Pleasures of God: Meditations on God's Delight in Being God (Revised Edition)

In Desiring God, John Piper introduced us to the idea that the pursuit of God’s glory and the pursuit of our joy are not at odds, for the pursuit of God’s glory is our joy. In The Pleasures of God, Piper helps us to see that God’s glory is revealed in great part in what makes Him happy. The Pleasures of God is an invitation to meditate on what makes God happy. If what makes God happy reveals His glory, and if we become like Him as we behold His glory (2 Corinthians 3:18), then meditating on the pleasures of God will be a means for increased joy in God and gradual conformity into His likeness. If that is your desire, then take up this new edition and read it over and over again.

"I have found The Pleasures of God to be a challenging and thought-provoking text that I regularly require for seminary students in an advanced theology class on the doctrine of God. It contains profound doctrinal reflection coupled with lively writing and penetrating application to the human heart. I recommend it highly!"

"The Pleasures of God was a thought-gripping challenge to godliness when it was first published. Now reworked slightly, expanded carefully, and sharpened in its use of the Scriptures, it is an even stronger book. Its message "that the joy of life begins when we begin with God" is perennial, the intense piety of its high Calvinism a tonic."

"The Pleasures of God is one of the best books on the doctrine of God I have read. It is not dry theology as the word "doctrine" often infers, but a heart-warming, mind-challenging, God-glorifying study of what gives God pleasure. Any seminary or college that wants to produce God-centered graduates should include this book somewhere in its curriculum."

"The Pleasures of God brings refreshment to the soul of Christians. Though we usually understand pleasure in terms of our personal lives, John Piper shows us the source, goal, and end of all pleasures. He shines the spotlight on God's pleasure in His own "being" and God's pleasure in the Christian's response to Him. This is the source of all pleasure."

"Theologians today are more favorable than formerly to the idea that God has feelings. But what does it actually feel like to be God? Many writers today stray far from Scripture when they take up such questions, but John Piper stays close to the text, thus presenting a cogent and profound analysis. I'm pleased to recommend it for college and seminary classes on the doctrine of God, and for everybody's meditation."

In our fallen world, staring at the sun blinds us. But, by God’s grace, contemplating God gives us spiritual sight. Of all of Pastor John’s books, this is the most radical. Get this vision of God, and begin to see.

The Pleasures of God is perhaps the most important book that John Piper has written. It is certainly the freshest and most penetrating. Many preachers and writers are calling Christians today to be more Godcentered. The irony is that even the call to be God-centered focuses attention on us, on what we must do. Certainly the Bible spends no small part of its pages telling us what we must do, but it does so out of profound God-centeredness. And here is a book that does not tell us what we must do to be God-centered; it simply is God-centered. Intoxicating.