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Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God [Kindle Edition]

John Piper , Mark A. Noll
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)

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Book Description

John Piper’s newest book will help Christians think about thinking. Focusing on the life of the mind helps us to know God better, love him more, and care for the world. Along with an emphasis on emotions and the experience of God, we also need to practice careful thinking about God. Piper contends that “thinking is indispensable on the path to passion for God.” So how are we to maintain a healthy balance of mind and heart, thinking and feeling?


Piper urges us to think for the glory of God. He demonstrates from Scripture that glorifying God with our minds and hearts is not either-or, but both-and. Thinking carefully about God fuels passion and affections for God. Likewise, Christ-exalting emotion leads to disciplined thinking.


Readers will be reminded that “the mind serves to know the truth that fuels the fires of the heart.”



Editorial Reviews

Review

"Piper has done it again. His outstanding book Think promises to shepherd a generation about the Christian commitment to the life of the mind. Deeply biblical and uniquely balanced, Think practices what it preaches: it is an accessible, intellectually rich study that calls the reader to renewed love for God and others."
-J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

"John Piper offers much wise advice on the importance of Christian thinking as a way of loving God with our minds and as part of delighting in God above all things."
-George M. Marsden, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame; author, Jonathan Edwards: A Life

"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!"
-C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries

Review

"Piper has done it again. His outstanding book Think promises to shepherd a generation about the Christian commitment to the life of the mind. Deeply biblical and uniquely balanced, Think practices what it preaches: it is an accessible, intellectually rich study that calls the reader to renewed love for God and others."
J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Biola University; author, Love Your God with All Your Mind

"John Piper offers much wise advice on the importance of Christian thinking as a way of loving God with our minds and as part of delighting in God above all things."
George M. Marsden, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus, University of Notre Dame; author, The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship

"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!"
C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries

"An essential dimension of Christian discipleship is the life of the mind, and this may well be the most neglected Christian responsibility of our times. God has made us intelligible creatures, and he has given us the stewardship of intellectual faculties that should drive us to think in ways that bring him greatest glory. In this new book, John Piper provides brilliant analysis, warm encouragement, and a faithful model of Christian thinking. This book is a primer for Christian thinking that is urgently needed in our time."
R. Albert Mohler Jr., President and Joseph Emerson Brown Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"The book provides an excellent, robust biblical foundation for thinking in service of the glory of Christ. It challenges human attitudes and provides sound responses to the temptations either to reject vigorous thinking as unspiritual, to pursue "neutral" scholarship, or to take pride in thinking and fall into autonomy."
Vern Sheridan Poythress, Professor, New Testament Interpretation, Westminster Theological Seminary; author, Redeeming Science

"Thinking—the alert, meticulous, probing, logical, critical use of the mind—will be a highway either to godliness or to its opposite, depending on how it is done. Taking leads from Jonathan Edwards, John Piper surefootedly plots the true path here. His book should be, and I hope will be, widely read."
J. I. Packer, Board of Governors' Professor of Theology, Regent College

"We cannot feel like Christians or act like Christians if we don’t think like Christians. As his writing and preaching attest, John Piper is convinced that the heart cannot embrace that which the mind does not recognize as good, true, and beautiful. This wise book not only makes that point well, but does so by exhibiting in its style and grace the beauty of holy thoughts. This is a timely missive from a seasoned pastor."
Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

"Those who are skittish when it comes to rigorous study, deep thinking, and theological precision have wanted us to believe that our problem is the mind, when in fact it’s the flesh. The problem isn’t knowledge, it’s pride. John Piper reminds us in this excellent book that what we need isn’t less thinking, but clearer, biblical, and more God-centered thinking. Reading and thinking about Think will set you on your way to the renewal of the mind that the Scriptures insist is the catalyst for heartfelt joy and growth in godliness. I highly recommend it!"
Sam Storms, Senior Pastor, Bridgeway Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; author, The Hope of Glory

"John Piper has written a wise and passionate book about the importance of loving God with our minds. After all, we are commanded to do so! But as Piper explains, Christians have not always been very attentive to that commandment. With clarity and directness, he reveals the obstacles that prevent us from using our minds as God intended—but also shows the delights and benefits of doing so. Especially for those who fear intellectualism, this book will be a bracing tonic, and an encouragement besides."
Alan Jacobs, Clyde S. Kilby Professor of English, Wheaton College

"Some Christians don’t think nearly enough; others are prone to think in the wrong way. I warmly commend John Piper's appeal to all believers to be diligent in engaging our minds and to do so with God-honoring humility and Christ-loving passion."
Vaughan Roberts, Rector, St. Ebbe's Church, Oxford, England; author, God's Big Picture

"No one—in speaking, writing, or living—combines mind, heart, and faith more passionately than John Piper. It is our great good fortune that these are the direct topics of exploration in this book. As always with John, the result is insight, encouragement, and a call to action."
Daniel Taylor, Professor of English, Bethel University

"Think is a bracing gust of fresh air in a stale and musty room that hasn’t been aired out in a generation or more. In this book, the love of God and the life of the mind are passionately connected in the way the Scriptures require, and the result is a direct challenge to the intellectual sloppiness and disobedience that is so characteristic of our time."
Douglas Wilson, Senior Fellow of Theology, New St. Andrews College; Pastor, Christ Church, Moscow, Idaho


Product Details

  • File Size: 1838 KB
  • Print Length: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Crossway (September 15, 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B00433SVI8
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,790 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
78 of 79 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Loving God with our mind October 1, 2010
Format:Hardcover
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.
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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Passionately Teaches the Mind to Love God and Man October 5, 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars How to love God with your whole mind September 30, 2010
Format:Hardcover
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Some Great Insights in a Somewhat Disappointing Package
"Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God" by John Piper is a call for Christians to take seriously the role of God-honoring thinking in the Christian life. Read more
Published 1 day ago by SKB
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential truth for growth in one's life in Christ
I recommend this to anyone who desires a closer relationship with God our Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Andy Don
5.0 out of 5 stars Think and Love God
The last part was most interesting to me. Piper shares his vision for a course of study for their school, emphasizing the Word and the World.
Published 1 month ago by Robert Schill
5.0 out of 5 stars Think!
John Piper, preacher and writers, has written a short, clear case for thinking as a Christian. Being a preacher, he exegetes key keys taken to inhibit thought and finds them... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Douglas Groothuis
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book and came quite quickly.
This book is a powerful read and I believe, a must for the times we live in. I was surprised by how quickly it came. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Margaret A. Ishikawa
5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking and the Love of God
Piper is a very thought-provoking, mind-boggling, spiritually-challenging, author and speaker. I have thoroughly enjoyed many of his sermons but I enjoy his books even more. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Daniela Benitez
5.0 out of 5 stars Think
"Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking." Those words, attributed to Steve Jobs, were widely shared shortly after his death in... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Bradley L Kautz
2.0 out of 5 stars Inadequate
Back in the college I was a big John Piper fan. He works a very methodical, moving through each point carefully and thoroughly. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Reid Mccormick
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
The book came in very good time and in excellent condition! I am enjoying the read as well! Thank you so much!
Published 5 months ago by Sonya
5.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual Fuel for the Fire of Worship
The heart burns in worship what the mind provides for fuel. This is true whether we are believers or idolators. Therefore let us burn on what is true. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Matthew Everhard
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More About the Author

John Piper is the Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, where he first sensed God's call to enter the ministry. He went on to earn degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.) and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem. John is the author of more than 30 books, including Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, What Jesus Demands from the World, and Don't Waste Your Life.

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