Welcome back to a new week on the Aspastor John podcast, a long time pastor and author John

Piper. Well, Pastor John, a listener named Lindsay from Memphis would like to call you to

the witness stand. She asks this, their pastor John, thank you for taking my question.

I'm really curious. Do you think John Calvin would have considered himself to be a Christian

hedonist as you define it? Oh, I would like to think he would. As I define it means I get to

spend an afternoon with him, right? I get to talk to him and we sit over the Bible for three or

four hours and you know, I don't even, I haven't had time to do the research to know what the word

hedonist meant in the 1500s. And so I might have a stumbling block there. I might not. I don't

know, but if, if I said to him, now, Mr. Calvin, there are people who want to know if you agree

with my view and here's my view. I think that it is right to pursue happiness, to pursue joy,

to pursue pleasure in Christ, in God, because I think it helps us honor God and I think it helps us

love people. You agree with that? I think he would pause and he would say, well, I can think of

some verses that go in that direction. Then he might ask me some questions about what I think about

suffering and what I think about sacrifice and persecution and self denial and I'd give you all

my standard biblical answers to that. And my own conviction is I think he, I think he would say,

yes, I don't, I don't know if I like your name, but that's surely what I believe. And so I did have

the time to look up some places where he says something that gives me hope that he might agree. And

so let me give you a couple of those. He says, we must therefore constantly call to our minds

this truth that it can never be well with us except in so far as God is gracious to us so that

the joy we derive from his paternal favor towards us may surpass all the pleasures of the world.

In another place, he says, we have all a natural desire to pursue happiness. And the consequence is

that false imaginations carry us away in every direction. But if we were honestly and firmly convinced

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