Andrew Wilson is one of the happiest guys I know. So it only makes sense that he’d write a book called Happiness: What It Is, Where to Find It, and How to Make It Last Forever (Crossway). He’s the expert. I’m delighted when I see Andrew at a TGC conference or a retreat for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. I look forward to every chance to spend time with him. He writes in this book, “Nothing is more honoring to a friend, a child, or a spouse than saying they make you happy. Nothing is more demeaning to them than telling them they don’t.” I can say, with no reservation, Andrew makes me happy when we’re together.
But where does that leave the rest of us? If we’re not naturally happy? If we’re not feeling happy right now? If we’re not hanging out with Andrew? The Declaration of Independence, 250 years ago, put happiness at the center of life’s aim: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Andrew covered that statement in his excellent earlier book, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West. Given the anniversary, I snuck in a question or two about that fateful year. And we discussed much more, including the difference between joy and happiness, whether God promises happiness, and why millennials grew up to be sad.
In This Episode
00:00 – What makes us genuinely happier
00:40 – Why Andrew Wilson wrote a book about happiness
04:29 – Happiness, sorrow, and biblical examples of deep joy
07:26 – Is joy different from happiness?
11:53 – Does God promise happiness to Christians?
13:35 – Why millennials became less happy as adults
19:41 – Freedom, responsibility, and the limits of liberation
23:21 – The “problem of superfluous happiness”
26:01 – How pursuing happiness helps us fight sin
29:23 – Why virtue, gratitude, and humility make us happier
32:53 – Compassion versus empathy
34:15 – Turning delights into disciplines
37:06 – Remaking the World and America’s 250th anniversary
39:48 – What makes the United States unique?
47:08 – Discovery, defense, temperament, and optimism
48:55 – Closing and book recommendations
Resources Mentioned:
Happiness by Andrew Wilson
Remaking the World by Andrew Wilson
Generations by Jean M. Twenge
The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
The Expulsive Power of a New Affection by Thomas Chalmers
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