Part 4: A Biblical Study of the Theological Foundation of “Christian Hedonism”

When Bad Theology is Built Upon, the End Construct is Corrupted

Piper’s foundational creed asserts that the greatest commandment is that man must “glorify God BY enjoying Him”. Piper’s creed is incorrect because it is in conflict with Jesus’ statement that the foremost commandment is to love God and “there is no greater commandment”. Piper’s assertion that he knows what is “the chief end of God” can only be described as speculative and unprovable. Given that this faulty foundation is the primary support for the philosophy of Christian Hedonism, we must be very wary of how this foundation is built upon. Piper’s stated goal is to demonstrate the utter necessity of making the “pursuit of joy” the aim and highest calling of life.

And in his quest to elevate “joy” above all other commandments and pursuits, how careful is Piper with handling the very word of God? Consider the following direct quote from his book, Desiring God, (pages 53 and 54) where he appears to quote scripture, but does not do so faithfully.

“The very thing that can make us most happy is what God delights in with all his heart and with all his soul.

‘I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them…I will rejoice in doing them good…with all my heart and all my soul.’ (Jeremiah 32:40-41)

With all his heart and with all his soul God joins us in the pursuit of our everlasting joy, because the consummation of that joy in him rebounds to the glory of his own infinite worth. All who cast themselves on God find that they are carried into endless joy by God’s omnipotent commitment to his own glory:

‘For my own sake, for own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another!’ (Isaiah 48:11)

Yes, Omnipotent Joy pursues the good of all who cast themselves on God!

‘The Lord takes pleasure in those who…hope in him.’ (Psalm 147:11)”

Applause is earned by any author who actually quotes the verses he is using to support his arguments as opposed to just listing a reference in which it is found. Sadly, Piper is due no such acclaim for the manner in which he manipulates scripture on pages 53 and 54. He gives the appearance of quoting the passages, but instead he replaces the defining phrases of the verses with ellipses to change the legitimate meaning of the text into something he would rather it have said. Even worse, he takes the passages out of their context, again, dramatically changing their meaning.

Specifically, he appears to quote Jeremiah 32:40-41 to prove that “with all his heart and with all his soul God joins us in the pursuit of our everlasting joy”. What key defining phrases did Piper choose to leave out? I will quote the passage in a side-by-side comparison with how Piper published the passage. The verses, words and phrases in bold are those that Piper left out.

Piper ‘Quoting’ Jeremiah 32:40-41

Jeremiah 32:37-41 Quoted Word-for-Word and in Context

“I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them…I will rejoice in doing them good…with all my heart and all my soul. “

“Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and will all My soul.” Jeremiah 32:37-41

Notice that Piper leaves out the context which describes how God had disbursed the population in His anger because of their sin. Why did God do this to the people? So that they would fear Him (verse 39). God is now recalling them to dwell in safety, but with a specific condition attached. God will put a special fear of Himself in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Him as they had just previously done.

Aside from leaving out the harsh context of the passage by not including verses 37 through 39, Piper also chose to leave out the phrase “and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me” when he “quotes” verse 40. Why did Piper leave this phrase out? Because in his abridged version it appears that God is promising only to do good to the people and to rejoice. But the real passage indicates that this “good” and “rejoicing” will turn to anger and punishment if the people do not properly fear and obey God. There is a substantial difference in what God was actually saying and what Piper wanted us to think God was saying.

Piper does quote one verse entirely, namely Isaiah 48:11, but then leads us believe it is in the context of “endless joy by God’s omnipotent commitment to his own glory”. The context of the passage (verses 9 and 10) is actually, “For the sake of My name I delay my wrath, and for My praise I restrain it for you, in order not to cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” And then later in verse 18, “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”

Again, it is startling to see what Piper was trying to get the passage to say out of context compared to what it really says in context. These are not passages of unrestrained and unqualified joy, but pictures of people being severely punished for their disobedience to God’s commandments, becoming fearful of God, repenting, and then receiving blessings of joy as a result of their repentance.

It is this misunderstanding of scripture that drives Piper’s thesis. He does not understand that joy is often just the result of repentance, and that repentance is the result of fearing God. Indeed, Piper goes to great lengths to hide the fact that God desires us to fear Him.

Here again is a quote from page 54 of Piper’s book:

“Yes, Omnipotent Joy pursues the good of all who cast themselves on God!

‘The Lord takes pleasure in those who…hope in him.’ (Psalm 147:11)”

Notice that once again Piper intentionally abridges a Bible passage to change its meaning–Psalm 147:11. What words did Piper leave out this time? The passage actually reads in full, “The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”

Piper	Bible
‘The Lord takes pleasure in those who…hope in him.’	“The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”

Why is Piper so desperate to reword the Bible so as to remove the concept of “the fear of the Lord”? Why is Piper afraid to show us that it is “the fear of the Lord” in which God delights (finds joy)? Because in his philosophy of “the chief duty of man is the enjoyment of God” (Christian Hedonism) the concept of fearing God over and above “enjoyment” is grotesque. Words such as “fear”, “duty”, and “obedience” when elevated in priority above “joy” negate and contradicts the “joy first” mentality.

Just as the Bible defines “loving God” to be “obeying God’s commandments”, it also defines for us what delights God. Some examples of what delights (brings joy to) God are:

• • “And 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.’” 1Samuel 15:22
  • “The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.” Psalm 147:11
  • “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; there they have dealt treacherously against Me.” Hosea 6:6,7

While it is probably true that many things delight God, He Himself tells us that it is man’s obedience, man’s loyalty to the covenant, even the knowledge we have of God that causes Him joy. Those who fear God delight Him. Why does man’s fear of God delight God?

We know from a careful reading of the Bible that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.” Psalm 111:10 (see also Proverbs 1:7, 4:7, 9:10)

Until a sinner fears God, fears His ability and willingness to punish sin, fears God’s holiness and power, the sinner has no hope of obedience or salvation. Without fear, there is no hope for the sinner (Psalm 147:11). This is why Jesus talked more of the agony of Hell than of the joy of Heaven.

How does any person become saved? First they must believe that God is (Hebrews 11:6). Then they must believe in Jesus as the one sent from God (John 6:29). They must be sinlessly perfect (Romans 3:23). If they are not sinlessly perfect (and no one is) they must understand their guilt before God, acknowledge their sin with their mouth and believe in Jesus as Lord and savior, repenting to the Lord (Acts 3:19, Romans 10:9-13). Finally, after we shed tears of sorrow over our sin, we experience the joy of forgiveness, and, others who are already saved will rejoice with us (Psalm 51:1-13, 30:5, 126:6, Ecc.2:25-26, Isa.25:10, 44:22-23, Luke 15:7).

The gospels and Acts are filled with stories of Jesus and the apostles attempting to convince the Jews and the Gentiles of the fact they were sinners. Until someone comes to the realization that they are indeed guilty before a holy and just God who will judge them, they have no reason to repent. Indeed, repent from what? “Conversion” is the process where a sinner converts from unbelief to belief, from unbridled sin to obedience. Without repentance, there is no conversion, no salvation.

What does the plan of salvation and the need for men to fear God’s holiness and judgment have to do with Piper and his philosophies? As is the rule, the theological errors founded on man-made creeds, man-made precepts, and man-made philosophies quickly overtake common sense and intrude into the very essence of the gospel message.

A New Commandment, Piper Gives Unto Us

On page 54 of his book, Piper says, “The aim of this chapter is to show the necessity of conversion and to argue that it is nothing less than the creation of a Christian Hedonist.” And again on 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’? And might not 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’?”

Now, it should be obvious that Piper is here giving voice to his personal “agenda” (for certainly this is not a biblical agenda since it is of his own creation). He wishes to redefine the salvation experience itself (generally referred to as being “born again”, “converted”). Obviously the scriptures (old and new) make no mention of Christian Hedonism as a requisite for salvation, and, Piper has already shown his disdain for discussing “the fear of God” and his preference to replace that with “enjoyment”. So how then will Piper take on his task of redefining “conversion”?

On page 61 Piper writes, “Not everybody is saved from God’s wrath just because Christ died for sinners. There is a condition we must meet in order to be saved. I want to try to show that the condition, summed up here as repentance and faith, is conversion and that conversion is nothing less than the creation of a Christian Hedonist.”

Beyond exchanging the biblical phrase “born again” for Piper’s own personal copyrighted phrase “Christian Hedonist” is Piper offering any substance to what otherwise has all the outward appearances of a radical restatement of salvation from sin? Piper uses many pages of his own thoughts to offer his main point: that a person must first experience joy in Christ before they can believe and repent (which he calls the “act of their new faith”). On page 66 Piper writes, “we are converted when Christ becomes for us a Treasure Chest of holy joy”. This placement of joy before repentance and even before conversion is nowhere found in the Bible, and frankly is somewhat illogical.

Who has ever experienced the joy of being in Christ before they have first come to see their own wretched sin and felt the terror of their helpless condition before a holy and just God? It is this holy fear of damnation that drives us to our knees in humble desperation, begging God to forgive us the corruption we had chosen as our lifestyle. Only then, after we have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit does God say to us, “Fear no more, you have been perfected in My love.” Then, and only then, do we feel the joy of Christ well up inside us, because, for the first time, He is actually present within us.

Sadly, Piper takes his invention (that joy must come before sorrow and before repentance) to a further extreme and makes salvation dependent on “joy” as the only allowable motivator for repentance. Piper writes, “Something has happened in our hearts before the act of faith. It implies that beneath and behind the act of faith which pleases God, a new taste has been created. A taste for the glory of God and the beauty of Christ. Behold, a joy has been born!” (page 67) “Before the decision comes delight. Before trust comes the discovery of treasure.” (page 68).

In effect, Piper is declaring that people do not experience guilt, sorrow, or fear, as the reasons behind repentance (joy simply being the end product). He is saying that sinners experience joy first (as a result of hearing the gospel), then because they are overwhelmed with joy, and using joy as their primary motivation, they repent.

To press home his point that sinners are converted out of sheer joy rather than sorrow and guilt, Piper finds it necessary to disqualify all salvation experiences as invalid except those where repentance is motivated by his own special definition of joy. “To be sure we could be motivated by the desire to escape hell…but how does it honor the light when the only reason we come to the light is to find those things…Is this saving faith?” (page 68)

Now that Piper has invalidated the “fear of God” and the fear of hell as reasons to repent, Piper appears to invent a new requirement for salvation and also appears to disparage the very process of progressive sanctification with this next statement: “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.” (page 69)

Not only is this statement a smear against “progressive sanctification” (the process of growing up in Christ following salvation by pursuing the fruits of the Spirit such as joy, love, and peace–see Gal.5:22), it is a proclamation by Piper that he has found an additional requirement for salvation that must be satisfied before a man can be saved-a new good work called “the pursuit of joy”. With no ambiguity Piper says that only “the pursuit of joy” is a valid first step in attaining grace. Any other means (be it sorrow leading to repentance or through the fear inspired by a Holy God), any other means to faith “cannot please God. It is not saving faith.” (Piper, page 69)

Piper’s literary assault on “progressive sanctification” is very disturbing. He seems to call anything that one might “grow into after he comes to faith” an “extra”. Which is worse: that Piper condemns to hell all those who were motivated to repentance by guilt, fear of God, and sorrow instead of through his brand of “the pursuit of joy”; or, that he feels we cannot “grow into” joy after we have come to have faith in Christ?

[Note: Some readers may object saying, "But I know Piper personally and he really does believe in progressive sanctification and in being saved through the prompting of sorrow, guilt, and fear of hell." Whether this is so or not, and it may well be true that Piper does not believe any of the things he has written which are quoted above, the fact is that Piper has indeed written these things and is the teacher of these things. Why then would someone write such things that they themselves do not even believe? Piper's writings are the natural outcome of exchanging the emphasis that God reserves for obedience and replacing it with an over-emphasis on joy as man's chief pursuit and highest calling. Authoring biblical errors such as these are the end result of placing too great a weight on human philosophies instead of relying on the scriptures.]

From purely a scriptural perspective, progressive sanctification is neither an extra, nor is it optional for the believer. This is what we have taken on as our obligation and duty when we turned away from sin. Sanctification becomes one of those mandatory commandments of God which we must obey following salvation, after we receive the Holy Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Gals. 5:22-25)

Fortunately, all we truly need is God’s Word to resolve such issues; in these verses we find that faith is the true requisite for salvation: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Note carefully that the word “joy” is not mentioned as a prerequisite for salvation or for pleasing God. Faith is the key.

“And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”

Part 3: A Biblical Study of the Theological Foundation of “Christian Hedonism”

A Defective Foundation Is Poured

If any man constructs for you a theology that is founded upon a defective extra-biblical creed or a commandment (precept) of men, it is impossible to presume that the resulting theology will be anything but defective. This is exactly the situation with John Piper’s books, Desiring God-Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, copyright 1996, and The Dangerous Duty of Delight, copyright 2001.

At the outset (in the Introduction of Desiring God, page 15) Piper establishes the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Answer Number One, as his primary source material and his highest authority from which he develops the theological base for the most important premise of his book. Piper simply assumes the catechism is equal in authority with scripture and he further assumes he can issue a commandment from it that is higher in weight and import than any command of God. The very heart and soul of “Christian Hedonism” is the assumption that the pursuit of pleasure and joy is commanded, and not just simply commanded, but is the highest commandment of all. Later Piper will attempt to show that terrible judgments from God are inflicted on men if they sin against this highest of all commandments to pursue joy. It is this type of improper teaching that results from building on man’s word (creeds) instead of relying on God’s word.

Without the “pursuit of pleasure” as man’s greatest commandment or highest calling, there is no such thing as “Christian Hedonism”. If men are properly pursuing love for God as their aim of life, which results in obedience, and this in turn glorifies God, then there is no place for hedonism of any kind. It is for this reason Piper could not ground his philosophy from Mat.22:38 or Mark 12:31, for they are the genuine greatest commandments, and they preclude hedonism.

Piper expends no effort attempting to explain what passage of scripture presumably makes “enjoyment” man’s chief end. He simply states that the catechism is his entire underlying proof text. He also does not hesitate to change the words of the catechism to meet his own needs-making enjoyment as important as glorifying God. Through the course of his writings he places less and less emphasis on the “glorify God” portion of the catechism and puts more and more emphasis on the pursuits of joy and pleasure until he announces that the pursuit of pleasure is the very “aim of human life”, “our highest calling”, and is the true “reason” mankind was created.

“You might turn the world on its head by changing one word in your creed. The old tradition says, ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God AND enjoy him forever’. … The overriding concern of this book is that in all of life God be glorified the way he himself has appointed. To that end this book aims to persuade you that ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying him forever’.”

(Piper, Desiring God, page 15,bold emphasis added)

“The radical implication is that pursuing pleasure in God is our highest calling.” (Piper, page 21, The Dangerous Duty of Delight, bold emphasis added)

“Maximizing our joy in God is what we were created for.” (page 16, Dangerous Duty)

“The aim of life is to maximize our joy.” (page 19, Dangerous Duty)

It is in this way that Piper begins with a man-made teaching aid, the catechism, gives it equal standing to scripture, and then changes the catechism from a mere statement of some men’s beliefs into a commandment; and not just a “lesser” command, but the greatest command and “highest calling” ever given to man. This is the birth of a “precept of man”. Later we will show that Piper calls non-compliance to this “precept” the sin of disobedience, the sin of the Pharisees, and the loss of “saving faith”. There is no doubt that Piper has created a new counterfeit commandment.

[Before proceeding any further and to prevent any potential misunderstanding, once again let me affirm that rejoicing in God (Psalm 118:24) and having joy in His saving mercies (Romans 15:9) are good things to do, but not because Piper calls us to do them as part of "Christian Hedonism", but because God tells us to do them in His word, for they are legitimate commandments of God; simply lesser in greatness to the command to "love God". However, John Piper usurps God's claim that the foremost and chief commandment is to "love God" by replacing it with his own preference of "enjoy God". Piper calls enjoyment the very "aim of life" which is at great conflict with God's foremost command to "love God and keep His commandments" and to "love your neighbor as yourself". "There is no other commandment greater than these." Piper has in every sense and every definition created a new "precept of men" in violation of Mark 7:7 and Matthew 15:9.]

Can Joy Legitimately Become Man’s Most Important Duty?

Is replacing the command to love and obey God with the phrase “pursue pleasure” just a harmless word swap? No, it is not harmless at all. If “joy” were God’s foremost commandment, then He would have told us just that, in so many words, in simple terms, explicitly. Or, if no commandment were stronger or greater than any other, then we would be free to pick one using logical deduction, as Piper has done. But God did give us the correct “first” greatest commandment (love God by obeying Him) and even the “second” greatest commandment (love your neighbor). There can be no good reason to claim that “the pursuit of joy” is a higher commandment (“chief end”, “aim of life”, “highest calling”) than the command Jesus said is truly the highest (to love and obey God). It is certainly not to God’s advantage to allow men to invent new “higher commandments” two thousand years after He delivered His own.

One can well argue that joy does result from certain acts of loving-obedience. I can agree with this in general since it is consistent with some scripture (Psa.30:5, 126:5). To argue then that pursuing joy is our greatest commandment because it is the natural reward of obedience is false logic. Joy is not the sole outcome of love or obedience. Philippians 4:6,7 tells us that peace is sometimes the result of obedience, not joy. Hebrews 12:11 tells us that some training is neither joyful during the experience, nor is the outcome joy, but rather the end result is righteousness.

The danger in substituting “pursuit of joy” for “love of God” (obedience) as His greatest commandment is that we are now attempting to dictate to God what outcomes we deserve or think we ought to get from being obedient. God is not a respecter of men, He will not be dictated to. He calls us to obedience, even joyful obedience, but the outcome or reward is His alone to determine, as is the timing of any such reward.

When we, as a church, permit God’s commandments and His words to be subjugated to the creeds of men or freely substituted for human platitudes then we are guilty of violating God’s first commandment, love and obey; for He commands us to correct those who teach unsound doctrine. If one unsound doctrine is allowed to permeate the church, how then can the next unsound doctrine even be recognized for the error that it is? For will we not have taught the congregation that biblical errors can be winked at? Would not the message be that errors of doctrine can be liberally taught within the church so long as it sounds poetic, or so long as it gives us goose bumps, or makes us feel happy? Or perhaps, we permit error so long as the author of the error is judged to be “well meaning” (but how can any man know the true motivations of another man’s mind)?

Often I have heard it said that Piper (a much respected modern author) just wants all of us to be more joyful. Perhaps it is true that Piper has established a personal standard for the level of joy that the church should meet, and perhaps he has found that the church fails to meet this preference. Or perhaps as he says in the Introduction of his book, he is merely trying to persuade us that “joy” should be more important than anything else on earth or in heaven. His reasons and motivations for teaching these things to us are his own. I do not seek to find what is wrong with his motivations, for they are of no concern to me, nor should they be. Only his teachings and his observable actions are of any concern. And it is his teachings that have gone wrong. In the name of “teaching the church to be joyful” we, as representatives of Christ’s body, have permitted both minor and major distortions and abuses of God’s Word and then we called it “good”. The ends do not justify the means. Bad theology does not lead to good results.

One bad theology leads to more and even worse theology. Piper tells us in the first sentence of Chapter 1(page 33, Desiring God), “The ultimate ground of Christian Hedonism is the fact that God is uppermost in his own affections: The chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy himself forever.” “God has many other goals in what he does. But none of them is more ultimate than this.” (page 43)

From what specific scripture does God literally tell us what the “chief end of God is”? Yes, we certainly know that God glorifies Himself, and that Jesus glorified God. But is this truly God’s chief end, His entire mission, the ultimate pursuit for which He exists? Possibly yes, or, possibly no. We can only know this if God explicitly reveals this to us. He has not done so in His Word.

Since God has not revealed to us precisely what “the chief end of God is”, why is it desirable to even theorize about the answer? Attempting to use finite human logic to reason out something as infinite as “why God exists” or what His “ultimate goal” is when He has not explicitly told us this could be considered speculation, speculation of the type warned about in 2Timothy 2:23 that can lead to quarrels because there can be no provable “correct answer”.

So how is it that Piper can speak authoritatively about why God exists? Like any other man, Piper can only make guesses based on human logic, but unless he is a prophet he cannot know. Has God indeed chosen Piper alone to reveal His mind to? “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?” Romans 11:34

God is. How can any man dare to claim to know, or even worse, tell God why He exists? God is.

Part 2: A Biblical Study of the Theological Foundation of “Christian Hedonism”

Love Reigns Supreme

Among all the pieces of the spiritual armor (1Thes.5:8) or labors of righteousness (1 Thes.1:3) or fruits of the Spirit (Gal.5:22) manifested in believers by God’s grace, Paul says that there abide three important ones: faith, hope, and love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us that love is the greatest; greater than faith, greater than hope, greater than joy. Love is the loftiest duty, the most important pursuit that man is called to undertake for God. Without first loving God (which means to obey His commandments) it is not even possible to show true love to the brethren (1John 5:2).

Jesus said that “loving God” by obeying His commandments and “loving our neighbors as earnestly as we love our own bodies” are the supporting cables from which hang the Bible and the words of all the prophets. To envision this, imagine a suspension bridge. All the lives of those who use the bridge literally hang on the dependability and integrity of these two supporting cables. In this way all that the prophets wrote and all that God has spoken in His word hang from those two most important commands: 1) love and obey God, and 2) love your neighbor. If you could somehow “cut” one of these cables (perhaps by advocating some lesser commandment to replace “love God” as being the most important pursuit of man) then the bridge (the law and the prophets) will collapse.

What mission did God assign to all mankind when he put him on this Earth? For what chief duty does man draw breath? Foremost: To love and obey God. Secondarily, for man to love his neighbors. “There are no greater commandments than these.” (Mark 12:31)

Is this purpose for mankind (to love and obey God and to love your neighbor) consistent throughout the Bible, even in the Old Testament?

“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

“And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deut.10:12

“And you shall love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deut.6:5 (see also 7:9, 11:1, 11:13, 11:22, 19:9, 30:6, 30:16)

“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

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness [loyalty], and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

Yes, the whole of scripture, the entirety of God’s dealing with man, beginning with but one single commandment in the garden (do not eat from that one tree) to the final commandments of God at the end of Revelation (do no damage to the Word of God) presents this message: Love God by obeying His commandments, and then, love your neighbors. No commandment of God is greater, and certainly, no commandment of man is greater.

Commandments of Men Usurp God’s Priorities

Why would we even consider placing a comment about the “commandments of man” in the same discussion with God’s commands to love and obey Him? For surely nothing that man can write has a higher standing or priority above God’s authoritative word, can it? While no Christian would admit that they hold any work of man in higher regard than the scriptures, many do so in practice.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word “commandment” is the same word as “precept”. When we speak of a precept, it is a synonym for commandment or command. If the command is a Bible verse, it is a precept of God. Precepts of God are to be cherished and obeyed (Psalm 19:8, 119:4). If the command is written by men and is not an actual Bible verse, it is a precept of men. The precepts of men are to be given lower status than the least of all God’s commands (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7, Col.2:22, Titus 1:14).

That brings us to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question and Answer Number One. The catechism was a teaching tool written by well meaning men several hundred years ago. The tool was a list of 100 question-and-answer combinations. It was often used as a home-schooling aid to instruct children on matters of religious faith considered important to the church at that time.

Question One of the catechism reads, “What is the chief end of man?” As we discovered earlier, no single verse of the Bible carries the phrase “The chief end of man is…” That is because the question is really comprised of multiple questions that the Bible does answer in surprising clarity and detail.

1. What motivated God to create the universe?

Answer: Bringing glory to Himself.

1. What is the ultimate destiny of mankind?

Answer: Bodily death, final judgment, and, eternal life or eternal death.

1. As a created being, what are my obligations to God and to His world?

Answer: Love God, love your neighbors, obey God’s commands.

The fact that the catechism answers the question as “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever” indicates that the authors realized that this was really a multi-part question. The two answers they chose were:

1. God’s motivation for creating mankind was to bring glory to Himself from all His creations
2. God’s other motivation for creating mankind was to permit mankind to enjoy God forever

The first conclusion is substantially a fair response to the question, “what motivated God to create mankind?” However, the second half of the answer in the catechism, “the chief end of man is to enjoy God forever”, is very much flawed. This should surprise no one, however, since we know that this teaching aid is not a passage of scripture, and even the most well intentioned men make mistakes.

God Was Motivated to Create Mankind by the Desire to Bring Glory to Himself

It is a simple matter to demonstrate the biblical support of the first statement. Isaiah 43:7 says that one of God’s motives for creating the portion of mankind that is “called by My Name” was to bring Glory to Himself from these, His created beings. Of course, as we discussed previously, the passage does not limit God to this as His only possible motive for creation, but it does provide insight to God’s reasons for creating mankind.

The Ultimate Destiny of Man Will Also Glorify God

Scriptures also teach us that all mankind will eventually honor Christ, even after death if they do not do so in life-Philippians 2:9-11, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Both the saved and the unsaved will in this way glorify God–all men are destined to glorify God. It is then safe to conclude that the ultimate outcome of every man’s life is to glorify God-whether mankind chooses to offer God glory on earth or not.

A Flaw in the Logic of the Catechism: Mankind Was Not Created to Enjoy God Forever

The second conclusion of the catechism, however, claims that God’s reason for creating mankind was to permit mankind “to enjoy God forever”. But will all mankind actually enjoy God forever?

Most men are going to Hell for eternity. This is told to us by Matthew 7:14, “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Also, as we are taught in Romans 9:6-24, God has created some men for the very purpose of being sent to Hell so as to demonstrate His “wrath and power” and so that “My Name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”

It is impossible to conclude that men who are in Hell are enjoying God. In fact, the moment men are condemned to the lake of fire, any possible enjoyment in God is gone forever. Any possibility of future enjoyment in God is also gone forever. Hell is separation from God, His good pleasures, and His mercy.

Therefore, the conclusion of the catechism is somewhat in error when it maintains that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever“, for those who enter Hell are separated from God and His joy forever. In truth, God knew before He even created the world that most of mankind would reject His salvation and would not enjoy Heaven with Him. God never intended that all mankind would enjoy Him forever (Isa.45:9, Jer.18:4, Rom.9:6-22).

It might be possible to rewrite the answer to the catechism to be a more accurate reflection of scripture, to indicate that only a few men were created to enjoy God in eternity. But such an effort is beyond the purpose of this paper.

It is sufficient to know that the catechism is not itself the scriptures and that no theology or philosophy of life should be based upon it. Only the scriptures are trustworthy enough to use as the basis for systematic theology, training, or even the creation of a life philosophy. The one who uses a lesser source for their teachings, especially a lesser source already known to be somewhat flawed, as is the Westminster Shorter Catechism, that person’s work cannot be trusted and the question must be asked, “Were there no sufficient scriptures available to prove out the truth of your teaching?”

A Statement of Faith or A Precept of Man?

I once equated the answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism (“the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever”) to a command of scripture. A very dear and godly pastor firmly rebuked me stating that the catechism “is not scripture, nor is it even a command, it is a statement of belief.”

If that pastor is correct that the catechism is not a command but is just a statement of belief, then as we already saw, it is wrong when it says that “the chief end of man is to enjoy God forever”. The chief end of most men is to be tormented in Hell forever.

But what if the catechism is meant as a command? What if the catechism was not meant to address the two questions, “what was God’s motive for creating mankind?” and “what is the ultimate destiny of mankind?” What if instead the catechism was attempting to answer the question, “what is man obligated to do to please God?”

Asked in this manner, “what must man do?”, the answer no longer takes the form of a statement of belief, but rather the form of a command. Here we must tread very carefully. For any command that a man imposes on others must not be his own creation or it becomes a “precept of men”.

God hates the precepts of men (Hosea 5:11). Any command that is imposed on other Christians that is not precisely what God ordained in His word becomes a counterfeit command, a usurping of God’s laws. His fierce wrath is directed at those who invent such “precepts of men” (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7, Col.2:22, Titus 1:14). And He instructs all Christians never to give in to men who invent them, calling these false commandments “self-made religion” (Cols.2:8-23).

If we are to contemplate accepting or rejecting the catechism as a command we must compare it against what we know of God’s word (since the catechism is not actually scripture). What do we know about the true commands of God?

• • The greatest command of God is “love God”

(note: “love for God” is often defined by the Bible as “obey God”)

• • The second greatest command of God is “love your neighbors”
  • There are no other greater commandments than these two
  • The Bible is filled with lesser commands, including “glorify God” and “rejoice in God”

The catechism says, “the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” If this is a command, and if the expression “chief end of man” means “the greatest command for man”, then the catechism fails the test. For if the catechism is asserting that there is a commandment more important (implied by “chief end”) than “love God”, then it is a false command and must be ignored.

This is equally true for the command, “the chief end of man is to enjoy God forever”. No command is more “chief” than “love God”.

Therefore, either the catechism is a statement of belief concerning the ultimate destiny of man (in which the half of the statement concerning mankind “enjoying God forever” is incomplete or flawed) or it is a false command, a precept of men. Therefore, we know that the catechism is neither a command from God, nor is it a valid precept of men. While the catechism has the appearance of wisdom, no matter how well-intentioned, it is a flawed piece of interpretation. This is why one must always build their teachings only from the scriptures themselves, and not on the assumptions of creeds and man-made doctrines.

Glorifying God in Everything – A Lesser Command

The catechism is wrong to elevate the command to “glorify God” above the command to “love God”. However, the command to give glory to God is an important scriptural duty of man, it just happens that it is not the greatest duty of man.

There are several passages that tell us the manner in which to “do everything” in life.

• “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Cols.3:17)
• “Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” (Cols.3:22)
• “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” (Cols.3:23)
• “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.” (Phi.2:14)
• “I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.” (1Cor.9:23)
• “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1Cor.10:31)

It is this last command on the manner in which we should “do everything” that we will focus. The context of the passage is that of making certain that we do not cause a fellow believer to stumble into sin by “eating or drinking” in a way that is seen to be idolatrous, which might then encourage them to do something they might regret. For to cause a brother to sin would not be glorifying to God, but to impose selfless limitations on our eating habits just for the sake of our fellow believers (our neighbors) is glorifying to God.

If we accept this as a principle, that man is to do everything (both the mundane chores and most spiritual services) in such a way as to bring glory to God by considering how this will impact our brethren, then we learn a wonderful lesson. Even the act of glorifying God through our eating and drinking habits first requires (“depends on”) knowing what things do and do not please God (i.e. knowing His laws so we can obey them) and having sufficient love for our neighbors so that we purposely do those things that will keep them from falling into sin and therefore dishonoring God. In other words, this command to “glorify God in everything” depends on the greatest commandments to “love God” (and therefore to obey His commands) and to “love our neighbors as ourselves”. Loving God and loving your neighbors are the two commands from which all other commands dangle. This is why “love God” and “love your neighbor” are greater than “glorify God”.

Glorifying God first depends on knowing God’s laws, and obeying them, and then it depends on considering how your actions affect your neighbors. Breaking God’s laws is not glorifying to Him. Harming your neighbor is not glorifying to Him. Therefore, to glorify God you must first love Him (keep his Laws), and then love your neighbors (consider their welfare in all that you do).

Ecclesiastes says the whole purpose (duty) of man is to “Fear God and keep His commandments”. Only by first loving God (fearing Him and obeying His commandments) can we hope to glorify Him. For indeed, glorifying God is just one of His “lesser” commandments for men. But scripturally, the chief end of man (his primary task on earth) is to love and obey God. God did not leave us without explicit instructions with respect to this:

• • “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness [loyalty], and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
  • “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)
  • “‘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.’” Mark 12:28b-31

Certainly it can never be wrong to glorify God. We are commanded to be obedient to all His other (lesser) commandments, including the one to do all things in a manner that is glorifying to Him (1Cor.10:31). And it is also not a sin to enjoy God. Both of these are admirable works (good works) of men. And both of these are found in various commandments throughout scriptures.

Summary Remarks on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question One

The catechism is not a passage of scripture or a verse taken from the Bible. The creed developed from the catechism has serious shortcomings that make it unfit for use as a basis for developing systematic theology or for use as a foundation to a new philosophy of life.

One difficulty with the creed extracted from the Westminster Shorter Catechism is that as a statement-of-belief it incorrectly claims that mankind was created to enjoy God forever, and it does not acknowledge that most of mankind will go to Hell and never again enjoy God.

The second defect in the catechism is that if one dared to use it to tell men what to do, it becomes a command-of-man falsely elevating “enjoy God” and “glorify God” to higher priority commands (chief ends) than “love God” and “love your neighbors”. Since, in the form of a command (if one chooses to use it that way), it creates a new “greater” command, it is a false precept-of-men and the creed of the catechism must then be discarded as defective and truly dangerous.

In summary then, no theology should be based on the creed of the catechism. It is obligatory to rest fully and only on specific verses of the Bible to build a credible systematic theology.

Part 1: A Biblical Study of the Theological Foundation of “Christian Hedonism”

A Biblical Study of the Theological Foundation of

“Christian Hedonism”

Written by Craig W. Booth

Introduction

“Why am I here?” It is not that the scriptures do not contain the answer, more specifically, it is that the scriptures contain the answers, plural. The problem is not with the Bible, the problem is that man has asked the wrong question.”Why am I here?” is not really one question with one simple answer, but several questions all bundled together. Each question demands a separate answer. What the inquirer genuinely wants to know is:

1. What motivated God to create the universe?
2. What is the ultimate destiny of mankind?
3. As a created being, what are my obligations to God and to His world?

What motivated God to Create the Universe?

Scriptures tell us that one of God’s motives for making all that He created, the universe along with the spiritual and mortal beings that populate it, was to demonstrate His glory, and to receive back glory from His creations. Isaiah 43:7 tells us that some men, specifically those who are “called by My Name” were created for His glory. Isaiah 43:20 says that the “beasts of the field” and “the jackals and the ostriches” were also made for His glory. While such statements as this do not limit God to this as His only possible motive for creation, it is the one which He chooses to share with us in the Bible.

What is the ultimate destiny of mankind?

All men die (Romans 5:12). All men will be judged by God (Hebrews 9:27). Eternity in the presence of God awaits those who believe in Christ as Messiah, Lord, and Savior (John 6:40). Separation from God for eternity awaits those who have rejected God’s merciful salvation; these will go into the Lake of Fire and never ending torment (Rev.20:15). Those who live on with God in heaven will praise and serve Him forever (Rev.22:3). What all the types of specific services are which we will perform in heaven are not told to us. Paul simply says he is not permitted to tell us the details of heavenly life and that no one has ever seen or heard of the things that await us there (2Cor.12:4, 1Cor.2:9).

As a created being, what are my obligations to God and to His world?

What am I supposed to do with my life to please God? This is perhaps the single most important question to ask. Indeed, the other two questions, while extremely interesting and full of meaning as to God’s sovereignty and His relationship to Man and to the universe, still leave man impotent because mankind cannot influence the answers.

For example, you cannot change God’s motives for creating the universe, it is created already. You cannot stop creation from happening, it is done and man had no hand in it.

As for the ultimate destiny of man, death will claim every man and God will preside at the final judgment. No man can quench the fires of Hell, nor drain the Lake of Fire. No man can bar the gates of Heaven, nor rip up the streets of gold.

So it is clear, the Bible certainly does answer these questions concerning the meaning of life. It is also clear that man does not control the mind of the Creator, nor does man dictate the terms of eternity to come. But it is arguable that man does influence the third and final, very important question. “What are my obligations to God and to His world?” To be more precise, man does not influence what his obligations are, but rather, whether he chooses to live up to them. To make this choice, man must discover what he must do to please God.

Again, God does not disappoint in His word. He readily answers our third great question of life, “What are my obligations to God?”:

• • Do nothing from selfishness (Phil.2:3)
  • Consider your body dead to greed, which amounts to idolatry (Col.3:5)
  • Give preference to one another (Romans 12:10)
  • Do not seek your own profit, but the profit of the many (1 Cor. 10:33)
  • Regard one another as more important than yourself (Phil.2:3)
  • Glorify God in your body (1 Cor. 6:20)
  • Do everything in an honorable manner which glorifies God (1Cor.10:31)
  • Do everything without complaining (Phi.2:14)
  • Be sober in everything and endure hardship (2Tim.4:5)
  • Pray at all times (Luke 18:1)
  • Praise God (Psalm 147:1)
  • Serve the living God (Hebrews 9:13)
  • Obey God (John 3:36)
  • Love God (Matthew 22:37)
  • Serve the Lord with gladness and sing joyfully (Psa.100:2)
  • Edify your neighbor (Romans 15:2)
  • God has commanded us to perform the Ten Commandments (Deut.4:13)

This list is not even close to exhaustive. So many obligations, and all of them commandments of God. But which command is God’s highest priority for us? Which is the most important? What does God expect of us? What is our primary duty? What should be our first pursuit?

Entire books and lengthy papers of reasoning and logic have been written to persuade us that one thing or another is man’s foremost obligation before God. But man most often ignores the fact that God has explicitly answered this question, unambiguously in the scriptures.

God Defines the Most Important Pursuit of Man

What is the “greatest” of all the commandments given to men?

“And [Jesus] said, ‘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 phrases “on these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” and “this is the great and foremost commandment” means that no other statement or purpose or command of God is more supremely binding on man than “love the Lord your God”; not the command to sacrifice, not the command to worship, not the command to praise, not the command to glorify God, not the command to rejoice, not the command to be joyful. All these other commands are secondary commands that depend on “love God” and “love your neighbor”.

God erases all doubt for us about his foremost (literally “chief” in the Greek) obligation for man when we read the same exchange from Mark 12. A scribe hears Jesus arguing with the Sadducees and dares to ask his question.

“‘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.’” Mark 12:28b-31

How do we know that to “love God” is the most supreme of all God’s commands? Because the actual words of Jesus tell us “there is no other commandment greater.” To “love God” is the foremost commandment that God has given man to perform.

What does “foremost commandment” and “no other commandment greater” mean? The command to “love God” is the highest priority (foremost literally means “first” or “chief”) thing a man can do on Earth to please God. There is no higher attitude, no higher motivation, emotion, or activity that God has given for man to do than to “love God”. No other pursuit, task, or good work can stand in line in front of the command to love God. There is no higher calling. Not even the commands to “glorify God in your body” (1Cor.6:20) or to “glorify Him, and stand in awe of Him” (Psalm 22:23) are more chief than to “love God”.

That is how it is with God. He simply tells us what our chief duty is, in very direct language.

And what does it mean to “love God”? How do we know if we are loving God? What precisely should a man do or feel to fulfill this greatest of all commandments?

• • If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. John 14:15.
  • He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me…John 14:21
  • 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
  • …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’…therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Roms.13:8a-10
  • …what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. 1Cor.7:19
  • …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
  • And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 1John 2:3
  • But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. 1John 2:5a
  • By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 1John 5:2

• • For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 1John 5:3
  • And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. 2 John 1:6a

To love God is to obey God’s commandments. To love God is to walk according to what He has commanded. To observe and keep His commandments with all your mind, heart, soul, and strength is to love God.

Again, we need not guess what it means to “love God”. He tells us, in simple words. There is no argument or ambiguity. God sums up love for Himself in a simple yet elegant statement: “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.”

God’s single highest priority for mankind, or for any specific man, is that a man love God by obeying His commandments. This is the truth. This is from God. There is no more important pursuit, no greater commandment, no more supreme duty. If any man dreams up a higher calling then he fails to grasp the very nature of “the whole Law and the Prophets”.