Tara from Denton, Texas writes in to ask, you said that C.S. Lewis is in your top five

of people who have influenced you the most.

Who are the others in your top five?

I wondered if that question might come back when I said, when I said five, I didn't even

think about five when I said it, but so, um, okay, so let's just be clear here before we

go on.

You just threw out the top five as a general parameter, not because you had it all figured

out.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I would not put him at the top.

I'll see if I can fit him in, okay?

Right at the top, I'm going to put Bill and Ruth Piper, okay?

Yes, absolutely.

Mom and Dad, because of tens of thousands of influences that are incalculable and unremembered

by little boy John Piper, right?

I mean, who of us could begin to estimate the impact of Christian parents on us even

if we can't remember decisive theological turning points?

So I'm going to rank my parents right at the top, give them the honor that I think they're

due and they're way, way above C.S. Lewis in shaping me, I am sure.

Secondly, Daniel Fuller, uh, my teacher in seminary introduced me to a way of reading

the Bible called Arcing and he introduced me to a great, glorious God whose pursuit of

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