John Piper (theologian)

==Biography==
Piper was born on January 11, 1946, in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], to Bill and Ruth Piper.<ref>William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of the Baptists'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2021, p. 469</ref> His father was a traveling [[evangelism|evangelist]] for over 60 years.<ref>{{Cite web|date= 2008-02-05|title=Evangelist Bill Piper: Fundamentalist Full of Grace and Joy|url= https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/evangelist-bill-piper-fundamentalist-full-of-grace-and-joy|access-date=2020-12-18|website=Desiring God}}</ref> Before Piper was one year old, his family moved to [[Greenville, South Carolina|Greenville]], [[South Carolina]], where he spent the remainder of his youth, graduating from [[Wade Hampton, South Carolina|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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-25|title=Who Is John Piper? |url= https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/who-is-john-piper|access-date=2021-01-13|website=Desiring God}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/john-piper-s-testimony|title=John Piper's Testimony|date=August 26, 2013|work= Desiring God|access-date=September 9, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date= 2013-12-01|title=The Calvinist |url= https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-calvinist|access-date=2021-03-30|website=Desiring God}}</ref>

Piper married Noël Henry in December 1968,<ref>John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life – Crossway, 2003, 20</ref> and together, they had four sons, a daughter, and twelve grandchildren.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.desiringgod.org/about/john-piper/overview |title=Biography of John Piper |work= About | publisher = Desiring God}}</ref> He studied at [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton College]] between 1964 and 1968, majoring in literature and minoring in philosophy.<ref> William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of the Baptists'', Scarecrow Press, USA, 2020, p. 469</ref> Studying [[Romanticism|romantic]] literature with [[Clyde Kilby]] led him to take particular interest in poetry,{{Sfn|Piper|2011|pp=30–34}} Piper has published several books of poetry,<ref>{{Cite web|title= Poetry|url=https://www.desiringgod.org/topics/poetry|access-date=2021-07-08 |website=Desiring God}}</ref> and continues to pursue, with his poetry, the deeper reality of personal,<ref>{{Cite web|date= 2017-02-11 |title=Failure|url= https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/failure|access-date=2021-07-08 |website= Desiring God}}</ref> theological<ref>{{Cite web|date= 2013-12-01|title=The Calvinist |url= https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-calvinist|access-date=2021-07-08 |website=Desiring God}}</ref> and social<ref>{{Cite web|date= 2014-08-04 |title=Ebola|url= https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/ebola|access-date=2021-07-08|website=Desiring God}}</ref> reality. He has explained in both prose and poetry why he writes.<ref>{{Cite news|date= 2017-04-19 |title=Secretary of Thy Praise|language=en|work=Desiring God |url= https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/secretary-of-thy-praise|access-date=2021-07-08}}</ref> [[C. S. Lewis|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."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-09-27|title=C.S. Lewis, Romantic Rationalist: How His Paths to Christ Shaped His Life and Ministry|url= https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/c-s-lewis-romantic-rationalist-how-his-paths-to-christ-shaped-his-life-and-ministry|access-date=2021-07-08 |website=Desiring God}}</ref>

In the fall of 1966, Piper caught [[mononucleosis]], and during this infection, he listened to the Pastor [[Harold Ockenga|Harold John Ockenga]] on WETN, his college's radio station.<ref>{{Citation|title=Who Has Been Most Influential in Your Life? |url=https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/who-has-been-most-influential-in-your-life |access-date= 2021-11-18}}</ref> 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.”<ref>{{Cite web|date=1988-02-24|title=The Goal of Preaching: The Glory of God|url= https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-goal-of-preaching|access-date=2021-11-18|website=Desiring God}}</ref>

However, the most formative season theologically was yet to come: three years under the tutelage of [[Daniel Fuller|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.<ref>{{Citation |title=Who Has Been Most Influential in Your Life? |url= https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/who-has-been-most-influential-in-your-life |access-date=2022-03-03}}</ref> Three things that would mark Piper’s life-work are traceable to that influence: assiduous attention to exegetical detail in Bible study<ref>{{Cite book |last=Piper |first=John |title=Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture |publisher=Crossway Books |date=April 30, 2017 |isbn=978-1-43355349-3 |location=Wheaton, [[Illinois | IL]]|pages=226–27}}</ref> (indeed in all reading<ref>{{Cite web |last=Piper |first= John |date=1993-11-01 |title= Books That Have Influenced Me Most |url= https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/books-that-have-influenced-me-most |access-date=2022-03-03 |website= Desiring God}}</ref>), a central conviction of the all-embracing sovereignty of God,<ref>{{Citation |title=Who Is John Piper? |url= https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/who-is-john-piper |access-date= 2022-03-03}}</ref> and what Piper came to call Christian Hedonism.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-02-27 |title=From Darkness to Delight: A Fresh Call for Christian Hedonists |url= https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/from-darkness-to-delight |access-date= 2022-03-03 |website= Desiring God }}</ref>

Piper received his [[Doctorate#Germany |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 (Minnesota)|Bethel University]] in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], for six years between 1974 and 1980.{{Sfn|Piper|2011|p=41}}

Piper's mother died on December 16, 1974, in a bus wreck in Israel.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Desiring God | url = http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/john-pipers-candidating-testimony | title = John Piper's Candidating Testimony | date = January 27, 1980}}</ref> Following this incident in 1990, a tribute to her was included in Piper's booklet ''[[Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood#What's the Difference?|What's the Difference?]]''

===Ministry===
[[File:2202020FLC VCFJP-7.jpg|thumb|John Piper teaching at VMware, Palo Alto, California in February 2020.]]
In 1980, Piper became pastor of [[Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis)|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 Hedonism|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."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.desiringgod.org/about/mission |title=Distinctives: Mission |work = About | publisher= Desiring God}}</ref> 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.<ref name= "Piper0328">{{cite web|url= http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2010/4555 |title= John Piper's Upcoming Leave|last= Piper|first= John |date= March 28, 2010 |publisher= Desiring God | work = Taste & See |access-date= April 2, 2010}}</ref><ref name= "CBNNews">{{cite news|url= http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2010/March/Evangelist-John-Piper-Takes-Personal-Leave/ |title= Evangelist John Piper Takes Personal Leave | work = News |date= March 30, 2010 |publisher= [[Christian Broadcasting Network|CBN]]|access-date= April 2, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.christianpost.com/news/john-piper-returns-to-pulpit-after-8-month-leave-48415/ |title=John Piper Returns to Pulpit after 8-month Leave |last= Vu|first=Michelle |date= January 9, 2011 | work = The Christian Post |access-date= December 8, 2011}}</ref> 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,<ref name= "step-down"/> 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<ref name= "stepped-down"/> 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.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Hope in God | url = http://www.hopeingod.org/news-events/bethlehem-blogs/bethlehem-updates-blog/final-open-letter-my-flock | title = Bethlehem updates | contribution = My flock | type = open letter | access-date = April 2, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151002070737/http://www.hopeingod.org/news-events/bethlehem-blogs/bethlehem-updates-blog/final-open-letter-my-flock | archive-date = October 2, 2015 | url-status = dead}}</ref> He still attends the church and is designated pastor emeritus<ref name= ":0" /> 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.<ref name= "Desiring God website">{{cite web|url=https://www.desiringgod.org/about-us |title= About Us}}</ref> In 2024, a condensed book version of the Ask Pastor John podcast (adapted by its host, Tony Reinke) was released.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.desiringgod.org/books/ask-pastor-john |title= Ask Pastor John: 750 Answers to Life’s Most Important Questions}}</ref>

He has sold millions of books but has donated 100% of the royalties from his books sales to various charities.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.epm.org/blog/2017/Jul/31/receiving-royalties-books | title=Why I Love Not Receiving a Cent of the Royalties from My Books - Blog}}</ref>