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Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God

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The latest from John Piper challenges readers to engage their minds in pursuing, knowing and loving God. He says loving God with all our mind means.."our thinking is wholly engaged to do it all it can to awaken and express the heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all things." (pg.85)

Readers will, in fact, have to fully engage their minds while reading THINK. Some chapters are easier than others to understand, but a few will take a 2nd or 3rd reading to fully grasp their meaning. Chapter 10 is easily the most cerebral, and readers will literally have to think hard about its meaning and application..but it's well worth the effort.

Chapters 6 and 7 are both brilliant. But for me, the best chapter in the entire book is Chapter 4, where Piper explains Jesus' encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 16.. the study is nothing short of brilliant.

After finishing the book, I realized one of the reasons why I appreciate the author's latest..THINK is essentially one big Bible study. There are scripture verses on almost every page. And that of course is Piper's passion, to explain Scripture and help Christ followers to know God and treasure Him more passionately through His Word.

And I always appreciate Piper's bold and challenging statements.. "Desiring to be rich is suicidal." (pg.202) He knows it's not a sin to be rich, but he also knows the Bible's warnings against wanting to be wealthy. Great balance.

One small section I found unecessarily confusing. In Chapter 12, commenting on Romans 10:1, Piper writes that the apostle Paul's Jewish countrymen weren't saved because "they have a zeal for God.." (pg.162) To his credit, Piper clarifies just two short paragraphs later when he writes that their zeal wasn't based on knowledge. But I think the way it's worded first brings unecessary confusion to the reader.

Anyone at all familiar with Piper's writings knows how he's been tremendously influenced by Jonathan Edwards, who many call one of the greatest evangelical thinkers of all time. Chapter 2 talks about that influence.

After reading a good majority of Piper's books, and now his latest, I'm convinced he's one of the greatest thinkers of our time.

And for that, we should all be thankful.

Those of you who have read anything by John Piper before know that you're in for a spiritual delight. Those of you who haven't are about to discover a delight in God greater than you had previously imagined! "Think" is a very readable and yet profound book that should be read by every thinking (or unthinking!) Christian. I plan on using portions of it with my high school Apologetics class. It's amazing how many books are written on how to use the soul and even the body - and how few are written on how to use the mind to love God and man. This is one of those rare and invaluable books.

The thesis and plea of Piper's "Think" is that Christians should "embrace serious thinking as a means of loving God and people." It's not exactly the thesis or plea you'd expect to hear from a Christian book on the mind, which would usually be something more like, "Oh no, the really brilliant atheists have captured the universities and the minds of our generation so we'd better find some even more brilliant Christians to outsmart and outthink them."

But Piper refuses to play this kind of mind game, in which the mind is seen as a largely academic and theoretical kind of faculty. Instead, Piper returns to his first love, which is the glory of God, especially as communicated through the theology of Jonathan Edwards. For Piper, thinking is not an end to itself and not primarily to do battle with atheistic thinking. Thinking is properly a whole person activity that leads us to fulfill the greatest commandment by loving God and loving neighbor. It is not a choice between head and heart for Piper, but a choice to employ both head and heart to know and love God and man.

Piper masterfully unfolds his plea for Christians to think in 13 chapters plus an Introduction. Along the way, Piper gives a lot of food for thought and has crystallized some of his best and most beneficial thoughts into insightful sentences:

Introduction - In the Introduction, Piper makes his plea to embrace thinking as a means of loving God and man and states that "the main reason God gives us minds is that we might seek out and find all the reasons that exist for treasuring him in all things and above all things."

Chapter 1 - My Introduction - is an autobiographical account of how Piper's passion to preach and be a pastor was ignited while thinking about Romans 9 for a book he was writing.

Chapter 2 - Deep Help from a Dead Friend - explores the idea that it is God's nature as the Trinity that is the foundation for human nature as head and heart, thinking and feeling, knowing and loving. He quotes Jonathan Edwards, who said, "God made the world that He might communicate, and the creature receive, His glory; and that it might [be] received both by the mind and heart."

Chapter 3 - Reading as Thinking - passionately presents reading as a most precious and amazing activity.

Chapter 4 - Mental Adultery is No Escape - provocatively argues that to not use the mind to know and glorify God is not only "mental adultery" but also "adulterous irrationality."

Chapter 5 - Rational Gospel/ Spiritual Light - finds Piper persuading the reader that the reason faith is what saves us is that (following the thought of J. Gresham Machen) faith means receiving something, not doing something or even being something. But in order to receive God by faith the mind must come to know God through the gospel and value Him (a kind of thinking) as the soul's and mind's greatest treasure.

Chapter 6 - Treasuring God with All Your Mind - does just what you think it will do.

Chapters 7 and 8 - both deal with Facing the Challenge of Relativism.

Chapter 9-11 - all deal with Facing the Challenge of Anti-intellectualism. Sadly, many American Christians don't see the need to think or use their minds because their religion is an emotional one. They might agree with Billy Sunday who said, "If I had a million dollars I'd give $999,999 to the church and $1 to education" or with D.L. Moody who said, "My theology! I didn't know I had any. I wish you would tell me what my theology is." Sadly (though Piper doesn't deal with this), most Christian Americans today have a very shallow theology but think they know they've worshiped God because they can feel it.

Chapter 12 - The Knowledge that Loves - finds Piper returning to his theme that "true knowing loves people" and "true knowing loves God."

Chapter 13 - All Scholarship is for the Love of God and Man - is yet another corrective Piper presents to the idea that scholarship is dry, esoteric, and removed from life.

Chapter 14 - Conclusion: A Final Plea. This may be the most important chapter of all because in it Piper challenges 2 groups of thinkers to think more lovingly. His plea to those who don't like to think is to: be thankful for thinkers, respect those who serve you by thinking, pray for vulnerable thinkers, avoid wrongheaded thinking, and read your Bible with joy. His plea to those who like to think is to: think consciously for the glory of Christ; become like children; enjoy the Word of God like gold and honey; and think for the sake of love.


"Think" is a thoughtful and soulful book that should be widely read. Pastors, professors, teachers, students, parents, and homeschoolers would benefit immensely from this brief but brilliant book. In fact, I can't think of a single category of Christian reader who wouldn't benefit from it. Highly recommended!

When the Apostle Paul talked about God making foolish the wisdom of the world, he was not trying to discourage Christians from thinking too hard, according to John Piper in this book. Instead, "the main reason God has given us minds is that we might seek out and find all the reasons that exist for treasuring him in all things and above all things." Loving God with all our minds means fully employing our thinking in the pursuit of God.

The book starts with two chapters describing the author's personal journey and the inspiration that he has derived from Jonathan Edwards. After that come chapters on the relationship between reading and thinking, and coming to faith through thinking. There are two interesting chapters on relativism, in which the author points out that relativism is a moral choice as well as an intellectual choice. A follower of Christ submits to God's definition of truth, rather than choosing to define his or her own personal truth. Other chapters deal with anti-intellectualism, the wisdom of God and the relationship between knowledge and love.

Many readers will find some of the content challenging, but they should not let this put them off reading through the whole book as it is relatively brief (around 170 pages plus foreword and appendices). The book certainly succeeded in making me think, and the author's encouragement for Christians to engage in loving God with all of their minds is very helpful.

Getting John Piper's new book Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God in the mail from Crossway a month back I was very excited to dive in to this work. My excitement only rose as I read C.J. Mahaney's endorsement of it:

"Do you ever wish you could feel more deeply about things you know are true? Has it been a while since you were moved to tears at the thought of Christ's death for your sins? It's not mysterious: those who feel deeply about the gospel are those who think deeply about the gospel. In these pages John Piper will convince you that thinking is the sturdy foundation for our easily misguided affections. If you want to feel profoundly, learn to think carefully. And start by reading this book!"

Amen and amen to that! I certainly want to think deeply and feel deeply about the gospel. And I want help with knowing how to do that better.

So, it was with this attitude that I embarked upon reading this book. After a few great introductory chapters I quickly realized that this book wasn't the how-to manual that I may have been hoping for. Instead it is a thoughtful laying of the theological foundation for why thinking is important and how it relates to faith and God's regenerating work in our lives.

Evaluating this book strictly based on my expectations would result in a negative review because I was looking for less of a technical theological treatment and more of a practical "how do I think deeply" book. However, as Dr. Piper even states in his book, the author of a book has something in mind that they intend to convey through their writing. Judging this book by my uninformed expectations instead of in accordance with what it was actually about would be unfair.

So what was this book actually about? Why was it written? Piper says:

"The aim of this book is to encourage serious, faithful, humble thinking that leads to the true knowledge of God, which leads to loving him, which overflows in loving others."

OVERVIEW

In classic John Piper fashion he starts off with laying the foundations for thinking deeply as a means for enjoying in and glorifying God through the telling of his story and his favorite theologian's, Jonathan Edwards, writings.

I also love how he describes what loving God with our mind means:

"I will suggest that loving God with the mind means that our thinking is wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express the heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all things."

Chapter 3 was probably my favorite chapter titled: "Reading as Thinking." God has graciously revealed Himself in a specific manner in a book, the Bible. And reading any book, and especially this book of God, inherently requires thinking. So Piper pleads that we would read and think carefully as we read God's Word that we might strive to understand what the author's of Scripture intended to convey. This concept is so foundational and so important, yet it can easily be the most overlooked or unattended. Piper wants to encourage us to work hard to understand the Bible in the power of the Spirit by asking questions and working to answer them. What an essential practice!

In the remaining chapters of the book Piper seeks to answer many questions that challenge the role or need to think deeply as Christians.

Chapters 4 and 5 work through how thinking works in our coming to faith in Jesus. What role does thinking play? What role does the Holy Spirit play? How do our darkened natural minds (apart from Christ) affect our thinking? Though God intends that we use our minds, we can't apprehend the beauty of Christ in the gospel apart from the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. So, it is through that gracious work of the Holy Spirit that our minds eyes are opened to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus.

Chapter 6 turns to working through the question of how thinking works in fulfilling the great commandment to love God. With the mind that God has given us and the Spirit's enablement we are able to "know the truth and beauty and worth of God through Jesus and treasure him above all things and spend our lives expressing and pursuing this in as many ways as our minds can pursue."

Chapters 7 and 8 helpfully look at the challenge of relativism and how Jesus responded to some New Testament relativists: the chief priests and elders. He shows how often the case with relativism is that "They don't care about truth. They care about their skin. Therefore, they take the God-given handmaidens of truth--thinking and speaking--and prostitute them as slaves of self-protection." He also goes on to show the evil and destructive effects of relativism to help warn us against it.

Chapters 9 - 11 address another challenge: anti-intellectualism. It looks at some of the common passages (Luke 10:21 and 1 Corinthians 1:21) used to actually make the case against careful and rigorous thinking. It shows how Jesus and Paul aren't actually against careful thinking, but are against arrogant and godless thinking. Piper's hope is for a humble, Spirit-dependent thinking that is in accordance with God's Word.

Chapters 12 and 13, in light of the challenges of relativism and anti-intellectualism looks at how we can even attempt to think with so much danger involved in it in "Finding a Humble Way of Knowing." The lesson derived is that:

"Thinking is dangerous and indispensable. Without a profound work of grace in the heart, knowledge--the fruit of thinking--puffs up. But with that grace, thinking opens the door of humble knowledge. And that knowledge is the fuel of the fire of love for God and man. If we turn away from serious thinking in our pursuit of God, that fire will eventually go out."

And chapter 13 especially focuses on the broader work of Christian scholarship:

"Therefore, the task of all Christian scholarship, not just Biblical studies, is to study reality as a manifestation of God's glory, to speak and write about it with accuracy, and to savor the beauty of God in it, and to make it serve the good of man."

Finally, the conclusion has a plea to non-thinkers and thinkers.

To Those Who Don't Love To Think:

1. Be Thankful for Thinkers.
2. Respect Those Who Serve You With Thinking.
3. Pray for the Vulnerable Thinkers.
4. Avoid Wrongheaded Thinking.
5. Read Your Bible With Joy.

To Those Who Do Love To Think:

1. Think Consciously for the Glory of Christ.
2. Become Like Children.
3. Enjoy the Word of God Like Gold and Honey
4. Think for the Sake of Love.

CONCLUSION

Given it's aim, this book is great. Piper raises many questions that one may ask in thinking through the place of thinking in the Christian life. Whether the question is about where thinking is located in the Bible, the role of thinking in salvation, the Christian life, or Christian scholarship, Piper carefully seeks to work through Biblical answers to these questions and give us a foundation for humble, dependent, rigorous thinking for the glory of God and the good of others. If you have questions as to the need for thinking, the plausibility of relativism or anti-intellectualism, or if Christian scholarship is even a good thing, then this book will hopefully be a worthwhile read for you. Let's think hard about God, His Word, and His World for His glory and the good of others!

This book by pastor-theologian John Piper reminds me of books on similar theme such as Mark Noll's Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Os Guinness' Fit Bodies, Fat Minds, J.P. Moreland's Love Your God with All Your Mind and Gene Veith's Loving God with All Your Mind. These scholars and thinkers have written these excellent books (all of which are worth reading) based on their exposure to different worldviews and their effort to create or instill biblical worldviews.

Piper's approach is different in that he draws solely from the Bible and in that he limits himself mainly to Proverbs 2:3-5 and 1 Timothy 2:7. He writes that his approach is that of a Bible expositor and in that he has succeeded because the book read like a series of sermons. Thinking is a serious aspect of discipleship, Piper suggests and that such thinking "is wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express the heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all thing."

This book seems to be seeking a balance between the "anti-intellectualism" of some churches and "over-intellectualism" of the academia, However unlike his other books, I find it difficult to decipher what Piper is really trying to say in this book. While I agree with his emphasis on reading and understanding the Bible (which he equate to thinking) and his asserting that thinking is loving God, I find it difficult to apply his conclusion to the rest of the world who are mostly illiterate, do not have access to the Bible, and to the category of people who are intellectually impaired. And also in most of Africa, Asia and South America, most pastors and Bible teachers are not theologically trained. I refuse to accept that because of these handicaps, the Christians in these regions are defective in their thinking and hence not able to love God with their minds. I believe the power of the Holy Spirit transcend the inability of believers to read and write and that these inabilities do not handicap their relationship with the Triune God.

I read this book shortly after reading J. P. Moreland's _Love Your God With All Your Mind_. Since they are both very similar in their subject matter, I'm going to be using Moreland's book as my starting point for evaluating Piper's. As such, this review might be more helpful for those wondering whether they should pick up Moreland's, Piper's, or both.

This book, like Moreland's, is simply a defense of the role of the mind in the Christian life. That much should be obvious from the title. It is more theologically centered than J. P. Moreland's book and the theological focus made it narrower in scope than Moreland's. There are a lot of things that Moreland's book has that Piper's doesn't in terms of practical strategy and also in looking at the causes and effects of anti-intellectualism. Nevertheless, Piper gives a more robust theological defense of the value of the mind and a more developed view of the mind being cultivated *in service to God*. The theological focus and Piper's skill at unfolding Scripture makes this book far superior to Moreland's as an introduction to the subject of cultivating Christian thought. Moreland covers the theological too, but I thought Piper did a better job at making it connect with the reader.

Ideally, both books could be put to good use: Piper's as laying the foundation of a theology of mind and Moreland's in sketching out the practical details and the historical background. However, if I were teaching a class on Christian Thought, and could choose just one book, it would be Piper's.

What is the relationship between logic and love?

For some, there is no relation. "Love Is a Fallacy" by Max Shulman tells the story of a smart college freshman who pines for Polly Espy, the girlfriend of his big-man-on-campus roommate, Petey Bellows. Petey, however, pines for a raccoon coat, which is all the rage among BMOCs. In exchange for a chance to date Polly, the freshman gives Petey his father's raccoon coat.

Unfortunately, Polly's intelligence does not match her beauty, so the freshman sets out to school her, beginning with logical fallacies. Patiently he teaches her the fallacies of hasty generalization, post hoc, ad misericordiam, and poisoning the well, among others. After five dates, satisfied that she has risen to a level of intelligence acceptable to him, the freshman declares his love for her.

She then proceeds to point out the logical fallacies inherent in each of his arguments in favor of the match and instead declares her love for...Petey Bellows. "Can you give me one logical reason why you should go steady with Petey Bellows?" he screams. "I certainly can," she replies. "He's got a raccoon coat."

To quote Blaise Pascal: "The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of."

In Think, John Piper begs to differ with people who see no relationship between logic and love. There is a relationship between the two, a mutually enriching one at that. "The fires of love for God need fuel. And the fires of love for God drive the engines of thought and deed. There is a circle. Thinking feeds the fire, and the fire fuels more thinking and doing. I love God because I know him. And I want to know him more because I love him" (89). This mutually enriching relationship encompasses our love for people as well. Indeed, "All scholarship is for the love of God and man" (167).

For me, the most insightful sections of the book were "Coming to Faith through Thinking" (58-82), "Facing the Challenge of Relativism" (94-118), and "Facing the Challenge of Anti-intellectualism" (118-156).

"Coming to Faith through Thinking" shows that reasoning plays a role in conversion and clarifies how. The two chapters in this section effectively rebut the popular evangelical sentiment that you cannot argue a person into the kingdom of God. True, conversion encompasses more than thinking, but never less.

"Facing the Challenge of Relativism" lays bare the immorality and incoherence of relativism using a dialogue about religious authority between Jesus and the Pharisees (Matthew 21:23-27). The Pharisees asked Jesus, "By what authority are you doing these things?" In response, Jesus asked, "John's baptism--where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?" The Pharisees realized that either answer would get them into trouble, so they demurred. Piper comments: "People don't embrace relativism because it is philosophically satisfying. They embrace it because it is physically and emotionally gratifying. It provides the cover they need at key moments in their lives to do what they want without intrusion from absolutes." It is immoral, in other words. It is incoherent because "no one is a relativist" at the bank" (102).

"Facing the Challenge of Anti-intellectualism" examines six spiritual reasons people give for anti-intellectualism. Two of these reasons arise from misinterpretations of biblical passages, namely, Luke 10:17-24 and 1 Corinthians 1:20-24. The former states, "You [God] have hidden these things from the wise and understanding." The latter, "In the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom." Piper carefully exegetes these passages and concludes: "the warnings that Jesus and Paul have sounded...are not warnings about careful, faithful, rigorous, coherent thinking in the pursuit of God. In fact, the way Jesus and Paul spoke these very warnings compels us to engage in serious thinking even to understand them. And what we find is that pride is no respecter of persons--the serious thinkers may be humble. And the careless mystic may be arrogant" (154).

Historian Mark Noll once wrote, "The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind." Unfortunately, this is all too often true. The strength of Think by John Piper is his patient exposition of the Bible, which critiques evangelical mindlessness and points to the twin imperatives of the Great Commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" and "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:38-39).

This book is a helpful challenge to Christian students. Whether by students, we mean people who are enrolled in classes or people who delight in learning, the benefits are here. Christian education, as promoted by Christian schools, colleges, and books, is trying to overcome those overwhelming indictments of Harry Blamires ("There is no longer a Christian mind"--in his book The Christian Mind) and Mark Noll (in his book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind). Books like this one are helpful. This is not a treatise on how to read a book (although such works are recommened in it) or how to think logically (and such books are being written) or why Christians should (in many cases) pursue academic exellence. It is thinking applied to the Bible. It is thinking applied to Bible passages that encourage thinking and to ones that have been misused to discourage thinking.

I read the book during this past summer (2011) twice. I work in the thinking business, for I am a teacher in a Christian school and a pastor. This book has proven to be the medicine, encouragement, and guide that I need. Two readings are not enough.

John Piper states his case better than I could with the first paragraph of his introduction:

"This book is a plea to embrace serious thinking as a means of loving God and people. It is a plea to reject either-or thinking when it comes to head and heart, thinking and feeling, reason and faith, theology and doxology, mental labor and the ministry of love. It is a plea to see thinking as a necessary, God-ordained means of knowing God. Thinking is one of the important ways that we put the fuel of knowledge on the fires of worship and service to the world."

In this book, Piper presents carefully reasoned, logical arguments that call for Christians (indeed, everyone) to think, long and deeply. Matthew 22 tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God, and it specifically tells us to love Him with all our mind, but for many people the exercise of intellect seems to be an inimical pursuit with regard to Christianity. Somehow we seem to have drawn the conclusion that thinking and reasoning are incompatible with simple faith and the pure appreciation of the glory of God. Nothing could be further from the truth! As a simple example, consider Scripture reading - if your process of reading doesn't involve thought and comprehension, you're doing it wrong. Those words aren't there for entertainment or decoration - they're detailing complex, important concepts that are vital and valuable. Likewise, I believe there is a lot more to Luke 12:27 (in which Christ says, "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these") than an exhortation to clap our hands at pretty flowers. When the Son of God says "consider", I take that to mean "study thoroughly, so that you may understand deeply the complexity and beauty of My creation".

Piper brilliantly deconstructs relativism in chapters 7 and 8, pointing out that while some things may be discussed in relative terms, there remain a number of irreducible absolutes in the nature of God, His communication with us through Scripture, and our relationship with Him. Piper patiently and meticulously makes the case that relativism is not just lazy thinking or another way of looking at things - it's actively evil, "a revolt against the objective reality of God", in his words. As he explains the underlying assumptions and world views that define relativism, we are encouraged to reject its insidious interference with our proper view of God and His creation.

For me, the most affirming and encouraging part of the book was chapters 9-11, "Facing the Challenge of Anti-intellectualism". I have no delusions of being a thinker of the caliber of a Newton or an Einstein, but I do believe God created me as a curious mind and that He expects me to to use my intellect for more than matching my socks correctly in the morning. I have long been distressed by what I feel is a growing, active anti-intellectual sentiment within the Christian community, and I have felt an increasing mental disconnect between my need to learn and understand things and my keeping a child-like faith in God. Piper addressed my dilemma comprehensively, first by confirming my suspicions about the history and pervasiveness of anti-intellectualism and then by systematically dismantling its basis. Using careful exegesis and semantic analysis, he presents Scripture to explain the difference between the arrogant self-inflated wisdom of Man and and the sublime wisdom of God, showing us that it is not only possible but desirable to pursue thought and wisdom coupled with a humble appreciation of the glory of God. Finally, I feel that I have not only permission but active encouragement to apply my mind to the utmost and joyfully explore our universe.

I heartily endorse this book and encourage everyone to read it, particularly those like myself who have struggled with confusion and concern about the role of intellectualism in the Christian experience. I found this book immensely useful and helpful.

I really enjoy John Piper as an author and a teacher, this book shows some of his talent. I found the font half of the book to be extremely interesting, but as the book went on I grew more and more excited for the end. John Piper did a wonderful job explaining the importance of critical thinking and using the christian brain. This is the perfect book for someone who comes from unintellectual form of Christianity where critical thinking, theology or science is regarded as distractions that will get us confused. I found the book extremely redundant, one of those books where you are hammered for 3 chapters on the same topic. Great book, totally agree with the thinking behind it, ideas were fleshed out a little further than I enjoyed enduring.