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John Piper: Christians Don’t Need Guns in Their Homes
Apart from written Scripture, Christians are never to arrive at final conclusions regarding instruction on life and godliness by the examples of men, ever, not even from missionaries or popular preachers.
The written Word of God, alone, is God’s revelation to His people regarding such things.
This counsel from Dr. John Piper, is most absurd. I just don’t have other words to describe it.
The thinking that, if you have a gun, and are being threatened, and that you’re ready to go to heaven but your attacker(s) is obviously not, therefore, I’ll just shoot my gun into the air and be martyred to the glory of God is about the most unbiblical, and nonsensical philosophy regarding guns and the defense, preservation of the family and self that I have heard in quite some time, maybe ever. Just absolutely absurd.
For every season, John Piper, there is, among other things, a time to kill. Ecclesiastes 3:3.
If the missionaries to the Waodani tribe in Ecuador in 1956, which included Jim Elliot, had guns, and they did not use them, but chose instead to be killed for the reason that their attackers were not ready for or would not go to heaven if shot and killed, then their decision to be speared to death rather than defend their lives was a decision for, and an act of, suicide, not martyrdom in the cause of Christ.
Piper, in this case, is giving unwise, unbiblical, unsubstantiated advice.
5 Pt. Salt 
Did he honestly not know what amendment gave us the right to bear arms? That is embarrassing and pathetic.
He knows. I think this is just an example of compromise.
Personally, and I say this with much sadness, I think Mr. Piper is compromising on more important things than owning guns.
No, the Second Amendment protects the God-given right of self-defense. The Constitution gives nobody any “rights.”
John Lofton, Recovering Republican
Editor, JohnLofton.com
Also: Archive.TheAmericanView.com
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The God Given “right” to self defense I have yet to find in the NT: I read: “Do not resist the evildoer” and “offer the other cheek also”. John Piper was absolutely right in this interview. Sad to see how many American brothers are so off base in this area (I live in Austria – and please do NOT say that without your help we’d still be under Hitler! That’s nonsense, because it is God who appoints and removes rulers, not the US-Army.)
So you approve of suicide by the hand of another? Interesting….
Was Christ committing suicide when He did not resist his murderers?
He may be losing it and couldn’t remember?
Sad though. He really seems ignorant here. Why don’t they quietly put him away if he can’t remember /think straight anymore.
Dear John. At the very least, If I don’t need to keep guns in my house, where am I going to keep my hunting weapons?
At least John Piper seems to remember such verses like “Don’t pay back evil with evil.” which most (all but me) in this conversation here seem to have forsaken …
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Soooo let me get this straight. We have the free will not to kill someone who is predestined but not ready to go to heaven.
“Don’t get on my case… don’t write any letters about Piper doesn’t believe you should have bows and arrows, and rifles, and hunting gear… of course, that’s a fully legitimate thing and… I don’t even… I’m not gonna get in your face if you have a gun lying in your drawer… I just think it’s not very wise.”
– John Piper
So we can have bows and arrows to kill animals, we just shouldn’t ever think that one amendment means we should have the liberty to defend our families against violent humans. Huh.
One has to wonder why God was so evil, then, as to answer the prayer of the Israelites in the book of Esther with the legal ability to defend themselves against the state?
The Nazi’s were not ready for heaven, I suppose – we ought to have shot cap pistols at them. How do we ever utilize the death penalty, unless we can insure that the recipient is a Christian? I’d sure hate to hear what Piper has to say about Hiroshima & Nagasaki. (Which by the way, allowed my father to return from the Pacific front – alive – since American troop invasion of mainland Japan was rendered unnecessary.)
Maybe that’s a bit hard to get now: Fighting the Nazis was God’s business, because HE said, he will install and deinstall rulers. Do you get my point here? Christians therefore yield to the unjust rulers as well, being imprisoned and killed rather that to do evil themselves, but nonetheless rebellion is never a Christian attitude acc to Rom 13. God always chooses earthly nations to judge earthly nations; and now listen: WE Christians are no part of any nation on earth, because the Kingdom we belong to is not of this world! Fighting Nazis or other dictators is the world’s affair, not ours; we are to preach the Gospel of peace. Therefore Christ sends His disciples as defenseless sheep among wolves. Christians who use or partake in violence are like sheep acting and dressed up as wolves. So the Nazis were deinstalled when God said their time was over, not when the US decided so. Don’t be too proud of your share in this bloodshed, brothers! There was no US involvment in war that was not accompanied by the killing of incocent, fellow Christians and “collateral damage”, neither of which Christians should be part of. If you don’t want to hear Piper’s words on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are you eventually interested in God’s view on it? Will you go with Him through the ruins and hear His comment on every single victim there + plus the ones suffering from cancer in the following generations because of the long time effect of this “Christian Bomb”???? Christians are to love their enemies – ever heard that? – not to bomb and kill them. In Europe, most of the bombing in Germany was complety unnecessesary (e.g. Dresden – came close to a war crime!). A Christian way to treat the multitudes of orphans and widowd created by the war already?
I think, you will need more time to study the matter from this entirely different angle than you were brought up with. But let it sink in a little, please do: Unless you can imagine Christ swearing to an earthly flag, wearing camouflage and throwing bombs from a stealth bomber, I think we are not qualified to call ourselves followers of Christ if we do so.
Luke 3:14
Don’t think your argument is backed by Scripture
@ Stone: Do you really think it is commendable to quote scripture in order to nullify scripture? Luk 3:14 ist John the Baptist speaking to soldiers, OK? Mat 5:43-44 is Christ speaking to His disciples. What’s the point now? The point is that Augustinian Christianity (and the Reformed church is part of this tradition) has lost the ethos of the Pre-Nicene church that was unanimous on the questions whether Christians participate in politics (NO), in the military (NO) or defend themselves (NO, again). And I bet, they all knew about Luk 3:14, but they knew something else: They knew how they were taught by the Apostles, and I think their testimony is worth considering. Augustin was the apologist of the shift to the state church and he turned a number of teachings upside down. You, as many others here, use scripture based on Augustinian tradition which is like a filter for your perception of God’s word. I am fully aware, that such a format (Blog) won’t have the power to convince yu, but I’d like to encourage you to dig a littler deeper into this matter.
Ah yes…so no point or Scripture cited would have any validity in this discussion because I am not wearing my pre-Nicene Creed magic spectacles for interpreting and understanding Scripture. Got it. God bless you-truly.
It is a matter of truth. I am convinced that we – 2000 years after the apostles – most likely are not more but rather less filled with God’s Spirit than the generations immediately following the apostles, who were trained by them and spoke Greek as a daily laguage. It is a matter of historc truth, to be more precise. The attitudes expressed in this Blog in response to John Piper would have all ofthe contributers at odds with the Early church, This should be disturbing. If it does not bother you, well, then I will not convince you. Maybe this takes time to sink in as it did with me. But John Piper is right on target.
Rulers have a solemn duty to protect citizens from plunder. The Puritans had guns in their homes to protect their families from Indian attacks. John Knox taught the Scottish covenanters to rise up, for example, in the Pentland Rising to protect old men from being beaten up by soldiers. The Black Robed Regiment taught the American War of Independence to take up arms against tyrants. They paved the way for our precious brother Piper to feel so fatally secure as to speak such outlandish heresy. (If the government comes after me, however, I shall surrender just like Jesus did.)
I wouldn’t surrender to any unjust government ever, and without fail, I would protect those I love. May God forbid I am ever faced with either situation however.
What I liked especially about John Piper’s approach: It was his perspective that was not just earthly and human, but had eternity in viw. Brothers Life is not about surviving, but about giving our lives as sacrifices. The church overcomes evil by NOT loving her own life. What I have read so far in the comments is a far cry from Christ’s words.
Use of a firearm in the restraint of evil would be under the general category of common grace, whether such use be by the police, army, state militia (whatever that is, these days) or an individual.
You really made me think. I had always considered those missionaries martyrs, and had never carried the thought line through to conclusion, or closer to conclusion. What if those missionaries had defended themselves,killed a number of natives, and escaped? How many other lost people might have heard the gospel from them if they had shot those natives and escaped?
Regarding the use of a firearm for personal defense and defense of one’s family, I would argue a biblical warrant from 1 Timothy 5:8 (whoever does not provide for his own family is worse than an unbeliever). I cannot provide for my familiy if I am dead.
I have the utmost respect for John Piper, especially his soteriology (that sermon of his on Hebrews 2:9, especially the conclusion, is amazing).
As a matter of Christian liberty, Piper is free to take the position he does.
As a matter of Christian liberty and common grace, I will keep carrying that third-gen Glock 21.
Good post. Kindest regards.
Tim Tuggle
Just to get the point: It is better to shoot some hostile tribesmen so the missionaries stay alive to preach the Gospel? And you call that “common grace”?
You think VERY human, brother.
I am rather shocked to find someone that I so fully agree with…I somehow had thought that 1st century non-resistance and the headship veiling were teachings only held by a few surviving Mennonites or Amish that managed to escape the sword of the reformers in the 16th century?!
I’m finding it rather amusing to see how much they cleaned up the transcript for him at the Desiring God website to make him look far too cogent.
He’s ashamed of killing squirrels?? Good grief.
I have no idea what he is talking about anymore. I just re-listened to this. Yes, if you’re trying to evangelize someone and they are gonna martyr you for it, you probably shouldn’t shoot them to stop it.
So, on the one hand, missionaries shouldn’t shoot the people they are trying to evangelize. Well, ok. On the other hand, you should protect/shoot people if they come into your house to murder you or your children. I have to wonder just what kind of defensive shooting course he proposes? The one where you stop and question the attacker on whether he believes in Jesus? How absurd is this answer? What believer in Jesus is going to be coming into your house to attack your family John? In other words, NO you think we shouldn’t shoot to protect our families. Or we should endanger our families by shooting to wound rather than shooting center of body mass. Unbelieveable. People who are so ignorant and (in all seriousness I’ve been thinking for a couple of years) losing their ability to think straight ought not to be trotted out in front of the cameras to give us their opinion on such important matters as theology and politics. It’s like listening to a Christian version of Joe Biden sometimes.
Well, to address the Jim Elliot crew, I think they had hoped the shot in the air would have deterred hostility, but it actually had the opposite effect. Therefore, I think we need to be very careful how we judge them. I think the suicide comment was a little off base. I don’t know that I would not have done the same thing given the circumstances. That was a little bit different situation than just protecting your home from an invader. They were going into the tribe’s territory and knew there might be a risk of hostility. Their goal was to win souls for Christ, and they were peace loving men. Therefore, I think the hesitation was a product of a hopeful desire they had to make peaceful contact. As far as Piper is concerned, you may not have heard some of his sermons on Manhood and Husbands being the protector of the home. He stated that we are to stand in the way and defend our family. I disagree with his view not to have a firearm, but I respect his view nonetheless. I am not where he is on that. Maybe one day. I think it is wise to have a weapon for self defense. I heard some thieves talking not long ago, and they were talking about the best places to steal TV’s. One of the guys said: “You gotta make sure they ain’t got no gun!” I also had a friend that almost got raped by a man twice her size. If it were not for a swift punch in the nose and a firearm, she might not be with us today (She didn’t shoot the man btw, but scared him to death, so he ran!) Therefore, I prefer to be armed to protect my family in case someone breaks into my house. I think there are Biblical grounds for such a thing. We should not excoriate Piper for his view. I do think it is an honorable thing if placed in the proper context.
Jesus IS God – he does not contradict himself. The Bible speaks of self defense in the Old and New Testament. If we should not have guns, should we also not have locks on our doors?
http://www.lawandliberty.org/defense.htm
John Piper isn’t saying that it is wrong to defend yourself or to have a gun, he personally doesn’t think it is wise. He is not preaching a directive, but laying out his preference. That’s his business, and he is welcome to share his point of view, I just disagree with him on this one.
Scripture does not talk about guns because they didn’t exist. No-one has a God given right to guns. However God in both testaments said for us who follow Him, we must respect and submit to our national leaders.We also have the example of how to live form the Life of Jesus and the apostles. If you have a right to bear arms provided in your constitution then you can act upon that under the provisions it supplies i good conscience before God.As a christian I have no biblical issue with owning a gun. I don’t but that’s another story. The issue from what I can read is what does the 2nd amendment allow and is there an room to maneuver or clarify the law? There has been legal cases for this before, so this is not a new issue. My own process of thinking is to ask myself, “is what I believe worth standing for also worth dying for and worth killing for?” For me the answer is no – I wouldn’t die nor kill to uphold my choice to hold a gun. But that is for me. The choice is down to ourselves. we choose to accept the law or ignore it and accept the consequences either way.Think Carefully & Think prayerfully and make your own decision with God. Not the commentators.