Monday, February 06, 2006

Christian Hedonism

Found this is John Piper's book Desiring God which is online:

Christian Hedonism is a philosophy of life built on the following five convictions:

l. 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.

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 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. That is,

The chief end of man is to glorify God
BY
enjoying him forever.


I haven't read the book yet, but there are a lot of implications in these few sentences....

Why don't more Christians enjoy God?

Is praise the natural result of thorough enjoyment of something or someone?

In what ways does my enjoying God bring Him glory?

Are there things I can do to help me enjoy God more often and more deeply?

No comments: