"Since 1986, when Desiring God, first burst upon the scene, John Piper has preached and taught his unorthodox doctrine of Christian Hedonism across the world, winning over many, especially many young people, to his radical new view of the Christian Faith.
A careful reading of Desiring God shows that Piper modifies the biblical doctrine of salvation. Piper raises the question:
‘Could it be that today the most straightforward biblical command for conversion is not “Believe in the Lord,” but, “Delight yourself in the Lord”? And might not many slumbering hearts be stabbed broad awake by the words “Unless a man be born again into a Christian Hedonist he cannot see the kingdom of God”? (John Piper, Desiring God, page 55).
So he asserts that salvation is dependent on one first becoming a Christian Hedonist. But there is no biblical basis for claiming that hedonism plays any role in salvation."[1]
Notice how John Piper added to Scripture when he said: "Unless a man be born again INTO A CHRISTIAN HEDONIST he cannot see the kingdom of God." I challenge Piper to show me even one translation of the Bible that includes the words "into a Christian hedonist" in John 3:3 — there aren't any! Instead, what we do find is that there are many warnings in the Bible not to add to God's Word. For example, Proverbs 30:6 says: "Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and prove you a liar." Larry Moyer has written a popular Free Grace book titled: 21 Things God Never Said. Well, here's another saying we could add to the list. God never said: "Unless a man be born again into a Christian Hedonist"!
In a sermon titled "Fifteen Dreams for the Future of Christian Hedonism," Piper goes so far as to say: "You're not saved if you're not a Christian Hedonist."[2] This statement was edited out of the sermon transcript on the desiringgod.org website, but it can still be seen by watching the sermon video. In the sermon, Piper explains that a Christian Hedonist is one who seeks "devotion to pleasure as a way of life". That's interesting because I always thought that a Christian's devotion should be to Jesus Christ, not to the self-pursuit of pleasure! In effect, Piper has put his feelings and emotions (e.g. his happiness, joyfulness, cheerfulness, etc.) on a pedestal and has made them into the "be all and end all"[3] of the Christian experience. But that's backwards; feelings are more like the caboose of the train rather than the locomotive. Jesus said, "If you know these things, happy are you if you do them" (John 13:17). In other words, we are to do right regardless of how we feel about it, and our feelings will follow after. Not only that, but you can't place your trust in your feelings. Feelings change all the time. Martin Luther has well said: "Feelings come and feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God, naught else is worth believing!" In other words: if you go by your feelings you're headed for a train wreck!
I will be writing more on this new teaching of "Christian Hedonism" in the days ahead. Stay tuned!
References:
[1] www.therealjohnpiper.com (see under the heading "John Piper's Christian Hedonism?"). Note: Another alarming statement in Desiring God (also on page 55) is when Piper talks about "converts to Christian Hedonism". Not converts to Christ, but "converts to Christian Hedonism"! Piper has replaced Christ with his new religion: "Christian Hedonism".
[2] John Piper, "Fifteen Dreams for the Future of Christian Hedonism" (2016), www.desiringgod.org/messages/fifteen-dreams-for-the-future-of-christian-hedonism/ (video time-stamp: 7:45 minutes - 7:47 minutes). Note: Piper's statement "You're not saved if you're not a Christian Hedonist" was edited out of the transcript that appears on the desiringgod.org website.
[3] The phrase "be all and end all" can be defined to mean "the most important part of something or the reason for something" (Merriam-Webster). Or this definition: "The be-all and end-all is the thing, idea, person or activity that is the most essential element in a person's life, there are no substitutes or alternatives that can take its place" (grammarist.com). In case someone might be tempted to think that I'm overstating the case, notice what Piper says in his sermon titled "It's My Pleasure!" Piper begins by saying: "Those who know me best know that I am a Christian hedonist. That means that I think my desire to be happy is a proper motive for everything I do. [Editor's Note: That's only partly true. Happiness is first of all a mandatory requirement for salvation according to "Christian Hedonism".] I do what I do because I think it will make me happier in the long run." Notice how Piper uses the word "I" six times, "me" twice, and "my" once. So in the first two sentences of his sermon, he refers to himself almost 10 times! (That's not counting the title.) That's why I say that his personal feelings (such as: his happiness, his joy, his cheerfulness, etc.) are "the be all and end all" of his new religion, hence the name: "Christian Hedonist".
3 comments:
I didn't realize until recently what "Christian Hedonism" is all about. I thought it was just a passing comment or two that Piper had made along the way. But as I have been studying it more recently, I'm realizing that he is actually deeply involved in Christian Hedonism and it's nothing less than his new religion! It has really been mind-boggling for me to see what he's actually saying. I don't think the Christian community at large realizes that this new teaching of "Christian Hedonism" is actually a false religion! People probably think it's okay because after all, doesn't God want us to be happy? But the problem (one among many) is that Piper has turned happiness into a condition for salvation! For example, he says: "You go to Hell if you are not happy in God supremely." Also alarming is that he's actually rewritten some Bible verses, such as John 3:3, in order to teach that one must become a "Christian Hedonist" to be saved! As I started to study this new teaching more closely, I realized that what Piper is saying is nothing less than heresy. I don't say that lightly. It's bad enough that he's a Calvinist, but this is something different. Calvinism is bad theology; Christian Hedonism is worse than that—it's a false religion! Piper has replaced Jesus with his new religion of "Christian Hedonism". It's sometimes very subtle and just little-by-little introducing some error and twisting a little Scripture, hardly noticeable at times. I've already mentioned some specific examples, but here's another example. Notice the title of one of Piper's sermons from a few years ago; it's titled: "From Darkness to Delight: A Fresh Call for Christian Hedonists". It's very subtle, but Piper has substituted "Delight" for "the Light"! In other words, Piper has replaced Jesus, the light of the world, with his (Piper's) new religion: his own personal delight! It makes me think of the apostle Paul's warning to young Timothy in his last epistle. (Incidentally, Piper especially targets young people as converts to his new religion, so Paul's words to young Timothy are especially appropriate in regards to "Christian Hedonism".) Notice what Paul says to young Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5: "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be...lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these” (ellipsis added). Someone might say that Piper does love God, but in response to that I would ask: what god? The apostle Paul says that "there are many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:5, NASB). I think what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 highlights the danger of "Christian Hedonism" and sums it up quite well—as if Paul was writing specifically about Piper's new religion! God knew "Christian Hedonism" was coming on the horizon in the days ahead ("the last days" in which we live) and He wanted to warn us about it! The Bible says: "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ" (Col. 2:8, NKJV).
Piper has said: "You go to Hell if you are not happy in God supremely." (See Piper's sermon on the desiringgod.org website titled: "It Is Right to Live for Maximum Pleasure".) Thus, Piper has now made happiness a requirement for salvation. In fact, according to Piper, one must not only be happy to go to Heaven, but one must be happy "supremely"! But in Acts 16:31, did the apostle Paul tell the Philippian jailer that in order to be saved he must believe and be supremely happy? Or as Piper has stated as his new condition for salvation: “Delight yourself in the Lord”. Is that what Paul said to the Philippian jailer? No! For what do the Scriptures say? Paul simply told him: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved!" Over and over again, this is the one requirement or condition for salvation. In fact, I can't think of a single instance where happiness is given as a requirement for salvation in the New Testament. Take the Gospel of John, for example. It was written "that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (Jn. 20:31). Where is being supremely happy ever stated in John's Gospel to be a requirement for salvation? I think nowhere. Yet Piper has made it a condition for salvation in Christian Hedonism. Someone might mention John 20:29 where Jesus says to Thomas, "because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." But here Jesus is talking about being blessed (or happy) in the objective sense: they "ARE" blessed, not that they have to subjectively feel blessed. Furthermore the blessing follows after belief: "blessed are they that...have believed." It is twisting Scripture to turn that around and read into it that a person has to feel supremely happy to be saved! The objective blessing of God on those who "have believed" and the subjective feeling of happiness are two different things. In other words, a Christian (one who has "believed" in Christ) is indeed blessed, but that doesn't mean that they necessarily feel supremely happy. Happiness comes from serving and obeying God, in other words happiness follows salvation, it is not a requirement for salvation. The Psalmist says, "Happy are those whose lives are faultless, who live according to the law of the Lord. Happy are those who follow his commands, who obey him with all their heart" (Psa. 119:1-2, GNT). And Proverbs 29:18 says, "happy is he who keeps the law." These are not requirements for salvation, rather, they are the result of obediently living for God and walking in His ways.
The links to the other articles in this series (Part 2 & 3) are below:
John Piper's New Religion, Part 2: Abandoning "Sola Scriptura"
https://freegracefreespeech.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-happened-to-thus-saith-lord.html
John Piper's New Religion, Part 3: Distorting the Biblical Concept of God
https://freegracefreespeech.blogspot.com/2023/06/pipers-new-religion-part-3.html
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