A Peculiar Glory-John Piper

John Piper's A Peculiar Glory is one of the more advanced plunges into Scripture that I have ever read. At the forefront of topics examined is how the Holy Bible is self-authenticating in truth. He cites Pascal's Wager, Paul's testimony, haphazard application of Christian principles, and how the Holy Trinity (The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) all work in tandem to glorify God.

Pascal's Wager is a simplified theory that presents conversion to Christianity in the form of a gamble. Basically, you have much more to win by delivering your life into the hands of Christ and professing him to be your savior and King, than you stand to lose by rejecting Jesus and going about life in solipsism. In the next life, if you're right, you spend eternity in Heaven, if you're wrong, it's burning coals forever.

Easy Peezy Japaneezy.

But not really.

Piper refutes this wager as nothing more than an insult to God, implying that Our Father demands (and deserves) more than some first-prize entry into paradise resulting from a coin flip. Faith is more than mathematics and requires the ingredients of genuine passion and conviction, not attrition.

A reduction of odds for self-preservation is not what God desires of his children, but a genuine connection through Scripture which begets Internal testimony which begets devotion through becoming the hands of Christ, all of which point to Scripture as being the self-authenticating word of God, which, with an emphatic declaration after A Peculiar Glory, Piper says is the final word to govern us across the globe.

***

This book is one that I have been reading in component with daily scripture over the better half of four months and one that I was admittedly very streaky with.

Originally, I had purchased this book at a library sale with the sole intention of flipping it online for a profit. What caught my attention was, while flipping through the pages, a section written about the authentication of Paul as an apostle. The reason is that—while I've never had any doubts about this being a fact of the Christian life—a cousin of mine who is far more educated in Scripture than I am, labels Paul as the "false apostle", simply from the fact that he wasn't among the originally selected sect that had been with Jesus throughout all four gospels. And that part is true, Paul is never mentioned once in either Luke, John, Matthew, or Mark. But does that necessarily cancel out his contributions to the New Testament as null and void? My cousin believes it does, and considers Paul as nothing more than a glorified convert with a severe case of Jesus fever, as opposed to an authority figure of the gospel.

Personally, I see this as a residual case of Biblical overdose, which can induce a state of paralytic analyses and conjure up false conclusions.

You see the same thing happen in many different cases, especially within the current political prism we are in. I.e. ardent Democrats see white supremacists in their soup and Republicans think that Zog has implemented listening devices virtually everywhere.

In a more personal correlation, I found it happen to myself when performing the sixth edit of my novel and would over-correct sentences that, at one point, flowed with harmonic fluidity. And I think the same thing happened with him as well.

In an even better argument, Piper cites Paul's stunning conversion—from that of persecuting Christian hunter into joining the ranks of Jesus' elite—as one of the grandest testimonies that the Bible is indeed the true word of God. The ultimate, infallible medium. To bring this full circle, Piper shows how once the word is read, and, through the gift of receptive sight, via the Holy Spirit, true saints are changed, or, turn a new leaf, and wish only to honor the Father through their acts, drastically absconding from a previous life ruled both by the flesh and acclaim from fellow men.

To build upon this notion, Piper also cites how Jesus' brothers did not even believe in Him as the Son of God, despite witnessing his miracles firsthand. The miracles performed by Christ, as amazing as they are, are not to be misconstrued as substitutes for salvation (I.e. once I saw, only then did I believe). But serve as building blocks to the foundation of a kingdom that glorifies the Father, apexed in the appearance of Christ himself, who demonstrates this by combining meekness with majesty.

For instance, His brothers wanted him to go directly into Jerusalem and perform miracles for the crowd and persuade the masses. But Jesus did not come for the acclaim of man, but to serve the purpose of the Father, and instead traveled to Jerusalem on his own watch and through a detoured path guided by the Father, one paved in intimacy.

Piper also delves deep into the notion of "Internal Testimony". Or, as I can best explain to unbelievers, faith cemented through intuition. My faith in God through Jesus Christ, while dormant at times, feels intrinsically embedded within me. It is a feeling unfit for even the richest of lexicons. But is a feeling, of which I know, to be real. And that is the best way I can describe it.

***

I know this review is very scattered, but that only lends to the testimony of how deep Piper dives into the substance of Christian-based Polytheism. It was not an easy read and requires dedicated attention if you are willing to take the time to read it and walk away with a healthy digestion of what he posits. I would never not recommend a book based upon Christian study for those who seek to have a relationship with Christ, but unless you are familiar with Scripture and the vast amount of holy characters and how they fit into God's story, then I would highly recommend starting there first [The Nelson Study Bible is probably the supreme stepping stone at the beginning of a path to Jesus, imo], rather than diving into a complex work such as this.

Great book, and I loved the message, but very demanding of the reader. It reminded me a lot of C.S. Lewis' The Case For Christianity, and, as ludicrous as it may sound, only based upon how demanding the interpretive semantics were, it also read a bit in the style of Atheism: The Case Against God by George H. Smith.

Despite the difficulty, it was well worth the read.

Grade: B+

Verdict: Read