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American pastor and writer (born 1946) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Stephen Piper (born January 11, 1946) is an American theologian and pastor in the Reformed Baptist tradition. He is also chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[4] Piper taught biblical studies at Bethel University for six years (1974–1980), before serving as pastor for preaching and vision of Bethlehem Baptist Church (Converge) in Minneapolis for 33 years (1980–2013).[5]
John Piper | |
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.jpg) Piper in 2010 | |
| Born | John Stephen Piper January 11, 1946 Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse |
Noël Piper (m. 1968) |
| Children | |
| Parents |
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| Academic background | |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | University of Munich |
| Thesis | "Love your enemies." Jesus' love command in the synoptics and in the early Christian paraenesis. A history of the tradition and interpretation of its uses. (1974) |
| Doctoral advisor | de:Leonhard Goppelt |
| Academic work | |
| Era | Late 20th and early 21st centuries |
| School or tradition | |
| Notable works |
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| Notable ideas | Christian hedonism |
Piper is the founder and senior teacher of Desiring God (desiringgod.org), named for his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (1986), and has written a number of award-winning books, including ECPA Christian Book Award winners Spectacular Sins,[6] What Jesus Demands from the World,[7] Pierced by the Word,[8] and God's Passion for His Glory,[9] as well as bestsellers Don't Waste Your Life[10] and The Passion of Jesus Christ.[11]
Piper has been extensively active online, particularly with his podcast Ask Pastor John in which he answers submitted questions. It has over 2,000 episodes.
Piper was born on January 11, 1946, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Bill and Ruth Piper.[12] His father was a traveling evangelist for over 60 years.[13] Before Piper was one year old, his family moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where he spent the remainder of his youth, graduating from Wade Hampton High School in 1964.
According to Piper, he had a religious conversion at his mother's knee on a family vacation in Florida when he was six years old.[14] Piper has remarked that the fact he was converted at the age of six "blows him away", not because he remembers the event, but due to his belief in the Bible's telling of the hopeless condition of all humans who have not been converted.[15][16]
Piper married Noël Henry in December 1968,[17] and together, they had four sons, a daughter, and twelve grandchildren.[18] He studied at Wheaton College between 1964 and 1968, majoring in literature and minoring in philosophy.[19] Studying romantic literature with Clyde Kilby led him to take particular interest in poetry,[20] Piper has published several books of poetry,[21] and continues to pursue, with his poetry, the deeper reality of personal,[22] theological[23] and social[24] reality. He has explained in both prose and poetry why he writes.[25] C. S. Lewis has remained a profound influence in Piper's life, in large measure, Piper says, because of the "combination of rational precision with language, and profound poetic perception of reality."[26]
In the fall of 1966, Piper caught mononucleosis, and during this infection, he listened to the Pastor Harold John Ockenga on WETN, his college's radio station.[27] Piper dated his call to the ministry of God’s word to that experience: “I can remember listening there on my bed to his messages on the radio and feeling inside my heart simply explode with longing to be able to handle the word of God the way he was handling it in the pulpit at Edman Chapel. Before those three weeks were over, I had resolved to drop organic chemistry… That was, I believe, my call to the ministry of the word.”[28]
However, the most formative season theologically was yet to come: three years under the tutelage of Daniel Payton Fuller, at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, from 1968 to 1971. Fuller’s influence on Piper was, he admits with thankfulness, enormous.[29] Three things that would mark Piper’s life-work are traceable to that influence: assiduous attention to exegetical detail in Bible study[30] (indeed in all reading[31]), a central conviction of the all-embracing sovereignty of God,[32] and what Piper came to call Christian Hedonism.[33]
Piper received his Doctor of Theology degree in New Testament studies at the University of Munich, Germany (1971–1974) under Leonhard Goppelt. His dissertation, Love Your Enemies, was published by Cambridge University Press and Baker Book House. Upon completion of his doctorate, Piper taught biblical studies at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, for six years between 1974 and 1980.[34]
Piper's mother died on December 16, 1974, in a bus wreck in Israel.[35] Following this incident in 1990, a tribute to her was included in Piper's booklet What's the Difference?
In 1980, Piper became pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he ministered until March 31, 2013, as pastor for preaching and vision. Piper became involved in evangelical Christianity after the publication of his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist in 1986 and has continued to publish dozens of books further articulating his theological perspective. In 1994, Piper founded Desiring God Ministries, with the aim of "spread[ing] a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ."[36] Desiring God Ministries offers all of Piper's sermons and articles from the past three decades—and most of his books—online at no cost.
Piper took an eight-month leave of absence from his ministry from May 1, 2010, to January 9, 2011.[37][38][39] He announced in June 2011 that he would soon step down from his role of pastor. A candidate to succeed him was announced in March 2012,[4] and on May 20, 2012, Jason Meyer was voted in (784 yes to 8 no) to be the next pastor for preaching and vision, replacing Piper.
On March 31, 2013 (Easter Sunday), Piper preached his final sermon as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist[5] and announced in an open letter to the congregation that he and his family would be moving to Tennessee for at least a year for the church's new leadership to develop a strategic vision for the church without distractions.[40] He still attends the church and is designated pastor emeritus[41] with no official role in the church leadership.
Following his retirement from the active pastorship of his church, Piper has occupied himself with online work through his Desiring God ministries. He has become especially known for the Ask Pastor John podcast, in which he answers various Bible- and life-related questions submitted by listeners. He additionally works on a video series called "Look at the Book" ("LAB") in which he annotates some portion of Scripture and goes through in-depth exegesis.[42] In 2024, a condensed book version of the Ask Pastor John podcast (adapted by its host, Tony Reinke) was released.[43]
He has sold millions of books but has donated 100% of the royalties from his books sales to various charities.[44]
In 2010, a Festschrift was published in his honor, entitled For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper, including contributions from Don Carson, Sinclair Ferguson, G. K. Beale, Thomas R. Schreiner, Wayne Grudem, Al Mohler, C. J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, John MacArthur, and Bill Mounce.
In 2018, he was named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in English by Baylor University.[45]
He married Noël Henry in 1968 and had five children, including an adopted daughter.[41] His son Abraham Piper has publicly criticized evangelical Christianity.[46]
On January 11, 2006, Piper announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. According to a letter sent to his church,[47] he and his doctors believed that the cancer was fully treatable. Piper responded to his diagnosis with the following:
This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet.
Piper underwent successful surgery on February 14, 2006.[48]
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