian Hedonism fails the biblical test on all four of its primary tenets. Unlike the doctrine of the Trinity, the philosophy of Christian Hedonism finds no evidential support in the Word. It is entirely a human idea based on human philosophy and human desires. It is made into a religion only when men give its secular foundation religious intent. They then run the risk of repeating the error of the Pharisees, which is elevating one’s own ideas to a level of importance even above the plain commands of Scripture, eventually becoming experts at this newly established “tradition” instead of experts at obeying the Word.
For a more in-depth exploration behind whether the philosophy of Christian Hedonism is read out from biblical passages (exegesis) or whether the ideas are read into the Scriptural text (eisegesis) you are invited to read FAQ 30.
Clifford Solomon said,
November 12, 2008 at 8:01 pm
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