I am a Christian apologist who defends the faith against false prophets. Christian apologetics (Ancient Greek: ἀπολογία, “verbal defense, speech in defense”) is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity.
This is why people do not believe in God.
John Piper is an evangelical theologian and pastor in the Reformed Baptist tradition. He is currently the chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prior to his current assignment, Piper served as pastor for preaching and vision of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for 33 years. Piper is the founder and senior teacher of “Desiring God,” named for his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.
On September 4, 2024, during the airing of “Ask Pastor John” podcast, a woman shared her uncontrollable grief because she delayed having an induced labor only to lose her baby in the womb. Overcome with guilt, she felt directly responsible because of her misguided decision. She told the pastor that God hates her and no longer hears her prayers.
The 78-year-old pastor responded to the woman’s grief with the assurance of God’s sovereignty over life and death. He cited James 4:15: “If the Lord wills, we will live.” Piper acknowledged that this can be a difficult truth to accept in the face of loss, though he emphasized that God’s control over life provides comfort, not fear.
He continued to counsel, “It is no true comfort to believe that death is controlled by the evil of Satan or the meaninglessness of chance. What comforts us in death – ours and those we love – is that the all-wise, all-governing God has good reasons for whom He takes and whom He leaves.”
Acknowledging that we don’t understand the mysteries of God, Piper shared “God is doing a thousand things – yes, 10,000 things – you cannot see. All of them are wise. All of them work for your good if you trust Him.” He then reassured the grieving mother that her baby’s life is not over, stressing that infants who die go directly to heaven to be eternally with God. “Your baby’s life did not end. If you persevere in faith, you will be with your child in due time.”
Rev. Dr. John Piper belongs to the theological perspective that God governs with infinite wisdom and power, controlling all of life’s circumstances. That applies to the giving of life and the sustaining of life and the taking of life. God controls everything, including when we are born and when we die, according to the counsel of His will. The number of days that we will live on this earth are ordained by God and He has the power to shorten or prolong it.
God governing the world spans the time from our conception in the womb and to the time for our death. Piper once wrote, “His children don’t want to have it any other way, do we? God is always better than blind fate. God is always better than random chance. God is always better than demonic triumphs. What else would we want than for God to determine when we are born and when we die?”
This position, held by evangelical Christians, is everything in life is controlled by God, to confess otherwise would place a limit on God’s omnipotence. A moderate theology asserts God has limited influence over Creation, permitting free will. Free will is a substantial concept for comprehending misfortune and suffering, as God’s influence is now limited. There is evil because individuals live in defiance of God and the natural order of creation has been polluted. With this view one does not have to make inane excuses and reasons for God allowing adversity; unfortunately, evangelicals are unable to entertain this for it threatens their faith.
For a believer to adhere to an omnipotent and omnipresent God leads to the reasoning that if you get that cherished sought after job, God orchestrated it. It also means if you become a paraplegic in an automobile accident, God consecrated it. This means for the distraught mother others and countless others like her, God orchestrates all misery for a purposeful purpose beyond our spiritual comprehension. This analysis of God is acceptable for an evangelical tribe who ascribed God’s ultimate governance of creation.
For those outside of the evangelical circle, the willful act of God to permit sadness appears that God sanctions suffering. This guides unbelievers to a God whose attributes are perceived as unloving and uncaring; in fact, God might even be hostile and mean.
The evangelical dissertation of a God who controls every fabric of the universe misses the equation that in a hostile world, where God is present in word, in prayer, in worship in the doctrines of the church, and most significantly in Christian fellowship.
I am saddened by the pastoral counselling John Piper shared with the grieving lady; that is, God allowed her child to die for a mysterious purpose that she is unable to understand nor comprehend, yet one day, in heaven, mother and child will be reunited. Would it not have been more comforting that the death of her unborn is tragic, God could not have prevented it, and God weeps along with her.
John Piper is an icon among evangelicals who study and mimic his teachings. It is because of the John Pipers that occupy our pulpits that people don’t believe in God.