John Piper, an influential Reformed theologian, took the unusual step of interviewing famed pastor Rick Warren and giving him a chance to address the countless criticisms he has received since the publication of The Purpose Driven Life.

The entire 98-minute talk was centered on doctrine, which Warren admitted he was rarely asked of in interviews.

But with 40 years of “seriously” studying Scripture under his belt, Warren had no problem discussing the central tenets of Christianity with a preacher whose Reformed camp has been less than kind to Warren.

The interview was recorded earlier this month and released on Friday.

Piper, well aware of Warren’s critics, distanced himself from them.

“Frankly, I’m appalled at the kinds of slander that have been brought against this book by people whose methods of critique, if they were consistently applied to the Bible, would undo it as the Word of God,” Piper said, referring to the 2002 book The Purpose Driven Life.

“I’m one of these Reformed types and my types tend to get on your case pretty often.”
With some 30 million copies sold and available in over 50 languages, The Purpose Driven Life is the bestselling nonfiction book in history.

Instant fame, however, came with a slew of naysayers. Critics have mainly hit at Warren’s doctrine as presented in his book.

But during the interview with Piper, Warren revealed that the book was not intended for nonbelievers. It was written as a workbook to accompany Saddleback Church’s 40 days of purpose – an annual spiritual growth campaign.

It was only at the end of writing it that he realized a nonbeliever may come across the book and read it. So he added a few things about salvation.

“If I had known how many unbelievers were going to read it, I would have explained salvation far much more in detail,” he told Piper.

Piper, surprisingly, did not find any major problems doctrinally in the book.
“When I read the book, I thought ‘what’s the issue here?'” he said. And with 20 pages of notes, Piper said he read the book very carefully.

Some of what Warren had to say in the bestseller even made Piper’s “spine tingle with gladness.”

The aim of the interview was to clarify what Warren believes about such doctrines as the glory of God, the sovereignty of God, unconditional election, eternity and the Gospel, among other things.

On the Gospel and the cross, the 57-year-old pastor said he believes in the imputed righteousness of God.

“Jesus took our payment,” the renowned author said. “The reason Jesus came to earth is because the law could not do what we needed it to do and only Jesus could do it.”
He also affirmed the five solas – by Scripture alone, by faith alone, by grace along, through Christ alone, glory to God alone – and said repentance is the fundamental message of Christianity.

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