About the Authors
John Piper (DTheol, University of Munich) is the founder and teacher of DesiringGod.org and the chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. He served for thirty-three years as the senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the author of more than fifty books, including Desiring God, Don’t Waste Your Life, This Momentary Marriage, A Peculiar Glory, and Reading the Bible Supernaturally.
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., PhD, is president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Southern Baptist Convention’s flagship school. Dr. Mohler is a radio personality, blogger, and sought-after commentator. He has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. He has also appeared on such national news programs as Larry King Live, NBC’s Today show, Dateline NBC, Good Morning America, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and The O’Reilly Factor. Dr. Mohler lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Mary.
John MacArthur is a popular author and conference speaker and has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly 2,000 English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, audiotapes, and CDs by John. He is president of the Master’s College and Seminary and has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one biblical and practical. Bestselling titles include The Gospel according to Jesus, The Truth War, The Murder of Jesus, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient.
James Montgomery Boice (1938–2000) was, until his death, the pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, the teacher on The Bible Study Hour radio program, and chair of the board of City Center Academy. He held a BD from Princeton Theological Seminary and a doctor of theology from the University of Basel in Switzerland. In addition to authoring numerous journal articles, he was a consulting editor for the Expositor’s Bible Commentary. His books and commentaries include Foundations of God’s City and the five-volume work The Gospel of John.
Dr. R. C. Sproul, the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries, is known for his ability to communicate the deep truths of the Christian faith. He is president of Reformation Bible College, preaches at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, and teaches on the daily radio program Renewing Your Mind. He has written more than eighty books.
Sinclair B. Ferguson, PhD is professor of systematic theology at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas, and the former senior minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina. He is the author of several books, the most recent being By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me. Sinclair and his wife, Dorothy, have four grown children.
Dr.
Derek W. H. Thomas is the associate minister at First
Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, and an adjunct professor of
systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. He is a council member of
the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, where he also serves as editorial
director, and is the editor of Reformation
21, the Alliance’s online magazine. A native of Wales, Dr. Thomas graduated
from RTS in 1978 then pastored for seventeen years in Belfast, Northern
Ireland. He earned his PhD from the University of Wales, Lampeter. He served as
the minister of teaching at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi,
before his call to Columbia. The author of numerous books, his other interests
include the music of Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner, and Gustav Mahler. Dr. Thomas and his wife, Rosemary, have two
adult children and two grandchildren.
Joel R. Beeke, PhD, is president and professor of
systematic theology and homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary,
pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, editor of the Banner of
Sovereign Grace Truth, and author of numerous books.
Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. As a young teenager, he became quite well known in Odense as a reciter of drama and as a singer. When he was fourteen, he set off for the capital, Copenhagen, determined to become a national success on the stage. He failed miserably, but made some influential friends in the capital who got him into school to remedy his lack of proper education. In 1829 his first book was published. After that, books came out at regular intervals. His stories began to be translated into English as early as 1846. Since then, numerous editions, and more recently Hollywood songs and Disney cartoons, have helped to ensure the continuing popularity of the stories in the English-speaking world.