Longing for God - Christian Hedonism

After the previous two articles (here and here) I discovered a couple of lessons on Christenhedonism on the Filadelfia Bible School YouTube channel. It turns out that this term and teachings come from American pastor John Piper with his ministry Desiring God. In this article, we will try to find out what, more importantly, is so very wrong about the so-called christenhedonism that Piper promotes.

New Calvinism

We mentioned in the blog about Behold your God already noted that this "course" ultimately imports the Christian into Roman Catholic spirituality, contemplation. When now Christianhedonism is also taught at HeartCry, it is rather striking, for what is common to John Snyder and Paul Washer (of HeartCry) and John Piper (of Desiring God) is that they belong - among many others - to the movement called New Calvinism. It is a wide range of views based on Calvinism, but what they have in common is the view of conversion and regeneration. Or also the question of when you know for sure that you are saved and have what is called beatific faith. Then it's about this:

This quote is from the Dutch website www.hetcalvinismeendebijbel.nl where much critical information can be found about (new) Calvinism. Also in English there exists a website where you can find many reviews of the New Calvinists.  
The Dutch website of www.geloofstoerusting.nl on the other hand, promotes the new Calvinists. You will find many articles and videos/clips from that angle; also from John Piper.

John Piper and Christianhedonism

John Piper is an incredibly compelling preacher and many of his views/bible explanations cannot be considered wrong. But at the core is something that is not right and I think that has to do with Calvinistic views on election, conversion, regeneration and assurance of faith. Because there has to be a particular conversion experience to know if you really have the beatific faith.

We cannot test all of Piper's views here; that is impractical. A general review in Dutch can be found here and in English very comprehensive here. 

We must limit ourselves to what Piper understands by Christian hedonism. About the purpose of Christian hedonism, Piper says the following on his website Desiring God:

"Christian Hedonism seeks to replace a Kantian morality with a biblical one. Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher who died in 1804, was the most powerful exponent of the idea that the moral value of an action decreases as we seek to benefit from it. Acts are good if the doer is "disinterested." We should do the good because it is good."

This is followed by an exposition of when an action (or deed) is good. This involves citing other philosophers/theologians and finally quoting the Bible. It ends therein that something is morally good if - and I say this in my own words - you yourself derive the highest pleasure from it. According to Piper, this is a biblical view. He defines Christian hedonism as follows:

"My shortest summary of it is: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Man's main goal is to glorify God by enjoying Him eternally."

But Piper's argument is philosophical and unbiblical. He does not start from the question of what is the highest good for God. At most, Piper tries to figure out what would be morally right for God, but even in this he fails because the Word of God is not his starting point.

Repentance and assurance of faith

Piper has spoken for years at Passion Conferences in the United States, where tens of thousands of young people gathered. He began his speech in 2020 with the prayer below.

He prays that "the miracle of awakening a supreme desire for Jesus above all things would be granted to thousands. I pray that every Christian would be revived to desire Christ above all things."  

He does not ask God for the conversion of people. Yet that is the Biblical way: to recognize that you are lost forever and to go to God with your sin and guilt in order to repent. And then accept salvation from Him in Christ and be saved. Then you get a new perspective in life; the view of eternal salvation.

But you don't hear these things. With Piper, regeneration is an ultimate soul experience that you have to open up to and long for so that you end up on that path that God apparently intended.
In his book "Desiring God," he writes

"Could it be that today the most clear Biblical commandment for conversion is not, 'Believe in the Lord,' but, 'Rejoice in the Lord'?" And might not many slumbering hearts be awakened by the words, "Unless a man is born again as a Christian hedonist he cannot see the kingdom of God"? (John Piper, Desiring God, p. 55).

It is packaged differently, but what Piper brings is at its core the same as

• what in Pentecostal circles is called "the baptism in the Spirit.
• or what is sometimes said in extremely conservative Protestant circles, "it must be given to you

They are the "Christian" variants of initiation into the mystery religions and of the so-called "breakthrough experience" into the mystical path of life (see here).

All these views are about experiencing the supernatural. By the way, this is the same as the what the Roman Church says about union with God:

'The purpose of the Gospel, the purpose of life and, in fact, the purpose of everything, is directed toward union with God. That divine unification is a real experience, even now here on this earth; it is the only real Christian experience' (Keating, cf. here).   

What the Bible says about hedonism

When it comes to the word hedonism, there is quite a bit of confusion that has to do with the English word pleasure that Piper uses and its translation into Dutch or German. Piper uses the word pleasure just how it is convenient and assigns multiple meanings to it. Pleasure, joy and gladness also intermingle in our Bible translations. For example, Piper uses Psalm 16:11 to "prove" hedonism. In this video from Philadelphia Bible School is understood - given the title - Christenhedonism as joy in God. We are not going to sort out the various words with their meanings in Old and New Testaments here; that would go too far.

But it does involve hedonism, which we talked about last time written have. It is derived from the Greek word hedoné (ἡδονή) which means pleasure and appears 5 times in the New Testament, but not in a positive sense.

• In Luke 8:14, among other things, it is the "enjoyments of life" that prevent the sown word from growing and bearing fruit;
• Titus 3:3 speaks of the addiction to all kinds of lusts and passions belonging to an unbeliever;
• In James 4:1 and 3, it is the passions that operate in the body and have wrong effects;
• In 2 Peter 2:13 it talks about false teachers who bring pernicious deviations in doctrine (see verse 1). One of the things that characterize them is that they enjoy licentiousness.
• In 2 Timothy 3: 4, Paul writes that in the last days people are more lovers of song than lovers of God. This refers to people who have an appearance of piety.

When you search for the meaning of the Dutch words hartstocht, genot and zingenot, things get a little uncomfortable. Because then you can't get around the fact that these words all indicate a strong desire for and experience of sexual pleasure.

- Zingenot: pleasure provided by stimulation of the senses, especially sexual pleasure (synonym: lust)
- Passion: strong urge of sensual nature; what the heart strongly desires, impetuous love, sexual desire.

These words are all a translation of the original Greek word hedoné, and that word in turn is derived from the name of the Greek goddess Hedone. Retrieved from Wikipedia read another telling peculiarity about that: Hedone was a daughter of the god Eros and the goddess Psyche.
Therefore, I think it is fair to say that the word in the New Testament can be understood as a deep sensual longing in the soul, which, moreover, is experienced as supernatural - as coming from God/God.

That these are experiences that belong to idolatry may also be evident from the context of the word in James 4, about which we have already said some things in the previous blog. Wisdom that comes from above is from the Lord and has corresponding characteristics, but this other wisdom is not from heaven, it is of the soul and demonic. This is the wisdom that Paul calls "teachings of demons" (1 Timothy 4:1).

What (new) Calvinism can unfortunately lead to

What Piper preaches is a kind of "pagan Christianity"; the pagan soul experiences promoted and clothed with many Biblical terms. It's a path that introduces people to idolatry: thinking that your experiences come from God when in reality, meanwhile, they come from demons.

It is sad to see how out of Calvinism with its teachings on election, conversion and being saved can arise a practice that allows for mystical experiences. These are then promoted with biblical-sounding stories. Whether it's with "Behold Your God" or "Desiring God," it doesn't really matter. One appeals more to a group of serious Christians and the other may be more suitable for modern young people (as on Passion). That is a matter of taste and preference.
But the core is the same: experiencing the supernatural - "God" - within you. Both paths lead to the idolatry that our God, the God of the Bible so detests.

Shouldn't you examine everything?

You might ask the question whether you do justice to all that Piper teaches. That you might then have to come to the conclusion that although there are some topics and views that are un-Biblical, the whole of Piper's teaching is very appealing and Biblical. Aren't you going too short in talking only about that hedonism?

This is a legitimate question, where what matters is not what we think about it, but what the Bible says about it. Now what helps me in this regard is the story from Deuteronomy 13:1-5. There it is about someone who claims to have received words or dreams from God and it turns out to be true, because they come true. Then, according to Deuteronomy 18:20-22, he meets the test given by Lord Himself.
After that, however, that person calls "to serve other gods. You could also say "to serve God in a different way. He thereby tempts you to idolatry. It says so, 'he called to become apostate to the LORD your God, who led you out of the land of Egypt and delivered you out of the house of slavery; and because he wanted to turn you from the way which the LORD your God commanded you to go thereon.
Then such a person had to be killed: 'Thus you must put away evil from among you.'

Here there is no weighing of pluses and minuses. From someone who called for idolatry - apostasy from the Lord - the Israelites had to say goodbye immediately in the most concrete way. Nor was one or more conversations or admonitions the appropriate way. Keep in mind that this was someone who was communicating to others things from the Lord that were right and in that sense provided guidance and direction. Thus, he could be seen by the Israelites as someone who gave them guidance on behalf of the Lord. But notice, the point at issue was whether he was inciting to idolatry. If you noticed that, action had to be taken.

By the way, the same was true if one of your relatives or friends wanted to persuade you into idolatry. You read that in the same chapter 13, verses 6-10. Even if it happened in private circumstances - "in secret" it says. Even then you would have to part with such a person ...

I like to hold this principle when it comes to Bible teachers, pastors, pastors - or whatever you want to call them - who seduce Christians into idolatry. They probably also have some - and sometimes many - biblical views. But I don't have to weigh pluses and minuses.

In the New Testament we find the same principle regarding idolatry in the church. The idolaters are mentioned in the list of those who must be excluded: "put away the evil-doer from among them" (1 Corinthians 5:11, 13).

The exhortation of Judas

Jude writes his exhortation to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3) and he ends with the following sentences:

"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.. (...)
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen."

Jude 1:20-21,24-25

---