Book Review: “A Godward Heart”

In the introduction of this book, John Piper writes of the importance of short writings; specifically, of paragraphs. This little volume, then, gives the reader a collection of 50 such writings from Piper.

Depending on the reader, you may find it either helpful or confusing that these 50 essays are not on any one particular topic. Piper simply wrote about various topics and collected them into this little book. Personally, I liked that, but you may find it confusing.

Each of the 50 essays can be read in about 5 minutes (some in much less time), but all are well-organized. That is not to say that you will agree with everything in them. Piper, who is clearly Calvinistic, writes several of the essays from that viewpoint, even promoting it in at least one essay. His Calvinism gets in the way of what I think is a great series of essays.

The best essays, in my judgments, were those that dealt with social ills like racial injustice. Piper is strongly committed to fighting racism, and his words in the few essays that speak to that problem are powerful.

Preachers will find some decent outlines in the book, as several essays are “6 reasons why…” or “5 things about…” type writings. Overall, this is a decent book, but the false teaching mars the excellent work of so many other essays.

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DISCLAIMER: I was given a free copy of A Godward Heart from Blogging for Books by Multanomah. I was not required to give a positive review for the book.