Luke Timothy Johnson Explained

Luke Timothy Johnson
Birth Date:	November 20, 1943
Birth Place:	Park Falls, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation:	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)
Discipline:	New Testament studies
Education:	Notre Dame Seminary Saint Meinrad School of Theology Indiana University Bloomington
Alma Mater:	Yale University (Ph.D.)
Workplaces:	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
Awards:	2011 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion

Luke Timothy Johnson (born November 20, 1943) is an American Catholic 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 Bloomington, 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 from 1976 to 1982, and Indiana University from 1982 to 1992.

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]

Publications

• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy. Teaching Religion to Undergraduates. Society for Religion in Higher Education. 1973.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy. 3. The Literary Function of Possessions in Luke-Acts. Dissertation series (Society of Biblical Literature). 39. Missoula, Montana. Scholars Press. 1977 . 978-0-8913-0200-1. 3327240.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Invitation to the Letters of Paul III: Ephesians, Colossians, Pastorals. 1980. (Commentary)
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fortress Press. 1980. 978-0-800-61886-5 . 1st.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Sharing Possessions: Mandate and Symbol of Faith. Overtures to Biblical Theology . 9 . Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fortress Press . 1981. 978-0-800-61534-5 . 7553096.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Some Hard Blessings: Meditations on the Beatitudes in Matthew . 1981. Argus Communications . 978-0-8950-5058-8.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Luke-Acts: A Story of Prophet and People . 1982. 978-0-8199-0524-6.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Decision Making in the Church: A Biblical Model . 1983 . Fortress Press . 978-0-800-61694-6 . registration .
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus . 1987. 978-0-8042-3242-5.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Faith's Freedom: A Classic Spirituality for Contemporary Christians . 1990. Fortress Press . 978-0-800-62428-6.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. The Gospel of Luke . Sacra Pagina series. 3 . Collegeville, Minnesota. Liturgical Press. 1991. 978-0-8146-5966-3 . 23733531. (Commentary)
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. The Acts of the Apostles . Sacra Pagina series. 5 . Collegeville, Minnesoa. Liturgical Press . 1992. 978-0-8146-5968-7. (Commentary)
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy. 3. Proclamation 5: Interpreting the Lessons of the Church Year. 1993. Fortress Press . 978-0-800-64184-9. registration.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. The Letter of James: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary . . 37a. New York . Doubleday. 1995. 978-0-3854-1360-2. 31374078. (Commentary)
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels . San Francisco, California. HarperSanFrancisco . 1996 . 978-0-0606-4166-5 . 32625131 . registration .
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Scripture and Discernment: Decision Making in the Church. 1996. Abingdon Press . 978-0-6870-1238-1.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Letters to Paul's Delegates: A Commentary on 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus . New Testament in Context. Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Trinity Press International. 1996. 978-1-5633-8144-7. 35360799. (Commentary)
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Reading Romans: A Literary and Theological Commentary. Reading the New Testament Series. New York. Crossroad Pub. 1997. 978-1573122764. 35151248. (Commentary)
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Religious Experience: A Missing Dimension in New Testament Studies . Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fortress Press. 1998. 978-0-800-63129-1 . 39079005.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy. 3. Living Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospel. San Francisco, California. HarperSanFrancisco. 1999. 978-0060642839. 39050865. registration.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Crossan. John Dominic. John Dominic Crossan . Kelber. Werner H.. The Jesus Controversy: perspectives in conflict. Rockwell Lecture Series. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Trinity Press International. 1999. 978-1-5633-8289-5. 41628131.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy. 3. The First and Second Letters to Timothy: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible. 35a. New York . Doubleday. 2001. 978-0-3854-8422-0 . 43657061. (Commentary)
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation . Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fortress Press. 2002 . 978-0-334-02911-3 . 2nd revised.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Kurz. William S.. Future of Catholic Biblical Scholarship: A Constructive Conversation. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans. 2002. 978-0-802-84545-0 . 49902174.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Septuagintal Midrash in the Speeches of Acts . Père Marquette lecture in theology . Milwaukee. Marquette University Press . 2002. 978-0-8746-2582-0 . 49011355.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why it Matters. New York . . 2003 . 978-0-385-50247-4 . 51534973.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . Brother of Jesus, Friend of God: Studies in the Letter of James. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans. 2004 . 978-0-8028-0986-5.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Hebrews: A Commentary . New Testament library . Louisville, Kentucky. Westminster, John Knox Press. 2006 . 978-0-6642-2118-8 . 62738718. (Commentary)
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Among the Gentiles: Greco - Roman Religion and Christianity. . New Haven, Connecticut. Yale University Press. 2009. 978-0-300-14208-2. 444387833.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation . Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fortress Press. 2010. 978-0-800-66361-2 . 3rd.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3 . The New Testament: A Very Short Introduction. Very short introductions. 229. Oxford ; New York. Oxford University Press . 2010 . 978-0-199-73570-9 . 438055743.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Sharing Possessions: What Faith Demands, Second Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans. 2011. 978-0-8028-0399-3.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church: The Challenge of Luke-Acts to Contemporary Christians. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans. 2011. 978-0-802-80390-0.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Contested Issues in Christian Origins and the New Testament: Collected Essays. Supplements to Novum Testamentum. Brill. 2013 . 978-9-0042-4290-6.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. The Revelatory Body: Theology as Inductive Art. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans. 2015. 978-0-8028-0383-2.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Constructing Paul (The Canonical Paul, volume 1). Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans. 2020. 978-0-8028-0758-8.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. Interpreting Paul (The Canonical Paul, volume 2). Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans. 2021. 978-0-8028-2466-0.
• Book: Johnson, Luke Timothy . 3. The Mind in Another Place: My Life as a Scholar. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eerdmans. 2022. 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.

External links

• Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion Senior Fellow
• Emory University Faculty Home Page

Notes and References

1. Emory Candler School of Theology. Luke Timothy Johnson.
2. Price . Robert M. . Review of The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels . The Journal of Higher Criticism . Spring 1997 . 156–158 . 2008-06-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080611142519/http://depts.drew.edu/jhc/rpltj.html . 2008-06-11 . dead.
3. Book: Johnson. Luke Timothy . Luke Timothy Johnson. The Real Jesus. 1996. HarperOne. 0060641665. 121. registration. The Letter of James also..
4. Homosexuality & the Church: Scripture & Experience . Commonweal Magazine . June 2007.
5. Web site: Professor Bio Page . The Teaching Company . 18 Nov 2014.
6. Web site: Ancient religions had much in common, says Grawemeyer winner. 2 December 2010 .