Desiring God by John Piper addresses the the question, “Can our duty to God be a delight?“  The thesis of his book is “That God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.“  With a slight modification of the Westminster Shorter Catechism he presents a case that  “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.“

This book is well supported by arguments from Jonathan Edwards, C. S. Lewis, and a well reasoned exegesis of Scripture.  Piper writes in the style of the Puritans, expressing a proposition and then bringing a number of Scriptures to bear on the subject.  He seems to use the terms “happiness“ and “joy“ interchangeably whereas some Christian writers differentiate between the two proposing that “happiness“ is often derived from one’s happenings or circumstances and “joy“ is based on one’s relationship with God.

I was somewhat curious of Piper’s subtitle of the book “Meditations of a Christian Hedonist” and his repeated use of the term “Christian Hedonism” throughout the book.  Piper defends his use of the term both in the book and in the Appendix; however, the term “Christian Hedonist” seems to be an oxymoron.   In Piper’s quest to be biblical it seems strange that he uses a term such as hedonism (ἡδονή – hēdonē) which occurs 5 times in the New Testament and every usage is in a negative sense.   Considering the pejorative use of the word, some people could be misled by the subtitle. 

Piper convincingly argues that service to God can and should be an enjoyable experience.  If you are seeking to experience greater joy in your Christian walk then this may be the book for you.  (I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review).