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John Piper

John Piper is founder and teacher of Desiring God and chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most recently Foundations for Lifelong Learning: Education in Serious Joy.

The Cult of the Self and the Command of Jesus

This article appeared in Christianity Today under the title “Is Self-Love Biblical?”

"Love your neighbor as yourself" means that we should take all the zeal, ingenuity, and perseverance we have for our own good and apply it to others.

Is Faith a Way of Seeing?

Reflections on Faith and Reason

Faith is not a decision made in spite of lacking evidence. It is the affection that results when glory is truly seen.

How Do You Handle Compliments?

Christian Life 38 (March 1977): 27, 101–103

One of my very wise teachers did something I have never forgotten—something I have never had anyone else do since. He apologized for paying me a compliment. Having heard that my Old Testament professor liked a paper I had written…

Viewing History

John Piper reviews a book about the Christian approach to understanding history.

The Intentional Fallacy and the Meaning of Textual Meaning

The goal of interpreting a text should be to discover what the author willed to convey.

James D. Strauss' Critique of Jonathan Edwards' Freedom of the Will

In his article entitled "A Puritan in a Post-Puritan World" (in Grace Unlimited, ed., Clark H. Pinnock, Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1975, pp. 243ff) Strauss argues first that "a central fallacy, if not a lethal fallacy, in Edwards' argument is the…

Christian Elders in the New Testament

An exegetical study of the role and responsiblities of Christ's undershepherds.

The Glory of God as the Ground of Faith

If well-grounded, saving faith is to be available to all, it must be found in a more direct way than through detailed historical arguments.

Reflections on the Concept of Self-Worth

What does the term “self worth” mean to you? It means first a humanistic effort to solve man’s problems by helping him make peace with himself so that he ceases to be displeased with anything that is truly him. Since…

The Glory of God as the Goal of History

The two fold question I would like to try to answer is this: What is God's goal or aim in the history of mankind from its beginning at creation to its climax in the new heavens and new earth, and…

The Chronology of the New Testament

The aim of studying chronology is to discover the sequence of past events and how much time elapsed between them. It is an important branch of history because to determine the causes and effects of past events — as historians…

How Are the Synoptics “Without Error”?

Article One of Bethel's “Affirmation of Faith” reads: “The Bible is. . . without error in the original manuscripts.” There is a wide diversity of opinions about the meaning of “error” in such an affirmation. This is especially the case…

The Sovereignty of God and the Sin of the Believer

A Note on 1 Corinthians 10:13

When we give in to temptation is that ultimately self-determination or God's sovereign will?

Reflections on an Eschatology of Motherhood

Insight into an Often Misunderstood Saying of Our Lord

With the inbreaking of the kingdom of God into this world through Jesus, every human institution is about to pass away.

A Critical Review of God's Strategy in Human History

John Piper answers the argument that true love requires a freedom to choose.

The Authority And Meaning Of The Christian Canon

A Response To Gerald Sheppard On Canon Criticism

In the October 1974 issue of Studia Biblica et Theologica, an article by Gerald Sheppard appeared entitled “Canon Criticism: The Proposal of Brevard Childs and an Assessment for Evangelical Hermeneutics.” It has been a helpful stimulus to my own thinking…

Re: The New Covenant and the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Did Old Testament saints have the Holy Spirit? If so, what was the significance of Pentecost?

Is Faith Meritorious?

Does a person earn salvation by believing in Jesus?

The Argument of Romans 9:14-16

God's righteousness resounds most fully in his freely having mercy on whomever he wills.

A Response to J.I. Packer on the So-Called Antinomy Between the Sovereignty of God and Human Responsibility

In his book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (Chicago InterVarsity Press, 1961) J. I. Packer argues that the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man is an antinomy. He defines "antinomy" as "an appearance of contradiction between conclusions…

How I Make a Moral Choice

At the end of this paper I will give four very practical steps that I take as I enter the arena of each day where I must make moral choices. But more important than my commending to you these steps…

The Sovereignty of God and Prayer

The Sovereignty of God and Prayer

If God ordains all things, and his knowledge of all things is infallible, then what is the point of praying for anything to happen?

Book Review of “The Kingdom of God” by John Bright

How was Christ's coming a new manifestation of the Kingdom of God if it had already been a reality for centuries?

The Meanings of Love in the Bible

The Bible illustrates numerous kinds of love, such as the kind that seeks the good of unlovely or unwanted people.

Was Qumran the Cradle of Christianity?

A Critique of Johannes Lehmann's Jesus Report

From 1974: John Piper is currently completing his doctoral studies in New Testament at the University of Munich, Germany, where he began his work under the late Leonhard Goppelt. He is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary. A Glance at…

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