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

by John Piper, Mark A. Noll (Foreword)

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.”

Genres: Christian, Theology, Christian Living, Christianity, Nonfiction, Faith, Religion

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2010

About the author

John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, 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 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are two basic errors that Christians tend to fall into. One is the elevate thinking and the life of the mind with regards to theology to a point where it fails to connect with real life and results in theoretical Christians who are lacking in love. The other is to essentially demonize thinking and theology because “it only divides” and focus solely on love, which results in Christians who may love others but who worship a God they don’t really know. John Piper’s new book, Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God, seeks to destroy the underlying assumptions and problems behind both of these errors.

Piper begins the introduction with these words: “This book is a plea to embrace serious thinking as a means of loving God and people.” Ultimately, as Piper points out numerous times throughout the book, if thinking hard about God and the bible doesn’t translate into love for him and the people around you, it’s pointless. Thinking is a means, not an end. It’s how we come to know God for who he has really revealed himself to be. In response, our love for him grows and spills over into love for people as well. As someone who can get very academic in my theological pursuits sometimes, I was encouraged to step back and examine my motives. This is a good thing for any Christian to do from time to time.

The structure of the book is very helpful. Piper begins by clarifying the aims of the book, as well as what he means by thinking (mostly, he means reading, and, more specifically, the bible). He then details the role of thinking in coming to faith. From a view of election, he details the futile nature of our thinking apart from the new birth which God initiates in us. Piper treads carefully as he notes our role in thinking with regards faith and God’s role in granting that faith. This all spills over into the next chapter on what it means to love God with your mind.

Piper also takes on two ways of thinking that are dangerous to the pursuit of truth through thinking, relativism and anti-intellectualism. I found Piper’s comments on relativism very powerful and virtually devastating to that way of thinking. He says:

Relativism enables pride to put on humble clothes and parade through the street. But don’t be mistaken. Relativism chooses every turn, every pace, every street, according to its own autonomous preferences, and submits to no truth. We will serve our generation well by exposing the prideful flesh under these humble clothes.

Ultimately where Piper comes down is that any way of thinking that does not submit to God’s truth and acts as though we can’t know God’s truth in the bible and creation is centered on pride, whether it is conscious or not. God has determined what is true, and any way of thinking that distorts this places us in the place of God. A humble approach to thinking that seeks to understand God’s Word and submit to that truth inevitably leads to a greater love for God and others. I would highly recommend this book for all Christians, both thinkers and those who aren’t naturally built that way, as a means to understanding the role of our minds in our faith.

[Tom Sussex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although making excellent points, this was not quite the book I thought it was going to be, namely one that helped Christians to change the way they think. This was, in fact, a book encouraging Christians to make sure that they were thinking at all! This I do agree with, and so once I realised the actual intent of the book I thought it was a good read.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wrong place wrong time?

I like John Piper and if I'd picked this one up in 2010 when I first marked it to-read, I think I'd have gotten a lot from it. I felt the tension of wondering if I could reconcile faith with learning. And this book answers that tension with practical, Biblical analysis. It just...didn't give me more beyond that.

C.S. Lewis says, "The learned life then is, for some, a duty." It is a quote that resonates with me and has driven a lot of my learning over the last decade. As I searched, I found kindred spirits exploring faith and intellect in C.S. Lewis, Dorothy L Sayers, Augustine of Hippo, and other great authors.

I mean, if you want to challenge your preconceptions about creativity and the Holy Spirit, read The Mind of the Maker!

So it wasn't that this book was bad. It reads like a sermon. And if you are looking for a sermon that touches on academics with some weird jabs at Christian professors, this will provide a decent read. But it doesn't really provide the springboard for more or the rigorous theological discussion I was hoping for.

[Alexis Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough book. It was, perhaps, less revelatory than Piper may have hoped, at least for me, but I already agreed with him about the importance of thinking (love the Lord your God with all your mind, after all) and the danger of intellectual pride and spiritually dead knowledge. I have seen in my own life the emptiness of head knowledge alone, and have also been guilty of intellectual laziness when I avoided thinking about challenging spiritual truths instead of continuing to grapple with those truths by the light of Scripture. So I agree with Piper that we love God best with heart and mind and soul and strength. Still, for those who struggle with a natural (or learned) antipathy to intellectualism, or those who place their faith in knowledge and understanding (and there are many Christians in both camps), this could well be a much-needed rebuke.

I particularly liked Piper's discussion of reading as thinking, but that's hardly surprising, since that discussion included linguistics, hermeneutics, textualism, and any number of other areas that I find inherently interesting.

All in all, a fine book, though not exactly earth shattering (for me, anyway).

[Elizabeth Cjumo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro, de tapa a tapa.

[Samuel Gonçalves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livro bom

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own a hardcopy edition. Available for free here.

Foreward (Mark Noll)
addresses the two pitfalls of anti-intellectualism and pride
careful exegesis
Noll's sequel to Scandal is coming out soon—has more about science/evolution, creeds, and Catholicism
both were literature majors in the same dorm at Wheaton
God's two books: nature, Scripture

Introduction
no either/or (head/heart)
comparison to other mind books: Noll's Scandal (historical), Guinness's Fit Bodies Fat Minds (punchy), Moreland's Love Your God with All Your Mind (philosophical), Sire's Habits of the Mind (vocational), Veith's Loving God with All Your Mind (cultural) —> Piper's book is more exegetical (biblical exposition)
thinking is a means to knowing and loving God more
map of the book

Part 1: Clarifying the Aim of the Book
Ch. 1: My Pilgrimage
some biography; Piper taught in higher education for six years; became pastor at age 34
influenced by Noll's Scandal

Ch. 2: Deep Help from a Dead Friend
connection between thinking and feeling

Part 2: Clarifying the Meaning of Thinking
Ch. 3: Reading as Thinking
narrowing the definition of thinking: knowing and understanding God
God gave us a book (clearest and most authoritative source)
Adler's How to Read a Book (Piper includes some great quotations)
thinking: using the mind to determine a text's meaning
intent; grammar

Part 3: Coming to Faith through Thinking
Ch. 4: Mental Adultery Is No Escape
Hebraic vs. Hellenistic thinking—not a great distinction (Matt. 16:1–4 shows that using "Aristotelian logic" is just fine, and that Hebrews/Jews did it)

Ch. 5: Rational Gospel, Spiritual Light
We are saved by faith, not love or any other grace, because faith is a peculiarly receiving grace, not giving/performing (Machen's What Is Faith?).

Part 4: Clarifying the Meaning of Loving God
Ch. 6: Love for God: Treasuring God with All Your Mind

Part 5: Facing the Challenge of Relativism
Ch. 7: Jesus Meets the Relativists
Matt. 21:23–27: seeds of relativism

Ch. 8: The Immorality of Relativism
moral imperative to acknowledge reality
university professors want to be understood
relativism masquerades as humility, but it's just a cloak for pride
under-stand = submit to Truth

Part 6: Facing the Challenge of Anti-Intellectualism
Ch. 9: Unhelpful Anti-Intellectual Impulses in Our History
Billy Graham on education (only $1 toward education; the rest goes to the church)
D. L. Moody claimed that he didn't have a particular theology.

Ch. 10: You Have Hidden These Things from the Wise and Understanding

Ch. 11: In the Wisdom of God, the World Did Not Know God through Wisdom
human wisdom vs. God's wisdom

Part 7: Finding a Humble Way of Knowing
Ch. 12: The Knowledge That Loves

Ch. 13: All Scholarship Is for the Love of God and Man
knowledge of God through nature (God's other book)
good basis for Bible integration / Christian scholarship
obstacle of pride
Christianity has led to schools

Part 8: Encouraging Thinkers and Non-thinkers

[Cindy Thornberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blessed me so much! As the title implies, this book is about thinking and how we use thinking as a means to glorify and enjoy God. Piper goes over both extremes of anti-intellectualism and over-intellectualism showing both their flaws and brings us to a more accurate, biblical conclusion than either of these extremes permit. I finished this book feeling very encouraged in my thinking life/habits, and very excited to explore and enjoy God further. I highly recommend this book to thinkers and non thinkers alike. All can benefit from this small book and be encouraged in their spiritual walk with Christ.

[Grace Boone · Rating 5 out of 5]

How have I not known or heard about this book until now?? How does no one I know know about this book?? I love when a book doesn't just assume I'm too smart for it and takes careful diligence to define terms that might seem blatant to most (I need lots of context!), while still stimulating my brain. Piper assiduously walks through lots of the big name pillars of fundamental thought that are pervading our culture (this was published in 2010, there's truly nothing new under the sun). If you ever start to feel like your mind is puffing up into some wise guy balloon from accumulating knowledge, Piper kindly deflates it. What he doesn't do is take a pin and pop it, implying that learning and thinking deeply is all wrong or selfish. The book fights for an entirely different approach to thinking and learning that isn't self seeking or ego inflating. It's about God! It's never about me me me and proving something to the universe. Humbling and cautionary, yet invigorating and actionable.

I highly commend this book and the propositions expounded upon - believers and nonbelievers alike should devour this book for the sake of learning to the glory of God, with the prayer that those who are not saved would be awed by the magnificence of God.

[Ryan Trzeciak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piper bases this book on two passages of scripture, 2 Tim 2:7, and Prov 2:3-6, both of which call Christians to think and pursue knowledge rightly, for in that pursuit God will give understanding. Piper argues against both anti intellectualism and super intellectualism, the thought that knowledge is bad or that knowledge is all important, to say that as we know and think rightly we will understand and love God fully. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God and our neighbor, and that an aspect of that love is to love with all our mind. Thus, one of Piper’s main points is that right thinking fuels the fire of godly affections. Knowledge for its own sake put up with pride, but true thinking is to lead us to a humble appreciation of God’s grace. May we seek to know and think rightly (i.e. biblically) so that we may love God and others as we ought.

[Josh Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Piper provides THE resource for how Christians should be deep, devoted thinkers. Piper helpfully proves why the church benefits more when the people are good thinkers, and spurs the reader on to more faithful uses of our thinking faculties. In my opinion, this is my new giveaway for anyone pursuing academia or a life of learning.

The ending, with the application for those who like to think and those who do not like to think, is worth the whole book. It’s an incredibly helpful application that should help anyone in a church have a clear and helpful takeaway.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is the first John Piper book I’ve read, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was impressed with this short volume. I come from a family of Christian academics, so there was nothing very earth shattering about the notion that loving God requires loving Him with our minds, nor that reason and faith can—and should—be friends. But Piper does a good and balanced job of encouraging “thinkers” to follow their intellectual pursuits with humility and charity, while encouraging “non-thinkers” to engage a life of the mind built on gratitude for the Christian thinkers who have, through the centuries, explained and clarified the faith and the created world for our benefit.

On the whole, this is a good and pastoral corrective to the knowledge that, without love, puffs up, as well as to the unthinking, anti-intellectual impulses that leave God’s people as “children in understanding.”

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the importance of the life of the intellect for Christians.
A couple of my favorite quotes:

"If all the universe and everything in it exist by the design of an infinite, personal God, to make his manifold glory known and loved, then to treat any subject without reference to God's glory is not scholarship but insurrection."

"God did not give us minds as ends in themselves. The mind provides the kindling for the fires of the heart. Theology serves doxology. Reflection serves affection. Contemplation serves exultation. Together they glorify Christ to the full."

[Ned · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I like it

Piper gives a good defense of the importance of careful thought for Christians as well as a debunking of Christian anti-intellectualism. He points out that thoughts and affections are not juxtaposed in scripture, but work together in the mature heart. Both are necessary.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro, normalmente me demoro leyendo los libros de Piper pero este me lo devoré.
Pensar para amar.

Segunda lectura: Está vez lo leí detenidamente y creo que es una obra muy bien pensada y desarrollada. Piper nos anima a pensar seriamente con todo lo que eso significa. Y vaya que lo necesitamos los cristianos.

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Makes his point that Christians are called to engage emotions and logic and that we too often use faith as an excuse not to concentrate. Does seem repetitive in places, like a bulked-up sermon series.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Piper is a deep thinker and is mainly replying to anti-thinkers (he uses the term anti intellectual, but that’s really a technical term used too loosely). He argues for deep thinking, and against shallowness in the church (common in some circles). It’s kind of polemic and tries to balance between dead intellectualism and anti-thinkers on the other hand.

I have a particular perspective that, I’ll admit, colored my perception of the book. My perspective is basically that I went to seminary, saw incredibly smart people who claimed Jesus’ as their guide but did not have the slightest bit of his humility (the God man was interestingly enough - HUMBLE). All that to say when Piper is arguing for deeper thinking in the church, I just want the “yes, but” to be more like “yes, BUT!”

Piper does a really good job of explaining and arguing for the place of the mind and even deep thinking in the church and every day life. Mission accomplished there. But in the circles he runs in the danger is in the complete opposite direction: thinking is too often the idol beneath the veneer of Christianity.

Ultimately, I agree we need deep thinking. It isn’t the panacea for the problems in the church, however, just look at the evangelical seminaries for proof. We need words not in word alone but also in power. That’s why John Bunyan and not John Owen is the bestselling evangelical writer of all time. Owen would’ve agreed.

[Nathan Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Theology serves orthodoxy. Reflection serves affection. Contemplation serves exultation. Together they glorify Christ to the full.”

The Spirit has most definitely spoken through John Piper and has elucidated so many misconceptions around anti-intellectualism in the evangelical church. Knowing and loving God do not have to be mutually exclusive, but rather a means (knowing) to an end (loving). As someone who has struggled to bridge the gap between the two, John Piper has so eloquently, through Scripture, encouraged me to use my desire to think to reshape the lens through which I view that thinking — as ultimately a way to treasure the Lord.

[Brennan Penner · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I am working on a sermon series about the dwelling of our minds, thinking and how it can/should glorify God, I hoped this book would aid me in the process. It didn’t fully hit the mark. Piper addressing scholarly thinking and how it can and should be used to glorify God. If I was looking for a book related to this subject, I could give it 4 stars. I do appreciate Piper’s biblical citing.

[Maja Reads]

“I am pleading that in all your thinking you seek to see and savor the Treasure. If thinking has the reputation of being only emotionless logic, all will be in vain. God did not give us minds as ends in themselves. The mind provides the kindling for the fires of the heart. Theology serves doxology. Reflection serves affection. Contemplation serves exultation. Together they glorify Christ to the full.”

cool and timely reminder 🔥

[Emily Waits (emilylovesreading_) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially enjoyed the chapters on relativism. 👏🏽

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, basic, helpful defense against relativism from the Christian perspective.

[Kaylee Kulus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought-provoking book. Filled with gospel truth!

[Eric Durso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Piper's books are always a refreshing read when scattered throughout other writers with varying styles. I love that he references almost everything; I love that you can be confident he's done his research, and I love that he has a clear passion for the Bible and what it has to say about anything and everything.

That being said, this book was a great Piper read. He tackles alot about the processes of thinking and feeling and their connections to our individual relationships with God. His focus is on Godly thinking as a means of loving God more. He says, "Loving Him with all of our mind means that our thinking is wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express this heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all things" (Kindle location 1186). Piper emphasizes the gospel and how truly understanding the gospel is the same as accepting it because of Holy Spirits work in illuminating the Truth.

His emphasis on humbly dwelling on the "compelling beauty" of God is a great encouragement and challenge for the individual who is mostly wrapped up in thinking about God in a systematic and analytical way. On the other hand, his emphasis on the importance of rational and logical use of the mind is a poignant and directive message to people so caught up in beauty, passion, and feeling that they're missing some huge things in their relationships with God.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about using (in Piper's words) both thinking and feeling, both meditation and experience, both belief and passion in relationship with God as means to know Him and love Him more.

p.s. John Piper has some great responses to the Relativistic bent of our society and my generation!

Some favorite quotes:

"Some joys are only possible on the other side of sorrow" (location 317).

"Our self-centered hearts distort our reason to the point where we cannot use it to draw true inferences from what is really there. If our disapproval of God's existence is strong enough, our sensory faculties and our rational faculties will not be able to infer that He is there" (location 822).
-A great, great summary of the blindness that we experience before illumination from the Spirit of God allows us to see.

"The corruption of our hearts is the deepest root of our irrationality" (location 828).

and the answer...

"Because our hearts now see Christ as infinitely valuable, our resistance to the truth is overcome. Our thinking is no longer the slave of deceitful desires, because our desires are changed. Christ is the supreme treasure. So our thinking is made docile to the truth of the gospel. We don't use our thinking to distort the gospel anymore. We don't call it foolish. We call it wisdom and power and glory [I Cor. 1:@3-24]" (location 1009).

"The phrase 'compellingly beautiful' stresses two things that I am arguing for. One is that loving God is not a mere decision. You cannot merely decide to love classical music-or country western music-much less God. The music must become compelling. Something must change inside of you. That change makes possible the awakening of a compelling sense of its attractiveness. So it is with God. You do not merely decide to love him. Something changes inside of you, and as a result he becomes compellingly attractive. His glory-his beauty-compels your admiration and delight. He becomes your supreme treasure. You love him"
-Wow, this is an amazing quote. Such a good way of understanding so much about loving God and why so many people don't love Him. It's both convicting to my own heart and illuminative of others'.

Piper quotes J Gresham Machen from "What Is Faith?" about relativism and it's mindset.
"This temper of the mind is hostile to precise definitions. Indeed nothing makes a man more unpopular in the controversies of the present day than an insistence upon definition of terms...Men discourse very eloquently today upon such subjects as God, religion, Christianity, atonement, redemption, faith; but are greatly incensed when they are asked to tell in simple language what the mean by these terms" (kindle location 1456).

[Tim Ingrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

The argument of the book

In this book, Piper argues for the essential role of thinking in the Christian life: “all thinking…is for the sake of knowing God, loving God, and showing God” (175). All throughout, he contends for a “both-and” approach, both to human effort and God’s gracious illumination (64), and the necessity of thinking and feeling (36).

The first six chapters build his argument positively toward the climactic explanation of what it means to “love the Lord your God…with all [our] mind” (Matt 22:37): “our thinking should be wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express the heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all things” (83). That is, faithful thinking should feed affections for God above all things.

After this he goes on defense, fending off three challenges to faithful thinking for the sake of knowing and loving God: relativism (chs. 7–8), Christian anti-intellectualism (chs. 9–11), and pride in knowledge (ch. 12). Since most of his argument throughout the book deals with understanding the Bible, he expands his focus in ch. 13 to include all study and scholarship under the same banner—we learn about the world to know and love and glorify God.

Evaluation

Piper uses 2 Timothy 2:7 to argue for the “both-and” of effort and illumination—a conclusion both clearly substantiated and very helpful. However, his defense of the “both-and” of thinking and feeling on the basis of Jonathan Edwards’ view of the Trinity (34–36) is more problematic. He offers no defense of this Trinitarian model beyond Edwards asserting it to be so, and yet hangs on it the whole argument, including the key statement that “the mind is mainly the servant of the heart.” This may be so, but Piper got there by biting off a complex line of argumentation that he did not seem to have sufficient space to see through. Taking up this issue again in ch. 6 with reference to the Greatest Commandment, he argues the same point more biblically and convincingly.

Throughout the book, Piper effectively models the sort of careful thinking he champions. He makes careful distinctions, such as calling the Pharisees’ thinking the “seeds of relativism” rather than full-blown modern relativism (99). Similarly, he critiques anti-intellectualists with remarkable sympathy toward their concerns about the dangers of godless learning (122). Also, his exegesis of Scripture (e.g., chs. 10–11) is very carefully reasoned, driven by the close observation and active questioning he commends in chapter 3.

Application

Helpful ministerial applications can be drawn from the book. In chapter 5, Piper shows that faith is a supernaturally-given response to seeing the glory of Christ in the facts about Christ. This is a helpful reminder for preaching: the goal is not only to portray what the truth of the text is, but equally importantly, that the truth is beautiful and compelling. Facts and glory go hand-in-hand.

Similarly, Piper includes an intriguing discussion on why faith, in particular, is God’s choice means for receiving salvation (69–71): it is best suited to the all-sufficiency of Christ given in the gospel. In evangelism, it is always helpful to strive to give people a cohesive picture. The work of Christ calls for the response of faith, not arbitrarily but precisely because of the nature and end of salvation.

The discussion on pride in knowledge sounds a sobering warning to the student: “thinking is both dangerous and indispensable” (164). Piper points out that learning is getting, so it can incline one toward pride, while love is giving, so it inclines one toward humility (158–9). Perhaps this could be refined, because both giving and getting can be distorted into the basis of pride. What really makes the difference is the source of knowledge: believers only know God because of his gracious choice in election (161). Keeping a steady eye on election can inoculate scholars against the loveless knowledge that puffs up, by asking, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor 4:7).

[Nathan Pullman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that helps the reader to understand having a good balance between thinking logically and leaning in to the Holy Spirit. It goes into the issues that come up with leaning too far to one side and describes the necessity for meeting somewhere in the middle.

[Rachel Rosenthal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I go back and forth about Pastor John/Dr. Piper (which of the two I choose will color the way I listen to him so I try to pick both). Especially when it comes to the (in my opinion) needlessly ubiquitous discussion/debate about gender roles and subjugating women with regard to leadership in the church. And something about the rigid Calvinist bent to which he vocally subscribes just flat rubs me the wrong way. HOWEVER. However...

I've observed and I believe that the majority of "Christian literature" (such a broad term) on the life of the mind is mostly written in the interest of the quality of life of the reader. Topics such as how to avoid chronically negative thinking, how to identify and fix patterns of thinking that are inconsistent with the truth about who God is, who He says that we are, and our relationship to Him--these are important and good! We need to address these problems in a biblical way! But at the end of the day, it seems like those topics end with US--what will improve our life, feelings, relationships (even our relationship with God), etc. The mind is such a complex enterprise and the brain such a devastatingly beautiful thing in design and power; it seems that there must be more meant for the purpose of such an elegant and sophistocated process than ideas which are well-intentioned but at their core are focused more on us and less on God than they should be.

Among many well-exposited points, Pastor/Dr. discusses the process of thinking as a faculty meant to ascribe glory to God (isn't this what everything is for?), and so (as I read it) asserts that we think best when we think about the wonder and majesty of God Himself. This makes so much sense that it's thrilling (I love when things make sense!) and embarrassing all at the same time. Let's see here: I spend a good portion of my headspace thinking about people I care about. Family members, friends, and let's not forget that one gentleman that has had my attention at any given moment since I was 13. But how much of that time is spent in fascination of Jesus Himself? Not enough! For a kid who grew up in church, it seems like the more lofty thing is to think deeply (no pun intended) about profound theology or doctrine instead of the God-man Himself. If I spent half as much time thinking about Him as I do everyone else...(wondrous...I don't even know how best to finish that thought). Barriers to good thinking are also discussed in the book, such as the cultural problem of relativism, and the dangers of anti-intellectualism in some areas of the church. But the primary takeaway for me has been to examine the content of my thoughts, and not just in the way of avoiding sinful thinking. This is less of a "what should I NOT be thinking about?" (for this is the life of the "good Christian") and much more of a "what should I be thinking MORE about?" issue. And for me, it's the person of Jesus Himself.

And, when I really think about it, wouldn't that do SO MUCH to solve the issues that the other books on thinking are looking to address? One stone for an infinite number of birds.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although not my favorite book by author, pastor, and theologian, John Piper, I think Piper, in the book, "Think", addressed some critical issues within the culture and especially within the Evangelical world. Often feelings and thinking are pitted against each other as if the Christian life is either all thinking with no feelings, or, given the other extreme, the Christian life is all "feelings" with no thinking. One ends up with either dead orthodoxy or emotional frenzy, depending upon which extreme one takes. Sadly, deep thinking has taken a hit within the church in recent decades. "Knowledge puffs up" became the banner cry of many as they attempted to put down knowledge and promote an agenda that was feeling driven with an "all we need is love" mindset. Sadly, that mentality has more in common with a Beatles' song than it does a sound understanding of God's Word. In the pages of the book, Piper explains the meaning of "Thinking" and how critical thinking is to salvation and to living a life of faith. In fact, Piper spends one chapter explaining how we love God by treasuring God with all of our mind. One of my favorite sections was where Piper addresses the issue of Relativism, given that relativism has saturated the mindset of our culture and sadly, the church in some cases. After this section, Piper gives attention to the Anti-Intellectualism that has seeped into the church and shows how it isn't godly to be opposed to intellectualism. Piper challenges the reader to think and to think deeply about the person and character of God and His wonders. He challenges the reader who is opposed to deep thought to change and to, not only think, but to think deeply about the glories of the Creator and the salvation He has provided. Last, Piper ends his book with a final plea, which I think should be at, both the start and the finish. The plea is in two parts. One is to those who are all about knowledge at the expense of feelings. The other part is a plea to those who have neglected knowledge and have bought into the idea that they are the more spiritual because they simply love and have feelings. I suspect that the book won't be widely read because it tends to be more philosophical in essence, but it should be read since it will stimulate the reader to THINK!

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

My full review review is available at Blogging Theologically:

R. C. Sproul once lamented that, “we live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization.” Strong words, to be sure. But there’s something to them, isn’t there?

Consider, for a moment, how we determine our agreement with ideas and experiences. More often than not, it’s based on what we feel. If it feels good, we do it; and if it feels good, it must obviously be good for us, right?

This comes into play in how we develop (or don’t as the case may be) our doctrine as well; we chafe at the hard truths of the Christian faith—the exclusivity of Christ, the atonement, the authority of Scripture, and countless others—because they don’t feel good. So we don’t wrestle. We don’t engage. We don’t search the Scriptures.

We don’t think deeply.

And because we don’t think deeply, we rob ourselves of a deeper love for God.

In his latest book, Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God, John Piper seeks to help readers understand how the heart and mind glorify God together and that “thinking is indispensible on the path to passion for God” (p. 27)...