The Life of the Mind and the Love of God

Think

JOHN PIPER

wheaton, illinois

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

Copyright © 2010 by Desiring God Foundation

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Tobias’ Outerwear for Books

First printing 2010

Reprinted in Trade Paperback 2011

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from The New American Standard Bible®. Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NET are from The NET Bible® copyright © 2003 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.netbible.com. All rights reserved. Quoted by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-2318-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Piper, John, 1946–

Think: the life of the mind and the love of God / John Piper.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4335-2071-6 (hc) — ISBN 978-1-4335-2072-3 (pdf)

ISBN 978-1-4335-2073-0 (mobipocket)

ISBN 978-1-4335-2074-7 (ebk)

1. Thought and thinking—Religious aspects—Christianity. 2. Learning and scholarship—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.

BV4598.4.P56 2010

230.01—dc22

2009051489

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

To

Mark Noll and Nathan Hatch

Class of ’68

Contents

Foreword by Mark A. Noll

Introduction

Clarifying the Aim of the Book

1. My Pilgrimage

2. Deep Help from a Dead Friend

Clarifying the Meaning of Thinking

3. Reading as Thinking

Coming to Faith through Thinking

4. Mental Adultery Is No Escape

5. Rational Gospel, Spiritual Light

Clarifying the Meaning of Loving God

6. Love for God: Treasuring God with All Your Mind

Facing the Challenge of Relativism

7. Jesus Meets the Relativists

8. The Immorality of Relativism

Facing the Challenge of Anti-intellectualism

9. Unhelpful Anti-intellectual Impulses in Our History

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

11. In the Wisdom of God, the World Did Not Know God through Wisdom

Finding ...