So it is not surprising that an awful lot of books have been written on the subject. There are books on happy habits, brains, diets and chemicals; books on happy families, philosophies and religions; books on the science of happiness, the sociology of happiness, the theology of happiness and the history of happiness; books on how you can be happy if you really want to be, and books on how you will actually be happier if you stop trying to be. In such a flooded landscape of ideas, anyone releasing a new book on the subject - which I will be next year, with the title Happiness: What It Is, Where To Find It, And How To Make It Last Forever - had better explain themselves.

The book is an attempt to bring together three types of writing on happiness. All three types have influenced me in important ways, but they are almost always kept separate from one another. The first type is biblical and pastoral, in which the case is made from Scripture that God is happy and wants us to find our highest joy in him. The second type is theological and philosophical, and mounts an argument for considering happiness as the result of living a virtuous, loving and good life, in dialogue with Christian theologians and ancient and modern philosophers. The third type is psychological and sociological, full of studies and charts and all kinds of practical recommendations on how to live a happier life. The second and especially the third types often have bright yellow covers. The first type never does. 

Some writers combine two of these three genres. C. S. Lewis, who wrote about joy in most of his books, bridges the first and the second. Jonathan Haidt is an influential example of someone who blends the second and the third. But I am seeking to integrate all three. I am convinced we can learn from pastors, theologians, philosophers and psychologists on the subject of joy—and that some of our greatest thinkers, from Paul to Augustine to Pascal to Lewis, were comfortable wearing any of these various hats if the situation required it. I have also found it both intriguing and encouraging to discover how often the best thinkers in each category are saying very similar things.

Structurally, the book is organized around six questions: why, what, who, when, where and how. I start by considering why enjoyment is possible, rooted in what Scripture says about the character and purposes of God (chapter one). Then I explore what happiness actually is, and how the wide range of words we use for it overlap and differ from one another (chapter two), before looking at who we are, and how our bodies, souls, natures, minds, emotions and brains collaborate—or not—in our desire to rejoice (chapter three). In the next two chapters I think about the when and the where of enjoyment, drawing from Ecclesiastes and the Psalms in particular to reflect on how happiness relates first to time (chapter four), and then to space (chapter five). I finish in chapter six with the very practical question that most people are asking: how we can actually rejoice in the Lord, live the good life, and experience joy.

It will be out next summer, published by Crossway. Enjoy.