Week 2: Chapter 1 — The Happiness of God: Foundation of Christian Hedonism

1.Piper argues that the foundation of Christian Hedonism is not primarily about us — it is about God. God himself is a happy God (see 1 Timothy 1:11, "the gospel of the glory of the blessed — happy — God"). Why does it matter that God is happy? How does this change how you think about worship?

2.Piper draws on the concept of the Trinity to argue that God has been perfectly and infinitely happy within himself — Father, Son, and Spirit in eternal, self-sufficient joy — before creation ever existed. What does this mean for our understanding of why God created the world? Was it out of need or out of overflow?

3.If God is already perfectly happy in himself, why did he create us? Piper's answer is that creation is an overflow of God's joy — he made us so that his joy could be shared, not supplemented. How does this view of creation affect the way you see your own existence?