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The Mind in Another Place: My Life as a Scholar Hardcover – March 22, 2022
by Luke Timothy Johnson (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
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A witness to the peculiar way of being that is the scholar’s
Luke Timothy Johnson is one of the best-known and most influential New Testament scholars of recent decades. In this memoir, he draws on his rich experience to invite readers into the scholar’s life—its aims, commitments, and habits.
In addition to sharing his own story, from childhood to retirement, Johnson reflects on the nature of scholarship more generally, showing how this vocation has changed over the past half-century and where it might be going in the future. He is as candid and unsparing about negative trends in academia as he is hopeful about the possibilities of steadfast, disciplined scholarship. In two closing chapters, he discusses the essential intellectual and moral virtues of scholarly excellence, including curiosity, imagination, courage, discipline, persistence, detachment, and contentment.
Johnson’s robust defense of the scholarly life—portrayed throughout this book as a generative process of discovery and disclosure—will inspire both new and seasoned scholars, as well as anyone who reads and values good scholarship. But The Mind in Another Place ultimately resonates beyond the walls of the academy and speaks to matters more universally human: the love of knowledge and the lifelong pursuit of truth.
272 pages
From the Publisher
Praise for THE MIND IN ANOTHER PLACE
LAURA SALAH NASRALLAH, Yale University
“It is so important for biblical scholars to give an account of their own formation—the social, racial, and educational contexts that led to their work. This is what we find, in accessible prose, in Luke Timothy Johnson’s memoir. Readers will find an engaging account of his life. In his accounts of his doctoral education and career, they will find a rich resource for studying the historical context of New Testament studies in the United States in the mid-twentieth century to the turn of the twenty-first century.”
DALE C. ALLISON JR., Princeton Theological Seminary
“Biblical scholars rarely write books of the ‘I couldn't put it down’ variety. But Johnson has done so. It is entertaining. It is informative (documenting, among other things, a field’s changes over the last half century). And it is wise, above all regarding the moral and intellectual virtues. If you aspire to be a historian of early Christianity or an exegete of its texts and cannot find yourself in this book, you need to pursue another line of work.”
PHEME PERKINS, Boston College
“Luke Timothy Johnson has been a clarion voice challenging conventional reading for a half century whether among students whose first course was his Writings of the New Testament, scholars engaging his exegetical work on Luke-Acts and the ‘outer circles’ of a Pauline canon, or churches tuning to a prophetic voice of Jesus. Memories of another America, a monastic and seminary culture long gone, and even universities themselves could be a cabinet of curiosities. Not as Johnson tells it. The Mind in Another Place takes readers into the ‘passionate detachment’ of a life devoted to what the author admits is scholarship with a contrarian streak. A great read for anyone discerning if scholarship is the Mount Everest to climb.”
TODD D. STILL, Baylor University
“I have always admired Luke Timothy Johnson’s immense erudition, independent judgment, refreshing candor, and clear prose. Each of these qualities—and others to boot—is fully and compellingly on display in his intriguing, insightful, and instructive memoir. In The Mind in Another Place, Johnson not only reflects upon how he became and sought to serve as a scholar in various academic contexts but also considers the intellectual and moral virtues that scholars should seek to cultivate and demonstrate. More than a memoir, then, this volume is something of an intellectual autobiography, which is both enjoyable and educative to read. I warmly commend this book both to (would-be) scholars and to curious lay readers alike.”
Meet the Author
Luke Timothy Johnson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Christian Origins at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He won the 2011 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his Among the Gentiles: Greco-Roman Religion and Christianity. Johnson’s many other books include The Revelatory Body; Brother of Jesus, Friend of God; The Writings of the New Testament; and the two-volume work The Canonical Paul.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Luke Timothy Johnson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Christian Origins at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He won the 2011 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his Among the Gentiles: Greco-Roman Religion and Christianity. Johnson's many other books include The Revelatory Body; Brother of Jesus, Friend of God; The Writings of the New Testament; and the two- volume work The Canonical Paul.
Product details
Publisher : Eerdmans (March 22, 2022)
Language : English
Hardcover : 272 pages
4.6 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
Luke Timothy Johnson
Top reviews from the United States
George Van Grieken
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful guide for a scholar's mind and life.Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2022
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Reading this work was for me like walking through one of Rome's great churches. There is both an element of sensory overload and an element of magnetic intrigue with the sheer breadth of depth and detail that invites appreciation in every nook and cranny.
This was a joy to read. One becomes immersed in the world of scholarship without having to do the actual work of scholarship, a benefit that is largely due to the author's lifetime pursuit and well-honed ability to do well what he holds most dear; that is, describe and advance complex matters in clear and cogent ways.
It's the kind of book that should be required reading for anyone interested in professionally, or even personally and privately, pursuing the life of the mind. In fact, its recommended virtues are much more widely applicable to the pursuit of any serious subject area or life goal. Bravo to the author for being such a good tour guide.
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Susy Flory
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional account of the scholarly lifeReviewed in the United States on July 23, 2022
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I read parts of this book as a hardcopy, in part via Audible with The author reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just finished a graduate degree at seminary, and I’m starting my next program in the fall. Some of the things Johnson talks about were completely new to me – – I loved his stories from the monastic life (he was a Benedictine monk for 10 years) and this inside view from a noted New Testament scholar‘s life. I loved his concluding list of scholarly virtues, and his bent towards humility. Highly recommended.
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Mary Robin Craig
5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed and fascinating insight into the life of a scholarReviewed in the United States on May 3, 2022
I don't think that I am the intended audience for this book, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Many decades ago, my honors English advisor discouraged me from pursuing an academic career, lamenting the politics involved, and warning me that the job market was such that I was likely to end up at a less than stellar institution of learning. I was far too young to understand that his complaints probably had more to do with his own dissatisfaction with departmental politics than with anything else. (I don't think he had any reason to be unhappy with the quality of our top university, but I have no way of knowing.) At any rate, I went on to law school, and eventually to seminary, and have thus had a professional life characterized far more by the practicalities of the needs of others than by rigorous scholarship.
That said, this book offers tremendous insight into the life of an academic, from both professional and personal vantage points. It provides a glimpse -- far more than a glimpse, actually -- of the enormous underwater portion of the iceberg in contrast to the surface that we all see. As with so many of us, there was little straightforward in Johnson's personal life to ease his professional progress, and yet he prevailed, demonstrating great courage in his choices and persistence in living the consequences. He started out as a monk, benefitting from the depth of a Catholic education in theology and philosophy; fell wildly in love and left his celibate life for marriage and a complex family life; struggled against the financial realities imposed by his wife's health problems and the inadequacy of university health benefits; and made major contributions in building academic departments in institutions whose identities lie at some remove from his Catholic origins.
There are certainly chunks of the book that I found difficult to follow, as he often refers to scholars and debates about which I know little or nothing. Yet I have wondered, as I read, whether having this book in hand as a college senior might have caused me to make different choices. I doubt that I would have survived the language requirements of doctoral programs! But I think that it would make a great gift for other young people trying to decide whether to pursue life in the academy.
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John Williams
4.0 out of 5 stars Scholarship as a Form of PlayReviewed in the United States on June 11, 2022
Although this book is a memoir, it has the feel of an academic study owing to its copious end notes and extensive index. Johnson aims to describe his own career as a scholar in biblical studies and to give guidance to any students who might be interested in such a career.
Given the dramatic elements of his story—becoming an orphan before his teenage years, being educated in a Catholic seminary by Benedictine monks, taking priestly vows before his sexual awakening, discovering the joys of the academy, renouncing his life as a monk to marry a divorcée nine years his senior and the mother of six children—this could well be the script of a movie.
Nevertheless, it is not. Most of the book details his academic career at Yale, Indiana, and Emory, including the stories behind his numerous books. Unless you have a background in theology or biblical studies, the description of his scholarly interests, stances, and debates with other professors will often be dry or confusing.
Although Johnson counsels potential scholars to write cogently and clearly, I doubt most readers will have a clear understanding of what "phenomenological readings," "epistemological constraints," "hermeneutical models," "scholarly mauvaise foi," or "theological valence" actually mean. I wager that over ninety-nine percent of the American reading public cannot define phenomenology. It would have been helpful had Johnson given some specific examples of what he meant when he used big words.
Of greater interest to the general public would have been an explanation of how exactly the Holy Spirit (see page 85) was at work in a "scandalous" marriage (114) that deliberately went against the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5:32 (thereby breaking the seventh commandment) but that was for Johnson a "singular experience of grace" (84-85, 168). Perhaps he would reply that, to understand, you need to read one or more of his other books, but that, alas, is not practicable. Each book should stand on its own.
In short, this book has a limited audience and will sell the 20,000 copies desired by his publisher only if every theological library in the country and everyone is his scholarly community buys several. My local Iibrary bought one at my request, and I enjoyed reading it. I wish the author much happiness in his retirement.
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James Klagge
Jun 16, 2022James Klagge rated it really liked it
Shelves: academia, memoirs-autobio, religion-theology, reading-writing
While I consider myself well-read in theology, I had never read anything by the author. I had heard of him, but not read anything. I was attracted by the subtitle--since I consider myself a scholar as well.
The first thing to say is that I am not as much of a scholar as the author--maybe 10% as much! He offers a litany of his publications (p. 5)--35 books, 75+ articles, 100+ popular articles, 200+ book reviews... I'm a far cry from that...and I consider myself fairly productive--4 books, 4 edited books, 27 articles... I'm not sure how you do that much! But we are on the same path anyway.
The second thing to say is that the author's personal life remained something of a mystery. It is true that he did not propose to write a spiritual memoir. But his spiritual life--he began as a monk and then soon accepted excommunication to marry, a woman 9 years older than him with 6 children and significant health challenges--had a great impact on his scholarly life, yet we never learn much about that (pp. 82-5). There was a slight parallel between our paths early on. Once while I was working on my PhD I considered focussing on doing community development work in a Christian community before going into academia. But the advice of a professor and a budding romance turned me away from that route. Perhaps it remained a mystery to him as well. But he is so articulate about so many things that it is hard to imagine he couldn't have articulated more about this. Anyway...
I thought the author did a good job of characterizing the life of a scholar--not only the process of research, but the other activities such as teaching, administration, public service, family...that make such a life a challenge. What he did not do as well, at least through most of the book, was to characterize his own scholarly contributions. He certainly listed them. But not as much of what they amounted to in general terms accessible to most readers, such as myself. (He did this more near the end.) The one area that I had some familiarity with was the work of the Jesus Seminar--assessing the historicity of Jesus (e.g., The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus). I have long been a fan of this work, and it was frustrating to hear that he roundly criticized it, without him offering a clear account of why (pp. 146-49). He questioned their method, but I was unclear how he disagreed with their conclusions--especially since he distances himself from fundamentalists. I gather that he thinks historicity is the wrong lens to bring to the issue, but I wish he had done more to explain his preferred lens. In general, when it came to his research contributions, he never presented them in a way that made me think I would read this or that by him. In the end I felt sympathetic to the views and approaches he set out, but I was never pulled in. And so that was a little disappointing.
The author's scholarly career spanned about 1970 to the present (mine about 1975 to the present), so it was interesting to recall the evolution of scholarship in those decades. E.g., the advent of personal computers for faculty in the late 1980's, the move from letters to faxes to e-mail, by the mid-1990's, the development of digital resources beginning around 2000, etc. When I was corresponding with G.H. von Wright about Wittgenstein stuff for our book Philosophical Occasions: 1912-1951 we used faxes, which were faster than letters! When I published a survey of Wittgenstein's use of the concept "besteht darin [consisting in]" in 1995, it was completely based on my actual reading of all the sources. There was no digital search I could do. (And I don't think I missed any!)
When the author recounts his childhood and the relevant influences, he recounts an intellectual family life. In my case it was not until I was in high school that I found the debate team and friends who valued intellectual activities--not that my family discouraged that, but never modeled it.
One interesting topic the author considered was productivity and perfectionism (pp. 130, 221). On the one hand he talks about the odd valuing on non-productivity in elite departments--as though there is something beneath dignity to actually publish things. I have heard about this but not experienced it. And then he also discusses perfectionism, where a scholar can't let go of a piece. This was how Wittgenstein behaved, and to a lesser extent was present at UCLA when I was a grad student there (1976-1983). Maybe Rogers Albritton is the best example of that, but also exhibited by David Kaplan to a lesser extent. Kaplan never published his monograph on Demonstratives (on which he gave courses in the late 1970s) and only allowed it to be published in a collection about his work Themes from Kaplan published in 1989. The ethos at UCLA was certainly to publish only very carefully.
The author had an incredible commitment to teaching. This is all to the good, and something that I share in my own work. But he took it far beyond anything I would expect. When he has TAs--in his case for courses around 100 students--he not only oversees their work, but he himself does all the actual grading. This would be completely unworkable in my case, with courses numbering 150+ students. But it seems to me that TAs should be trusted to do their grading, with proper oversight. I'm not sure why he went that far.
I most enjoyed the book's chapters near the end on the intellectual and moral virtues of a scholar. These were interesting and to me insightful and plausible. He discusses the importance of not allowing ideological perspectives to overwhelm the issues under discussion. It is clear that this has had greater impact on New Testament studies than it has on Wittgenstein studies. I hope that remains true.
He also discusses the long time it sometimes takes to research, process and write up scholarly results. This was true of a number of the author's projects. This was another respect in which my own work can be compared to the author's. My longest-term project Tractatus in Context: The Essential Background for Appreciating Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus took 45 years. Another Wittgenstein's Artillery: Philosophy as Poetry took 10 years. And my views about Wittgenstein's views on the relation of mind and brain have evolved over 30 years, starting with a paper in 1989, another in 1996, this book Wittgenstein in Exile in 2011, and a book review in 2018.
Another virtue the author promotes is Imagination. I especially appreciate this one. Ray Monk's famous biography of Wittgenstein Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius is subtitled "The Duty of Genius." Monk uses "genius" as a perspective to view Wittgenstein's life. In one of my books I use "exile" as a perspective to view his life. This is not a fact that one discovers or proves, but an imaginative way of thinking about Wittgenstein. The "proof" is only in how much illumination it brings. Perhaps this seems to go beyond the work of the scholar, narrowly construed. But it is a contribution to our appreciation. That is what I have aimed for.
Another virtue the author promotes is breadth, which I also second. He mentions the value of reading literature broadly--not (just) for its content, but for its vision. I have especially brought this to bear in my recent book Wittgenstein's Artillery: Philosophy as Poetry. In one chapter I draw on a wide range of examples from literature to illustrate other ways of doing some of the kinds of things Wittgenstein tries to do in his vignettes and aphorisms. To appreciate Wittgenstein we have to try to bring as broad a perspective as he himself brought to his own work.
All in all, this book gave me a lot to think about, and I appreciated the author's candor. I guess I wished for even more--but that may be too much to ask. (less)
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Robert D. Cornwall
Apr 01, 2022Robert D. Cornwall rated it it was amazing
Shelves: memoirs, new-testament
I enjoy reading well-written memoirs by figures who inhabit similar spaces as me. Thus, being a pastor and a scholar, reading the memoir of a person like Luke Timothy Johnson is enticing. I don't remember if it was his commentary on Acts, which I relied upon during my brief tenure as a professor, or his somewhat controversial response to the Jesus Seminar (The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus & the Truth of the Traditional Gospels, but I have long respected his scholarship and his willingness to take on his colleagues. I knew a bit of his story, and even had the opportunity to meet him a number of years ago at a conference I regularly attended, but I still didn't know much about him. Now I do.
The subtitle of this memoir reveals the central theme of the book. The now emeritus professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Emory University notes at the start that when one decides to write a memoir, one must decide why such a venture is worthwhile. In other words, who is going to read this book? After all, Johnson has had a long and influential career as a teacher, speaker, scholar, and author, but he's not a celebrity. Nevertheless, he decided he has a story to tell, and that story has to do with why and how he became a scholar, and once he became one, what that meant for him.
Writing a review of a memoir is always tricky because you don't want to give away too much. However, like most memoirs, this one starts at the beginning, with his origins as a young boy in a small town in Wisconsin. His father died not long after he was born, but his mother made sure that he and his older siblings had a home, an education, and a religious upbringing. Unfortunately, his mother died early herself, and that led to a rather peripatetic life that ended up with him living and studying at a seminary at the age of thirteen. With that, he began his journey to becoming a monk, a priest, and a scholar. He loved God, the church, and reading. He read voraciously across a wide variety of genres, and all of that fed the search for knowledge.
Johnson distinguishes between an intellectual and a scholar. The former is inquisitive, knowledgeable, and likely well-read. What makes for a scholar, as we will see is the commitment to a life of productive research that generally leads to the academic life, including teaching and writing. It's the academic life that drives the conversation, as he moves through seminary to ordination to the decision to pursue scholarship, which led eventually to Yale and Ph.D. in New Testament. All the while, he was a monk and a priest assuming he would be such for his life. That is until he met Joy, and everything changed. As we learn, his decision to marry Joy would have significant ramifications on his life (and hers). Of course, he left the priesthood, and because of her status as a divorced woman, that made life in the Catholic Church difficult.
In any case, we follow him as he finishes his Ph.D., takes up a non-tenure track position at Yale Divinity School, followed by a decade at Indiana University, and finally his move to Emory, where he became the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins. The focus of the book is on the scholarly life, though his marriage plays a significant role in the journey as the reader will discover. We learn what it means to be an academic/scholar. We may know a person like Johnson from his writings, both scholarly and more popular, but we may not know what it's like to be a professor. Yes, there's teaching but there's a lot more to it than that. There are the committees and other forms of service. There are the relationships with students that take place outside the classroom.
One part of the story that some will be familiar with is his engagement with the Jesus Seminary, an engagement that brought him much attention. But as he shares, he may have sold lots of books and gained notoriety, but it wasn't a pleasant experience. I must admit that I share many of his concerns about the Jesus Seminar and the way they go about their scholarship. They have garnered attention but is it because of good scholarship. That's to be determined, but Johnson's not a fan.
As the reader discovers, Johnson is a complicated figure. In some ways, he's rather conservative, especially in the way he reads the New Testament. Part of this stems from his insistence to engage in serious exegesis. Part of it has to do with his own religious convictions. He may have left the priesthood, but the priesthood stays with him. While he writes for and with the Catholic Church, he notes that he never sought the imprimatur of the church. Thus, he remains free to do as he believes is right. At the same time, he is supportive of women in ministry and the full inclusion of LGBTQ folks.
As noted, Johnson begins the story with his journey to become a scholar, which is explored in four chapters of Part One. Part Two begins after he finished his doctoral work and became a scholar (Part Two). Finally in Part Three, a section titled "A Scholars Virtues" he focuses on two forms of virtue -- intellectual and moral. By moral, he means emotional and volitional virtues such as courage, ambition (it's not what you think), discipline, persistence, detachment, contentment, multitasking (he doesn't mean playing solitaire on your phone while you watch a TV show). The focus here, on both intellectual and moral virtues, is a commitment to excellence as a scholar.
That is what he sought after, excellence in his life as a scholar. It is according to these virtues that he judges himself. He might not fully reach the standards he set for himself, but that is his guiding principle.
I've attempted to give a brief overview without saying too much. I'm not sure if everyone will find the book as interesting as I did, but then I've attempted to be a scholar (though as he notes it's more difficult to do so effectively outside the academy --- he's correct), so I enjoyed thoroughly his descriptions of the scholarly life, some of which I sought after but couldn't attain. He writes with clarity and keeps you involved in the story. I highly recommend it!
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Norman Falk
Jun 21, 2022Norman Falk rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: theology, memoirs
The first 3/4 of the book is CV commentary; it’s essentially the chronicles of LTJ. An overly critical eye finds him perhaps bragging in this part of the memoir. But a more sympathetic view sees a child eager to share with the world all the exciting things he saw and did during the day. It’s all about the joy and delight of a particular kind of work. This image of scholarship as imaginative play is found throughout the memoir, but it is also creatively held in tension with order and purpose. “Scholarship in my area, I understood, mattered in a deeply existential way”.
The remaining 1/4 of the memoir is a beautiful lesson on (and illustration of) the intellectual and moral virtues required of a scholar in the humanities. You may just as well skip and read this section of the book. It’s that good.
The memoir feels like an the honest, un-fabricated retelling of a Biblical scholar’s life ...in North America . But this specific social and geographical reference point is not fully recognized. LTJ claims not to have been given the privilege of the Ivory tower, and he is probably right…if the comparison is mainly with other Biblical scholars in the US. But scholars and practitioners from non-western contexts may still look at an Ivory tower here. Having all conditions nicely lined so as to be able to regularly put one’s “mind in another place” is not a privilege extended to many theological educators in other parts of the world, even if they put just as much work into it.
But yea, i do agree with him that all this social location stuff can be overplayed. For instance, I share his concerns over ideological assumptions that stand behind personal introductory statements like this one: “I am an Asian, feminist, postcolonial scholar in the Gospel of John” (more details of the incident in the book). It’s not that he is a full-blown contrarian. He just doesn't like the policing.
This is how he concludes: “My own work will join the great river of forgetfulness that flows into the ocean of oblivion…All the more important, then, that I did my work taking delight in the process rather than in the expectation of success”. Very Qoheletian and I love it. The book is full with this kind of wisdom. Very insightful on so many levels… (less)
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Ephrem Arcement
May 01, 2022Ephrem Arcement rated it really liked it
This book will certainly have its target audience and won't suit the everyone's interest, but I, even though not a scholar, count myself one who has been targeted. I've been interested in Luke Timothy Johnson since way before I joined the same monastery he did. His singular and unique journey as a monk and then married with children, many children, and one who way gay, initially peeked my curiosity. His Writings of the New Testament as a recommended source at my Protestant divinity school intrigued me. Once I began reading him, his vision and clear prose won me over. I have been privileged to meet Luke on a few occasions, one being the time I received his U-Haul collection of books when he moved out of his office at Emory and brought them to St. Joseph Abbey. Another was when I sang at his beloved wife's funeral. There are few people for whom I have a genuine admiration. Luke is one of them. I am inspired by his energy and sacrifice. I am challenged by his courage and convictions. I am touched by his commitment and wide embrace (especially of his gay step-daughter in a church and discipline where this is counter-cultural). I've read nearly everything Luke has written and am a wiser and better person because of it. So, it was with great interest that I moved (very quickly) through the pages of his fascinating memoir. Thank you, Luke, for your faithfulness...to your craft, to your faith, and to your family. What a gift you are! (less)
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Michele Morin
Jun 26, 2022Michele Morin rated it really liked it
I’ve always been curious about the life of an academic, and while my own story has been anything but ivory tower, I fully identify with Luke Timothy Johnson’s assessment that the pursuit of truth often results in a life characterized by The Mind in Another Place. In his engaging memoir, Johnson recounts the influences that shaped his early decision to become a scholar and then remembers the unique challenges and rewards of that manner of life.
Whether we make a career in academia or simply make the commitment to a life of intellectual inquiry, Johnson’s story is an inspiration to pursue excellence and to embrace curiosity. Particularly in today’s cancel-culture, the risks of true scholarship run from pesky trolling all the way to career-ending attacks, requiring a level of courage in the pursuit and the communication of truth.
Fortunately, the author’s immersion in New Testament literature has been more than merely academic, and his passion for learning was fueled by a relationship with the main character of the sacred text. His role as a teacher was clearly a calling, enabling him to conclude, “As I gladly learned, so gladly did I teach.” May this be the motive behind my own quest for truth!
Many thanks to Eerdmans Publishing for providing copies of these books to facilitate my reviews, which are, of course, offered freely and with honesty. (less)
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Kathleen
Jul 16, 2022Kathleen rated it really liked it
Shelves: christian, memoir
I was inspired (!) to read this from the book review in Christian Century:
https://www.christiancentury.org/revi... (less)
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Luke Timothy Johnson
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luke Timothy Johnson
Born November 20, 1943 (age 80)
Park Falls, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation(s) Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Candler School of Theology
Known for Theologian, historian, scholar, former priest
Spouse Joy Randazzo (1974–2017; her death)
Children 1 (& 6 stepchildren)
Awards 2011 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion
Academic background
Education Notre Dame Seminary, Saint Meinrad School of Theology, Indiana University
Alma mater Yale University (Ph.D.)
Academic work
Discipline New Testament studies
Institutions Candler School of Theology, Emory University
Notable works The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels
Luke Timothy Johnson (born November 20, 1943) is an American New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity. He is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Candler School of Theology and a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University.
Johnson's research interests encompass the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts of early Christianity (particularly moral discourse), Luke-Acts, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Epistle of James.
Early life
A native of Park Falls, Wisconsin, Johnson was educated in public and parochial schools. A Benedictine monk and priest at St. Joseph Abbey, St. Benedict, Louisiana from 1963 to 1972, he received a B.A. in Philosophy from Notre Dame Seminary in 1966, a M.Div. in Theology from Saint Meinrad School of Theology in 1970, an M.A. in Religious Studies from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in New Testament from Yale University in 1976.[1] He has taught at St. Meinrad, Saint Joseph Seminary College, Yale Divinity School, and Indiana University.
Academic career
Johnson is a critic of the Jesus Seminar, having taken stances against Burton Mack, Robert Funk and John Dominic Crossan in discussions of the "historical Jesus".[2] Johnson objects to the Seminar's historical methodology. He is also a proponent of an early dating for the Epistle of James, arguing:
The Letter of James also, according to the majority of scholars who have carefully worked through its text in the past two centuries, is among the earliest of New Testament compositions. It contains no reference to the events in Jesus' life, but it bears striking testimony to Jesus' words. Jesus' sayings are embedded in James' exhortations in a form that is clearly not dependent on the written Gospels.[3]
In some areas, Johnson disagrees with Roman Catholic teaching. He has argued that "same-sex unions can be holy and good" and is in favor of "full recognition of gay and lesbian persons within the Christian communion."[4]
Johnson has produced lectures on early Christianity and ancient Greek philosophy for The Teaching Company. [5]
Recognition
He is the recipient of the 2011 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion.[6]
Personal life
Johnson married Joy Randazzo in 1974 and is stepfather to six children and father of one.
Publications
Johnson, Luke Timothy (1973). Teaching Religion to Undergraduates. Society for Religion in Higher Education.
——— (1977). The Literary Function of Possessions in Luke-Acts. Dissertation series (Society of Biblical Literature). Vol. 39. Missoula, MT: Scholars Press. ISBN 978-0-8913-0200-1. OCLC 3327240.
——— (1980). Invitation to the Letters of Paul III: Ephesians, Colossians, Pastorals. (Commentary)
——— (1980). The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation (1st ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-800-61886-5.
——— (1981). Sharing Possessions: Mandate and Symbol of Faith. Overtures to Biblical Theology. Vol. 9. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-800-61534-5. OCLC 7553096.
——— (1981). Some Hard Blessings: Meditations on the Beatitudes in Matthew. ISBN 978-0-8950-5058-8.
——— (1982). Luke-Acts: A Story of Prophet and People. ISBN 978-0-8199-0524-6.
——— (1983). Decision Making in the Church: A Biblical Model. ISBN 978-0-800-61694-6.
——— (1987). 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus. ISBN 978-0-8042-3242-5.
——— (1990). Faith's Freedom: A Classic Spirituality for Contemporary Christians. ISBN 978-0-800-62428-6.
——— (1991). The Gospel of Luke. Sacra Pagina series. Vol. 3. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-8146-5966-3. OCLC 23733531. (Commentary)
——— (1992). The Acts of the Apostles. Sacra Pagina series. Vol. 5. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-8146-5968-7. (Commentary)
——— (1993). Proclamation 5: Interpreting the Lessons of the Church Year. ISBN 978-0-800-64184-9.
——— (1995). The Letter of James: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible. Vol. 37a. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-3854-1360-2. OCLC 31374078. (Commentary)
——— (1996). The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 978-0-0606-4166-5. OCLC 32625131.
——— (1996). Scripture and Discernment: Decision Making in the Church. ISBN 978-0-6870-1238-1.
——— (1996). Letters to Paul's Delegates: A Commentary on 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. New Testament in Context. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International. ISBN 978-1-5633-8144-7. OCLC 35360799. (Commentary)
——— (1997). Reading Romans: A Literary and Theological Commentary. Reading the New Testament Series. New York: Crossroad Pub. ISBN 978-1573122764. OCLC 35151248. (Commentary)
——— (1998). Religious Experience: A Missing Dimension in New Testament Studies. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-800-63129-1. OCLC 39079005.
——— (1999). Living Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospel. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 978-0060642839. OCLC 39050865.
———; Crossan, John Dominic; Kelber, Werner H. (1999). The Jesus Controversy: perspectives in conflict. Rockwell Lecture Series. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International. ISBN 978-1-5633-8289-5. OCLC 41628131.
——— (2001). The First and Second Letters to Timothy: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible. Vol. 35a. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-3854-8422-0. OCLC 43657061. (Commentary)
——— (2002). The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation (2nd revised ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-334-02911-3.
———; Kurz, William S. (2002). Future of Catholic Biblical Scholarship: A Constructive Conversation. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-802-84545-0. OCLC 49902174.
——— (2002). Septuagintal Midrash in the Speeches of Acts. Père Marquette lecture in theology. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press. ISBN 978-0-8746-2582-0. OCLC 49011355.
——— (2003). The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why it Matters. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-50247-4. OCLC 51534973.
——— (2004). Brother of Jesus, Friend of God: Studies in the Letter of James. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-0986-5.
——— (2006). Hebrews: A Commentary. New Testament library. Louisville, KY: Westminster, John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-6642-2118-8. OCLC 62738718. (Commentary)
——— (2009). Among the Gentiles: Greco - Roman Religion and Christianity. Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-14208-2. OCLC 444387833.
——— (2010). The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation (3rd ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-800-66361-2.
——— (2010). The New Testament: A Very Short Introduction. Very short introductions. Vol. 229. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-73570-9. OCLC 438055743.
——— (2011). Sharing Possessions: What Faith Demands, Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-0399-3.
——— (2011). Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church: The Challenge of Luke-Acts to Contemporary Christians. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-802-80390-0.
——— (2013). Contested Issues in Christian Origins and the New Testament: Collected Essays. Supplements to Novum Testamentum. Brill. ISBN 978-9-0042-4290-6.
——— (2015). The Revelatory Body: Theology as Inductive Art. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-0383-2.
——— (2020). Constructing Paul (The Canonical Paul, vol. 1). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-0758-8.
——— (2021). Interpreting Paul (The Canonical Paul, vol. 2). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-2466-0.
——— (2022). The Mind in Another Place: My Life as a Scholar. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-8011-6.
Johnson is also the author of a large number of scholarly articles, encyclopedia, anthology and popular articles, book reviews, and other academic papers and lectures.
