Piper, Keller, Wright and Who Else On Chief End of Man?

[Stope]

I see that Piper and Keller and N.T. Wright really seem to focus on the concept of enjoying God. And that is the chief end of man to Glorify and enjoy him forever. I see a similar posture from Spurgeon... When all is said and done they all acknowledge a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, but it seems they almost seem to really have the crux of the Gospel to be presented in a sense where its really fulfillment, and joy, and the like (this actually resonates with me), but I wonder is it a "new" thing? That is, I know Piper says that Augustine maintains the same notion of its all about enjoying God... So here is my question"

1. Is this sound?
2. What other Christians prior to our modern day, if any, were speaking/teaching/evangelizing like this?

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

I edited the thread title to something more descriptive, per the Rules:

Spoiler

2. Post Your Subject with a Descriptive Title

Same reason as #1 above. We now have over 5000 members, with over 1,000,000 posts in many thousands of topics. If someone has a question about a topic, it makes it much easier to use the Board as research if it is properly titled. Avoid titles like "Did you see this?," "what do you think of that?," "Baptism," "God," "the PCA" etc. It is much better to say "News of car bomb in Iraq," "The 2004 Auburn Avenue Conference," "Baptism and the Covenant of Grace in Witsius" or "The Marriage Overture passed at the 2004 PCA General Assembly"

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[Jack K]

My first thought is that it's similar to John Owen at the start of his Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ. Owen begins by arguing that Christ wants his disciples to see his glory so that this "might fill them with blessed satisfaction for evermore" (Ch. 1). This joy, found only in Christ himself, is foundational to the gospel.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I guess I don't understand the question seeing that it is answer to WSC 1 and WLC 1, it is certainly not a modern notion that the purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. The Puritans wrote much about holy affections. The aim of sanctification is to be transformed such that our affections for the things of God increase. The question might be better put as to whether the theologians you cite are representative of the Reformed/Puritan notions.

 

[Gforce9]

I think Rich hit on something here: ie. is Piper's (for example) definition on glorify/enjoy the same as the Puritan's? I think Dr. Piper's continuationist theology would drive his answer in a slightly different direction than a Westminster divine's.....I would like to see this fleshed out more, too.....

 

[Jake]

I recommend reading the first chapter of Desiring God by Piper. He identifies his premise of his book (which is reflected overall in his theology) as originated from WSC Q/A 1, with a slight modification in that he would say "The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever." He interacts with the historical context and doesn't pretend to be pulling it out of thin air. Piper also pulls quite heavily from Jonathan Edwards in his theology in this regard. I feel like this is best represented in God's Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards by John Piper (with large sections from Edwards).

 

[RamistThomist]

Augustine said things are to be used but God is to be enjoyed (uti...frui).

 

[Romans922]

It would've been helpful to see the OP post the actual wordings Keller, Piper, etc use in similarity to WSC 1/WLC 1.

WSC 1 - The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Piper - The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.

Keller - God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were created by God should live to his glory....We glorify God by enjoying him, loving him, trusting him, and by obeying his will, commands, and law.

Wright - Who cares, he's a false teacher and I can't find what he says.

 

[Stope]

The question might be better put as to whether the theologians you cite are representative of the Reformed/Puritan notions.

Sorry guys for the confusion... First let me say thanks for all of your feedback! So, yea you guys answered my questions greatly by notating the Augustine quote, the fact that Edwards too championed this thought, and the Puritans to boot... I guess the follow up question would be: are there any fathers or pre reformation folks wrote like this? If so, can someone share or direct me to the work or section/s?

 

[RamistThomist]

Sorry guys for the confusion... First let me say thanks for all of your feedback! So, yea you guys answered my questions greatly by notating the Augustine quote, the fact that Edwards too championed this thought, and the Puritans to boot... I guess the follow up question would be: are there any fathers or pre reformation folks wrote like this? If so, can someone share or direct me to the work or section/s?

Augustine, On Christian Doctrine (see his dialectic of uti and frui). We use things/people; we love God.

 

[Stope]

Augustine, On Christian Doctrine (see his dialectic of uti and frui). We use things/people; we love God.

Brilliant will look now! Thanks!

 

[Justified]

The ultimate end of man is to glorify God, whereas the subordinate end is his blessedness in God. Piper et al. are right insofar as they recognize that these are not two mutually exclusive ends; the former, because of man's constitution in God's image, leads to the latter. Piper et al. err insofar as they conflate the ultimate end of man with the subordinate end; the enjoyment of God is a consequence of glorifying him, not the same thing, pace Piper.

 

[jwithnell]

The Puritans wrote much about holy affections. The aim of sanctification is to be transformed such that our affections for the things of God increase.

 

[RAR]

I see that Piper and Keller and N.T. Wright really seem to focus on the concept of enjoying God. And that is the chief end of man to Glorify and enjoy him forever. I see a similar posture from Spurgeon... When all is said and done they all acknowledge a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, but it seems they almost seem to really have the crux of the Gospel to be presented in a sense where its really fulfillment, and joy, and the like (this actually resonates with me), but I wonder is it a "new" thing? That is, I know Piper says that Augustine maintains the same notion of its all about enjoying God... So here is my question"

1. Is this sound?
2. What other Christians prior to our modern day, if any, were speaking/teaching/evangelizing like this?

You might find this article by Peter Masters very helpful

Regards,

https://www.the-highway.com/christian-hedonism_Masters.html