The Bible and...! Part 5h: Theology: Christian Hedonism

The Bible and...! Part 5h: Theology: Christian Hedonism
Tuesday, May 7, 2024 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Piper’s Christian Hedonism. We started by looking at possible scriptural support for it. We also noted that the Westminster Shorter Catechism is at the heart of it. So, what are the problems? Why could the system be ill-advised?

First, I do think the system is well-intended. Humanly speaking, even as Christians within God-ordained confines, we relate to eros. Our culture worships eros. I suspect one intent may have been to create a connecting point with the culture in order to foster dialog about eternal things.

So, again, what are the problems? There are at least four. We’ll deal with the first three in this post, and the fourth in the next, and last, post regarding Piper’s Christian Hedonism.

First, as just mentioned, the culture worships eros. The culture is most likely to understand “Christian Hedonism” within their norms and values rather than Piper’s finely nuanced theological definitions.

Second, a human document, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is used as the basis for Christian Hedonism. However valuable the catechism is—and one can argue it is quite valuable—while based heavily upon the Scriptures, it is not Scripture. One must also ask, although any answer is speculative: would those who wrote the catechism, approve of Piper’s use of it? Ultimately, the point is, something other than Scripture lies at the root of Christian Hedonism.

Third, one must ask—and asking it is quite dangerous: Is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy Him forever? There is a long theological history in support of that answer. When asking the question, most internet search engine hits bring up the Westminster Shorter Catechism answer, or at least include it. The word “end” matters here, as that impacts the nature of the question, focusing on eternal things. In that context, it remains a good answer. But, is it the best answer? Is that what Jesus said matters most,? The direct biblical answer is, “No!”

What did Jesus say was most important? When asked what the most important commandment was, He pointed to two things:

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 12:29–31 (NAU)

What is your initial thought? I have two. First, it strikes me as being easier to glorify God in my actions, thoughts, etc., than to have such an all consuming love for Him that I do so with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. When thinking of 1 Corinthians 13, what remains is faith, hope, and love, of which love is the greatest. That isn’t to say that our glorifying God isn’t important. But, love comes first.

Admittedly I could imagine someone responding, “The catechism focuses on eternity; Jesus was emphasizing the here and now. The two statements deal with different time frames and circumstances.” But, do we really want to usurp what Jesus said? Remember, Jesus also said that His words will never pass away (Matthew 24:35). Even in eternity, His words will take precedence over the Westminster Shorter Catechism. What Jesus said was most important will remain most important.

Second, it is a whole lot harder to love my neighbor as myself than to enjoy God forever. I think of the history of the Calvinist/Reformed heated arguments against Lutherans, and the Lutheran responses in return. There’ve been times when love of the one group for the other has been notoriously absent. Oops.

Nor is it wise to base an erotically tinged theology off of personal ecstatic experience and visions, as we saw with St. Teresa of Avila. Although not popular, just because a revered person had ecstatic and visionary experiences doesn’t mean those experiences and visions were from God. One must always ask if any given vision or ecstatic experience lines up with what Scripture declares. The Bible defines experience; experience doesn’t define the Bible.

What does that mean for “Christian Hedonism”? We are discovering that the basis for it is lot shakier than one would like to think. Most important, we’ve seen that the Westminster Shorter Catechism doesn’t provide a biblically solid foundation for it.

We will look at the fourth, and biggest, problem with Christian Hedonism in the next, and last, post about it.

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