Eugene H. Peterson
Bio: Eugene was born in East Stanwood, Washington, on November 6, 1932. He soon moved to Kalispell, Montana, where he grew up. He is married to Janice Stubbs, and they have three adult children: Karen, Eric, and Leif. Eugene has written and contributed to more than 30 books. Many have called him a pastor's pastor.
After graduate study at Johns Hopkins, Eugene returned to New York Theological Seminary where he taught biblical languages and English Bible. Concurrently, he was associate pastor at the Presbyterian Church in White Plains, New York. This turned out to be a critical transition time for him because he had previously planned to be in academic work. At White Plains he discovered his pastoral vocation. In 1962 Eugene came to Bel Air, Maryland, as the organizing pastor of a new church, which became Christ Our King Presbyterian Church. In 1991 after 29 years at Christ Our King, he felt God was calling him to devote more time to writing and teaching. He spent one year at Pittsburgh Seminary as writer-in-residence. Much of his work on The Message took place during that year as well as the following summer and fall. In January of 1993 he became professor of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Colombia. Currently Eugene is a full-time writer and poet. He is Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology at Regent College. He continues to work on translating the entire Bible. He lives with his wife in Montana. Although Eugene is best known in theological and pastoral circles, several of his books, such as A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, have extended his influence to a much broader audience. He has been a regular contributor to magazines read by pastors and scholars as well as popular religious publications. He is often in demand as a guest lecturer and speaker, but he is not an ivory-tower academic, nor does he write merely from the mind. Eugene Peterson's heart is with people. Because of the extensive amount of time spent with people - in hospitals, over kitchen tables, in parking lots, and from the pulpit - Eugene knows how people think and talk, how they express feelings, how they communicate urgency, frustration, joy, and hope. This understanding of people, coupled with his lifetime of familiarity with Hebrew and Greek, is part of what motivated Eugene Peterson to write The Message.
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