John Piper (theologian) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids John Piper
Piper in 2010
Born	(1946-01-11) January 11, 1946 (age 79) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.

John Stephen Piper (born January 11, 1946) is a well-known theologian and Reformed Baptist pastor. He is also the leader of Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Before becoming a pastor, Piper taught about the Bible at Bethel University for six years, from 1974 to 1980. After that, he served as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for 33 years, from 1980 to 2013.

John Piper is the founder of Desiring God (desiringgod.org). This organization is named after his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, published in 1986. He has written many popular books. Some of his award-winning books include Spectacular Sins, What Jesus Demands from the World, Pierced by the Word, and God's Passion for His Glory. His bestsellers include Don't Waste Your Life and The Passion of Jesus Christ.

Piper is very active online. He has a popular podcast called Ask Pastor John. In this podcast, he answers questions sent in by listeners. The podcast has more than 2,000 episodes.

John Piper's Early Life and Education

John Piper was born on January 11, 1946, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His parents were Bill and Ruth Piper. His father was an evangelist, which means he traveled to share religious messages for over 60 years.

Before John was one year old, his family moved to Greenville, South Carolina. He grew up there and finished high school at Wade Hampton High School in 1964.

Piper has shared that he had a religious experience when he was six years old. This happened while his family was on vacation in Florida. He says this event was very important to him.

Family Life and College Years

John Piper married Noël Henry in December 1968. They have five children: four sons and one adopted daughter. They also have twelve grandchildren.

He attended Wheaton College from 1964 to 1968. He studied literature and also philosophy. During his time at college, he became very interested in poetry. Piper has published several poetry books. He says that C. S. Lewis, a famous author, greatly influenced him. Piper admired Lewis's clear writing and deep understanding of reality.

In 1966, Piper became sick with mononucleosis. While recovering, he listened to Pastor Harold John Ockenga on his college radio station. Piper says this experience made him want to become a minister. He felt a strong desire to teach about the Bible.

Advanced Studies and Teaching Career

From 1968 to 1971, Piper studied at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He learned a lot from his teacher, Daniel Payton Fuller. Fuller taught him to pay close attention to details when studying the Bible. He also taught him about God's power over everything and a concept Piper later called Christian Hedonism. This idea suggests that people can find their greatest joy in God.

Piper earned his Doctor of Theology degree in New Testament studies. He studied at the University of Munich, Germany, from 1971 to 1974. His main research was on the topic of "Love Your Enemies." After finishing his doctorate, Piper taught about the Bible at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He taught there for six years, from 1974 to 1980.

Sadly, Piper's mother passed away in a bus accident in Israel on December 16, 1974.

John Piper's Ministry and Online Work

John Piper teaching in Palo Alto, California in February 2020.

In 1980, John Piper became the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He served there until March 31, 2013. He was known for his preaching and his vision for the church.

Piper became more widely known after his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist was published in 1986. He has continued to write many books that explain his religious ideas.

In 1994, Piper started Desiring God Ministries. The goal of this ministry is to "spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ." Desiring God Ministries offers all of Piper's sermons and articles online for free. Many of his books are also available there.

Stepping Down from Pastorship

Piper took a break from his ministry for eight months, from May 2010 to January 2011. In June 2011, he announced that he would soon step down from his role as pastor. A new pastor, Jason Meyer, was chosen in May 2012 to take his place.

On March 31, 2013, which was Easter Sunday, Piper gave his last sermon as the main pastor of Bethlehem Baptist. He and his family moved to Tennessee for a year. This allowed the church's new leaders to develop their plans without distractions. He still attends the church and is known as a pastor emeritus, which means he has no official role in the church's daily leadership.

Current Online Activities

After retiring from his active pastorship, Piper has focused on his online work through Desiring God Ministries. He is especially known for his Ask Pastor John podcast. In this podcast, he answers many questions about the Bible and life that listeners send in.

He also works on a video series called "Look at the Book" (LAB). In these videos, he carefully studies parts of the Bible and explains them in detail. In 2024, a book version of the Ask Pastor John podcast was released.

John Piper has a personal rule that 100% of the money he earns from his book sales goes to different charities.

Achievements and Recognition

In 2010, a special book was published in John Piper's honor. It was called For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper. Many other important religious leaders contributed to this book.

In 2018, Baylor University named him one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in English. This shows how influential his teaching has been.

Personal Life and Health

John Piper married Noël Henry in 1968. They have five children, including an adopted daughter. His son Abraham Piper has shared his thoughts about evangelical Christianity publicly.

On January 11, 2006, Piper announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He and his doctors believed that the cancer could be fully treated. Piper shared that this news was helpful for him. He said it made him rely more on his faith and less on himself. He found his time with Christ to be "unusually sweet" during this period.

Piper had successful surgery on February 14, 2006.

Books by John Piper

• Love Your Enemies: Jesus' Love Command in the Synoptic Gospels and the Early Christian Paraenesis (1980)
• The Justification of God: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Romans 9:1–23 (1983)
• Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (1986)
• The Supremacy of God in Preaching (1990)
• The Pleasures of God (1991)
• Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Co-editor) (1991)
• Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions (1993)
• Future Grace: The Purifying Power of Living By Faith In Future Grace (1995)
• A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer (1997)
• A Godward Life: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life (1997)
• God's Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards (1998)
• The Innkeeper (1998)
• A Godward Life, Book Two: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life (1999)
• The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God's Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin (2000)
• The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (2001)
• Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (2001)
• The Dangerous Duty of Delight: Daring to Make God the Object of Your Desire (2001)
• What's the Difference?: Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible (2001)
• The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God (2002)
• Brothers, We Are not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry (2002)
• The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (2002)
• Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness? (2002)
• Beyond the Bounds (co-editor) (2003)
• Don't Waste Your Life (2003)
• Pierced By the Word: Thirty-One Meditations for Your Soul (2003)
• The Prodigal's Sister (2003)
• The Passion of Jesus Christ (2004) (also known as 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die)
• When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (2004)
• Life As a Vapor (2004)
• A God Entranced Vision of All Things (Co-editor; 2004)
• ... and the Supremacy of Christ (w/ Justin Taylor, 2005)
• Taste and See: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life (2005)
• God is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself (2005)
• Contending for Our All: Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen (2006)
• Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die (2006)
• Suffering and the Sovereignty of God (2006)
• What Jesus Demands from the World (2006)
• When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God—and Joy (2007)
• Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce (2007)
• The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World (co-editor w/ Justin Taylor, 2007)
• Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure (2007)
• The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright (2007)
• Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ (2008)
• John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God (2008)
• The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (2008)
• Finally Alive (2009)
• This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence (2009)
• Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ: The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton (2009)
• A Sweet and Bitter Providence: ..., Race, and the Sovereignty of God (2010)
• Jesus: The Only Way to God: Must You Hear the Gospel to be Saved? (2010)
• The Gadarene (2010)
• Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God (2011)
• The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor (2011)
• A Holy Ambition: To Preach Where Christ Has Not Been Named (2011)
• Thinking. Loving. Doing.: A Call to Glorify God with Heart and Mind (co-editor w/ David Mathis; 2011)
• Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian (2011)
• The Innkeeper (Reprint edition, 2011)
• Adoniram Judson (2012)
• Risk Is Right: Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It (2013)
• The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent (2014)
• A Godward Life: Seeing the Supremacy of God in All of Life (Revised edition, 2015)
• Think It Not Strange: Navigating Trials in the New America (co-editor w/ 9 authors; 2016)
• Lessons from a Hospital Bed (2016)
• Your Sorrow Will Turn to Joy: Morning & Evening Meditations for Holy Week (2016)
• Living in the Light: Money, ... and Power (2016)
• A Peculiar Glory: How the Christian Scriptures Reveal Their Complete Truthfulness (2016)
• A Camaraderie of Confidence: The Fruit of Unfailing Faith in the Lives of Charles Spurgeon, George Müller, and Hudson Taylor (2016)
• 50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood (co-editor w/ Wayne Grudem, 2016)
• Andrew Fuller: Holy Faith, Worthy Gospel, World Mission (2016)
• Happily Ever After: Finding Grace in the Messes of Marriage (2017)
• The Collected Works of John Piper (13 volume set plus Index) (2017)
• Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture (2017)
• The Satisfied Soul: Showing the Supremacy of God in All of Life (2017)
• Shaped by God: Thinking and Feeling in Tune with the Psalms (2017)
• Expository Exultation: Christian Preaching as Worship (2018)
• Coronavirus and Christ (2020)
• Providence (2021)
• Come, Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Second Coming of Christ (2023)
• All That Jesus Commanded: The Christian Life according to the Gospels (2023)

See also

In Spanish: John Piper para niños