On Christian Hedonism
Or why Jordan Peterson is wrong to see sacrifice as the highest virtue
Διώκετε τὴν ἀγάπην
— Pursue ye love.
1 Cor. 14.1
In 1989 the American reformed evangelical pastor John Piper published a book called Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. In it, he argued that the essential purpose of Christian life should be represented by the word hedonism, citing in his opening the Westminster Catechism which says “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
Piper is a literalist and a calvinist, and there is an abundance of things I fundamentally disagree with him on, but on this I happen to agree. Piper draws heavily on the work of Jonathan Edwards, but more specifically on a seminal essay that had a big influence on me when I read it at university by C.S. Lewis called The Weight of Glory.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to This Isle is Full of Noises to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.