Biography of Pastor John Piper

John Piper was born in 1946 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, where his father was an itinerant evangelist. He studied literature at Wheaton College (1964-1968) where he met and married his wife Noël. After graduating, he completed a Bachelor of Divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminary in California and it was there that he discovered the work of Jonathan Edwards.

Piper completed a doctorate in New Testament Studies at the University of Munich, West Germany in 1974. Upon completion, he taught biblical studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota between 1974-1980. In 1980, John Piper became the Senior Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis Minnesota, where he ministered for almost thirty-three years.

At Wheaton College (1964–68), John majored in literature and minored in philosophy. Studying Romantic literature with Clyde Kilby stimulated the poetic side of his nature, and today he regularly writes poems to celebrate special family occasions. As pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, he would also compose story-poems (based on the life of a biblical character) for his congregation during the four weeks of Advent each year. At Wheaton John also met Noël Henry, whom he married 1968.

Following college, he completed a Bachelor of Divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California (1968–71). While at Fuller, John discovered the writings of Jonathan Edwards.

John did his doctoral work in New Testament Studies at the University of Munich, Munich, West Germany (1971–74). His dissertation, Love Your Enemies, was published by Cambridge University Press and Baker Book House. Upon completion of his doctorate he went on to teach biblical studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, for six years (1974–80).

In 1980, sensing an irresistible call of the Lord to preach, John Piper became the senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he ministered for almost 33 years.

As the overflow of a church tape ministry, Desiring God was founded in 1994, where John today serves as lead teacher.

On January 11, 2006, Piper was told that he had prostate cancer. According to a letter sent to his church, he and his doctors thought that the cancer was not a big problem. When Piper talked about this he said, "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 had surgery on February 14, 2006.

John Piper is married to Henry Noël and they both have four sons, a daughter, and fourteen grandchildren.

John is the author of more than 50 books and now serves as lead teacher for Desiring God, where more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching material is available for free. 

Selected publications of John Piper

• Love Your Enemies: Jesus' Love Command in the Synoptic Gospels and the Early Christian Paraenesis (Cambridge University Press, 1980; Baker, 1991).
• The Justification of God: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Romans 9:1-23 (Baker, 1983; 2nd edition 1993).
• Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Multnomah, 1986; 2nd edition, 1996, 3rd edition, 2003).
• The Supremacy of God in Preaching (Baker, 1990, 2nd edition, 2003).
• The Pleasures of God (Multnomah, 1991; Expanded edition, 2000).
• Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Co-editor) (Crossway, 1991).
• Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions (Baker, 1993, 2nd Edition 2003).
• The Purifying Power of Living By Faith In Future Grace (Multnomah, 1995).
• A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer (Crossway, 1997).
• A Godward Life: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life (Multnomah, 1997).
• God’s Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards (Crossway, 1998).
• The Innkeeper (Crossway, 1998).
• A Godward Life, Book Two: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life (Multnomah, 1999).
• The Legacy of Sovereign Joy (Crossway, 2000).
• The Hidden Smile of God (Crossway, 2001).
• Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (Crossway, 2001, 2nd edition, 2004).
• The Dangerous Duty of Delight (Multnomah, 2001).
• The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God (Crossway, 2002).
• Brothers, We Are not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002).
• The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (Crossway, 2002).
• Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness? (Crossway, 2002).
• Beyond the Bounds (Co-editor) (Crossway, 2003).
• Don’t Waste Your Life (Crossway, 2003).
• Pierced By the Word (Multnomah, 2003).
• The Prodigal’s Sister (Crossway, 2003).
• The Passion of Jesus Christ (Crossway, 2004).
• When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (Crossway, 2004).
• Life As a Vapor (Multnomah, 2004).
• A God Entranced Vision of All Things (Crossway, 2004).
• Sex and the Supremacy of Christ (Crossway, 2005).
• Taste and See (Multnomah, 2005).
• God is the Gospel (Crossway, 2005).
• Contending for Our All (Crossway, 2006).
• The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright (Crossway, 2007) Online book (PDF)
• Finally Alive (Christian Focus, 2009).