Reading the Bible Supernaturally – John Piper (2017)

John Piper, Reading the Bible Supernaturally Wheaton: Crossway, 2017, 430 pp. $25.51

The day I completed John Piper’s newest book, Reading the Bible Supernaturally, I was alerted to a shocking and sobering statistic, namely, only forty-five percent of those who regularly attend church read the Bible more than once a week. Such a statistic should prompt Christians to radically shift their priorities and make Bible reading a normal part of their lives. If less than half of Christian people are reading the Bible on a regular basis, we are not only short-circuiting our joy; we are failing to showcase the glory of God and find satisfaction in his all-sufficient grace.

Part One: The Ultimate Goal of Reading the Bible

Reading the Bible Supernaturally, by John Piper is directed at people who regularly feast on the Word of God. My assumption is that if people neglect Bible reading, they will have no interest in reading a book about the Bible. Piper offers a modest proposal in Reading the Bible Supernaturally:

Our ultimate goal in reading the Bible is that God’s infinite worth and beauty would be exalted in the everlasting, white-hot worship of the blood-bought bride of Christ from every people, language, tribe, and nation.

Six implications flow forth from this proposal:

1. that the infinite worth and beauty of God are the ultimate value and excellence of the universe;
2. that the supremely authentic and intense worship of God’s worth and beauty is the ultimate aim of all his work and word;
3. that we should always read his word in order to see this supreme worth and beauty;
4. that we should aim in all our seeing to savor his excellence above all things;
5. that we should aim to be transformed by this seeing and savoring into the likeness of his beauty,
6. so that more and more people would be drawn into the worshipping family of God until the bride of Christ – across all centuries and cultures – is complete in number and beauty.

The proposal and the six implications make up the first part of the book and help set the stage for the remaining sections.

Part Two: The Supernatural Act of Reading the Bible

In Part Two, the author argues that reading the Bible in a way that glorifies God is a supernatural act. God expects that his Word is read supernaturally a feat that Piper expounds with skill and persuasiveness.

Part Three: The Natural Act of Reading the Bible Supernaturally

Part three may surprise some readers as Piper makes a case for joining the natural efforts of Bible reading with supernatural assistance from God. The aim of the author in this section is to “encourage a deep dependence on God and the fullest use of natural powers in the supernatural act of reading the Bible.” In passage after passage, Piper demonstrates how this view matches the biblical record.

Summary

John Piper succeeds in defending his proposal. In the process, he encourages Christians to read “actively” with “aggressive attentiveness.” His plea is for readers to be rooted in a “deep understanding of the glorious calling to pursue the natural act of reading the Bible supernaturally.” Clearly, we are in the midst of a crisis if less than half of Christians are reading their Bibles on a regular basis. Something must change in the days ahead. The best place to begin is by reading the Bible supernaturally.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.