Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

John Piper

See It Again for the First Time

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This paragraph from my favorite Piper book is much more meaningful now that I see my little daughter’s eyes light up every time she sees something new:

What a wonderful experience it is when God grants us a moment in which we don’t take anything for granted, but see the world as though it was invented yesterday. How we would marvel at the wisdom of God. We should pray for the eyes of children again, when they saw everything for the first time. William Quayle reminded me of this recently in his lively book, The Pastor-Preacher. He said, “A cow has pretty eyes, as quiet as a pool of quiet water, but uneventful eyes. There is no touch of wonder in their dreamless depths. The eyes are therefore soulless. A child’s eyes are fairly lightning. They are to see things: they are the windows of the brain, and bewilder like a play of swords of fire.” These are the eyes we need to see the unending wisdom of God running through all the world. There will be no exhausting the understanding of God. We will be making new discoveries for all eternity.

—John Piper, The Pleasures of God: Meditations on God’s Delight in Being God (2d ed.; Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2000), 92 (emphasis added).

Related:

  1. Sermons by Piper on the Pleasures of God
  2. My thoughts on Piper’s Desiring God
  3. Planet Earth: A Theological Documentary
  4. Piper on “Planet Earth”

Collision

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collisionLast night Jenni and I watched Collision: Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson (DVD | stream), an 87-minute film in which two witty public intellectuals debate whether Christianity is good for the world.

As we expected, the debate is fascinating, fast-paced, evenhanded, and edifying. The creative camera angles and other non-verbal aspects of the film make it even more provocative (and kind of strange).

Related:

  1. The film is based on the book Is Christianity Good for the World? A Debate (Moscow, ID: Canon, 2008).
  2. The book grew out of a six-part exchange in Christianity Today.
  3. Justin Taylor shared some thoughts after viewing the film in March.
  4. John Piper interviewed Doug Wilson for 16 minutes after showing the film at the Desiring God conference last weekend. One of Piper’s questions goes like this: “In the video you speak about having ‘copiousness.’ Describe what that is and whether you think it is important for pastors to cultivate.” I think Wilson personifies these two proverbs: “To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, / and a word in season, how good it is!” (Proverbs 15:23). “A word fitly spoken / is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). Wilson’s copiousness is inspiring.

Updates:

1. John Piper evaluates Doug Wilson in the first 15.5 minutes of this video (early 2013, I think).

2. Doug Wilson reviewed Larry Alex Taunton’s The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist (Nashville: Nelson, 2016). Superlative review.

John Piper Small Group Series

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Three more DVD series and corresponding study guides are now available in the John Piper Small Group Series.

1. TULIP: The Pursuit of God’s Glory in Salvation (DVD | Study Guide)

2. Why We Believe the Bible (DVD | Study Guide)

3. What’s the Difference? Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible (DVD | Study Guide)

I recently watched almost all of TULIP and most of Why We Believe the Bible with my parents and siblings, and we thoroughly enjoyed them. The professionally filmed DVDs are superb. Piper teaches from an overhead using transparencies and engagingly interacts with the text of Scripture. Very effective. Great resources.

Another Dagger-Like Tweet from John Piper

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John Piper: “Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to failure.”

Update: Here’s a follow-up: “BOASTING: ‘I deserve praise because I’ve achieved so much.’ SELF-PITY: ‘I deserve praise because I’ve endured so much.'”

Related: If you’re not on Twitter, you can follow John Piper on Twitter in your blog reader via his RSS feed.

Mostly Dead vs. All Dead

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This video clip from The Princess Bride is my favorite light-hearted illustration of the Arminian view of human depravity (an issue integrally related to prevenient grace):

http://vimeo.com/28442042

This is the notable part of the exchange:

“Well it just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. . . . Now mostly dead is slightly alive. All dead—well, with all dead, there’s only usually one thing that you can do.”

“What’s that?”

“Go through his clothes and look for loose change.”

Another good illustration of the effectual call and regeneration:

Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out . . . . (John 11:43–44)

Recommended resources:

  1. William W. Combs, “Does the Bible Teach Prevenient Grace?” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 10 (2005): 3–18.
  2. John Piper, “Total Depravity,” in “TULIP” (a nine-part seminar available in audio and video), 2008.
  3. Thomas R. Schreiner, “Does Scripture Teach Prevenient Grace in the Wesleyan Sense?” in Still Sovereign: Contemporary Perspectives on Election, Foreknowledge, and Grace (ed. Thomas R. Schreiner and Bruce A. Ware; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 229–46.