The most important influence on John Piper`s life and ministry has been Jonathan Edwards` essay, The End for Which God Created the World . The great theologian sought to show that God`s ultimate end is the manifestation of his own glory in the highest happiness of his creatures. Piper regards this as a stunning truth: namely, that God`s passion for His glory is the measure of His commitment to our joy. Piper has devoted the last 30 years of his ministry to exploring the implications of this. Here he passionately demonstrates the relevance of Edwards` ideals for the personal and public life of modern evangelicals through his own book-length introduction to Edwards` incomparable essay, and the inclusion of that original, unabridged work (for which Piper supplied almost a hundred notes). The result is a powerful and persuasive presentation of the things that matter most concerning the gospel, ministry and the Christian life -- in the days of Edwards, but even more so in our own time.