Book Review: "Finally Alive"

Title: Finally Alive
Sub-title: What Happens When We Are Born Again
Author: John Piper
Publisher: Christian Focus
Book Type: Theology
Page Length: 203
Chapters: Introduction, 15 chapters, Conclusion
SRP: $14.99
Suggested Audience: Believers who want to better understand Biblical regeneration.


Strengths: Very clear, very thorough and yet very tight and clean. It’s deep without being deep for the sake of being deep and it’s weighty without being made weighty in an attempt to add academic prowess to the book. It is broken up into parts, chapters, and sections so it’s easy to read and it never gets to run together which is great because it is such a weighty book.

Weaknesses: I don’t really see any weaknesses in this book. It’s well written and it is very clear on a very important doctrine. Piper is a great writer and a great reformed theologian so it’s no surprise how strong this book is.

My thoughts: If you’re of the Arminian theological camp then you’ll hate this book unless God really just opens your eyes to the truth Piper is conveying in these pages. If you’re a Calvinist, you’ll love this book. I love this book. I will recommend it to anyone that wants to read more about regeneration and what the Bible has to say about new birth. This is not my favorite Piper book, but it will be very difficult for another author to write a book on regeneration that I like more than Finally Alive.

Notable quotes: “The instant God gives new life, we do the living. The instant the Spirit produces faith, we do the believing.”
“My nature is my deepest personal problem.”
“Love doesn’t think possessively. Love knows everything belongs to God.”
“So the way God brings about the new birth in dead, unbelieving hearts is by the gospel, the good news.”