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Book Review: "Finding God in the Questions" by Timothy Johnson
By John E. Phelan Jr.
CHICAGO, IL (July 3, 2004) - Timothy Johnson is known to most of us as the
medical editor for ABC News and a regular on shows like Good Morning
America, Nightline, and 20/20. For others of us Tim is
a good friend known for his intellectual curiosity, generosity, and
compassion. In addition to being a physician, Johnson is also a Covenant
pastor and member of the Community Covenant Church in West Peabody,
Massachusetts.
His latest book is an example of the genre "apology" or, more simply,
witness. It recounts his life in faith and his struggles as a man of
science to make sense of questions raised by the Bible, the church,
human life, and, perhaps especially, his fellow believers! While some
Christians become fearful and defensive in the face of such questions,
Johnson welcomes them as a way to God. He knows from thousands of
conversations with friends and colleagues that many others are asking
the very same questions. "Finding God in the
Questions" is his way of bearing witness to the God he found in these
questions and of helping others in the same pursuit.
The collision of the world of consoling piety with the world of
skeptical science produces many of the questions that plague Johnson.
Having studied both theology and medicine, he is well aware that
practitioners of those disciplines provide very different answers to
basic questions of life and its meaning. The first section of the book
explores the startling wonders of our world. He argues that the case for
a creation by design is more than plausible given the complexity
revealed in the world. God's purpose may seem perplexing and even
maddening at times, but, Johnson insists, "there are 'footprints' of an
intelligence in our universe that expresses itself in the mind-boggling
complexity and 'coincidences' of our cosmos and in the very nature of
what it means to be human." But this only raises additional questions.
Assuming the existence of such a being, what is God like? And what can
the Judeo-Christian Scriptures and traditions teach us?
Johnson begins his next section with a short basic introduction to the
Bible, but spends most of his time on the teachings of Jesus. He
encourages his readers to read the Gospels for themselves, but takes
them through the highlights of the actions and teachings of Jesus by
quoting extensively from the Gospel accounts of Jesus's life. Jesus, he
argues, reveals a God lavish in his love and full of compassion for what
Robert Capon called "the least, the lost, and the losers."
Johnson then moves to the question of Jesus's identity. Who was he and
what did his death accomplish? Johnson here and elsewhere is impatient
with the reductionism of creeds and confessions. Theological
explanations of the significance of the cross, for example, he finds at
times constricting and impersonal. "Rational or dogmatic formulas" are
often substituted for "something that is ultimately inexplicable in
human words--the power of God's love to forgive and 'wipe out' even the
most horrible of evil." He continues, "Even though I cannot put its
meaning easily into human words and theological formulas, I have always
found the story of Jesus' crucifixion to offer the hope that evil can
sometimes be overcome in this life--and that it has been overcome in
some ultimate sense that we will fully understand only in the life to
come."
This "overcoming" is seen clearly in the resurrection of Jesus and the
transformation of his early followers, that Johnson sees as powerful
witness to the truthfulness of the resurrection. He encourages his
readers who struggle with the truth of the resurrection to begin to
follow Jesus anyway: "I do believe that if you choose to follow Jesus,
you will eventually believe in his resurrection." So who was this figure
God raised from the dead?
Johnson concludes his discussion of "Who was Jesus?" with a critique of
the Nicene Creed and an argument for a more biblical, less "biological"
explanation of the significance of Jesus. He prefers the simplicity of
John's language of the "Word made flesh" to the complexity of Greek
philosophical speculation carried out under the watchful eye of
Constantine! He quotes with approval the words of New Testament scholar
N. T. Wright: "The being we refer to as 'God' was, and is, fully present
and fully discoverable in and as Jesus of Nazareth."
Johnson goes on to insist there is more to being "saved" than simply
believing the right things about Jesus. In fact, he has come to prefer
the phrase "follower of Jesus" to the word "Christian" with all of its
historical and theological baggage. Jesus in the Gospel called for
disciples, not just adherents. Unfortunately, too many "Christians" look
nothing like the Jesus they are supposedly imitating and following. For
Johnson, following Jesus involves a "bet on the heart of God." The
immensity of God's love is shown in the life and ministry, death and
resurrection of Jesus. But this love calls us not simply to correct
belief but to discipleship. Being "born again" is more than a
transaction; it is a commitment to a new life.
In his critique of creeds and confession and his insistence on a life of
following Jesus, Johnson is speaking out of his Covenant and pietistic
heritage. Our forebears argued that orthodox belief in and of itself was
not enough. This is not to say they believed in salvation by any other
means than the grace of God. They rather insisted that a life of
discipleship, a life increasingly like that of Jesus, was evidence of
true and growing faith. They heard the sober warning of Jesus that there
would be some who called him "Lord" and didn't really mean it. There
would be weeds in the midst of the wheat. Johnson calls on his readers
to pay attention to Jesus. He calls them to observe his actions, listen
to his teachings, and, most importantly, follow the path he laid out for
disciples. He does not shy away from difficult questions and admits he
does not have all the answers. But he has found something in Jesus he
wants others to discover. In fact, he believes "Jesus modeled and taught
the kind of life that the creator God had in mind for us." This is the
life Johnson calls us to.
By its very nature "apology" or "witness" is profoundly personal. It is
recounting what God has done for me. We all have different experiences
and raise different questions about our lives and faith. Some readers
will undoubtedly be troubled by the answers preferred by Johnson. He
freely acknowledges that some of the "orthodox" explanations leave him
cold. And some of these explanations do go beyond the Scriptures in
their attempt to create and sustain identity boundaries. This is one
reason Covenanters claim the word of God as "the only perfect rule for
faith, doctrine, and conduct." The ambiguity of the Bible is preferable
to the overly precise articulations of the creeds and confessions. On
the other hand, Covenanters have also honored the creeds and confessions
as profound human attempts to articulate the faith. In fact, all
Covenant pastors recite the Apostles' Creed at their ordination. This
does not mean the creeds are "ultimate" or "final" for us, but that when
we recite them we acknowledge our dependence and solidarity with those
who have gone before us. At the same time we work to restate the meaning
and significance of the Jesus story for our own generation and
community--as Johnson set out to do in his book.
Reading Finding God in the Questions is like having a long and
good conversation with a wonderful, thoughtful friend. Sometimes you
say, "Yes! Exactly!" At other times you say, "Now wait a minute!" As a
recovering fundamentalist myself, I identify with Tim's critiques of our
more harshly conservative brothers and sisters. But as Tim well knows,
harsh, cruel, and unyielding folks are found on the left and in the
middle as well as on the far right. Furthermore, academic theology may
seem arcane and even implausible. But it is the very human attempt to
make sense of the ways of God in the world and to answer the very
questions that are so troubling to Tim, and indeed, to all of us. It is
no more surprising that people want to know how God could be "fully
present and fully discoverable in and as Jesus of Nazareth" than it is
for people to wonder how it was that our "current cosmos burst forth
from a pinpoint of extremely dense and hot 'quark-gluon plasma.' " The
same questions that motivate the wonder of scientists motivate the
wonder of theologians.
These caveats aside, Tim Johnson never flinches in the face of difficult
questions and consistently leads people to Jesus. He may not answer
these questions in the way you might or I might, but his honesty and
passion for Jesus are clear and compelling. We all know people who are
struggling with the questions he raises. Tim's book offers a way through
the thicket of life's confusions, losses, and fears.
Many will find his way compelling and redemptive. I highly recommend
Finding God in the Questions.
Reviewed by John E. Phelan Jr., president and dean of North Park
Theological Seminary. This review originally appeared in the July 2004
issue of The Covenant Companion.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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