Criticism
Some evangelical Christians object to Christian hedonism's controversial name. It has little historic commonality with philosophical hedonism, however; Piper has stated that a provocative term is "appropriate for a philosophy that has a life changing effect on its adherents." Critics charge that hedonism of any sort puts something (namely, pleasure) before God, which allegedly breaks the first of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me." In response, Piper states in Desiring God that "By Christian Hedonism, we do not mean that our happiness is the highest good."
Other evangelical Christians reject the doctrine because of a possible misinterpretation of Christian hedonism's premise. To say "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" suggests that God is somehow reliant on the satisfaction of human beings for His objective glorification. It is apparent however that this cannot be the case because this is not concerning objective glorification but rather God's glorification in the lives of individuals. Evangelical theologians since the Reformation have consistently taught that God's infinite glory is a personal attribute of God, distinct and independent of the existence of any other beings, and therefore not subject to human feelings for its definition or degree. Furthermore, to delight in Him (Psalm 37:4) is to accept with delight that which a sovereign God wills for our lives. If we willingly accept His will with enjoyment, we are aligning our hearts and minds with that which He decides is best. In Romans 9:22-23, we see that the purpose clause of his mercy is to bring glory to Himself. It follows then, that our enjoyment of His will aligns with a greater will of His to bring glory to Himself as we accept His choice for us to be His vessels of mercy.
Read more about this topic: Christian Hedonism
Famous quotes containing the word criticism:
“The critic lives at second hand. He writes about. The poem, the novel, or the play must be given to him; criticism exists by the grace of other men’s genius. By virtue of style, criticism can itself become literature. But usually this occurs only when the writer is acting as critic of his own work or as outrider to his own poetics, when the criticism of Coleridge is work in progress or that of T.S. Eliot propaganda.”
—George Steiner (b. 1929)
“Unless criticism refuses to take itself quite so seriously or at least to permit its readers not to, it will inevitably continue to reflect the finicky canons of the genteel tradition and the depressing pieties of the Culture Religion of Modernism.”
—Leslie Fiedler (b. 1917)
“A friend of mine spoke of books that are dedicated like this: “To my wife, by whose helpful criticism ...” and so on. He said the dedication should really read: “To my wife. If it had not been for her continual criticism and persistent nagging doubt as to my ability, this book would have appeared in Harper’s instead of The Hardware Age.””
—Brenda Ueland (1891–1985)