John Piper is a gateway drug. Maybe less so in recent years, but when I was in college, he was many people’s first introduction to heavy theological lifting. One of my more formative experiences was reading both Desiring God and The Pleasures of God.
But, one does not merely read John Piper books. Rather, one gets introduced to people like Jonathan Edwards and John Owen and then you go read their books (or at least some of them). And over time, you start to maybe find Piper’s work predictable and less life-changing as those first few books were.
Perhaps because of that, I haven’t kept up much with Piper’s books until just recently. Over the past couple of years, he has released a trilogy of sorts. The first, A Peculiar Glory is theology of Scripture. It is his defense of inerrancy, inspiration, and other facets of a traditional doctrine of Scripture. It is very accessible, covering the same ground as other more academic treatments in a mode readable Piper style.
The second, Reading the Bible Supernaturally is more or less what the title sounds like. The first volume answers “what is the Bible and how should I think about it?” This volume answers “how do I actually read and make the most of my Bible?” Piper does an excellent job of giving you a theology of reading the Bible and the supernatural elements that are involved. But, he also gets down to brass tacks of how to read it well at what one could call the natural level. In this way he covers both the posture and the procedure of reading the Bible well.
The third and most recent volume, Expository Exultation is Piper’s theology of preaching. But, as you can probably see, this is in continuity with the other two. If the Bible is where one sees and savors Christ (to use Piper terms), then one should not only know how to go about reading it well, one should exult in the beauty of Christ either by preaching or sitting under the word preached. In this way, Piper gives a kind of theology of preaching that has animated his ministry all these years.
I would hope that these books might be a kind of gateway drug for the next generation of pastors, teachers, and ministry leaders. We need more people who share a passion with Piper about making much of Christ. That is done by spending time in the word and there seeing Christ’s glory. It takes patience and attention to really do that, and discipline to do it regularly. Piper’s ministry has flourished because of his commitment to making Christ known through the Word of God. I am hopeful that this next generation will pick up that mantle and do more of the same.