Johnson, G. Timothy 1936-

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JOHNSON, G. Timothy 1936-

PERSONAL: Born 1936, in IL; married, wife's name Nancy Ann; children: two. Education: Attended North Park Seminary, 1963, and Augustana College; Albany Medical College, M.D. (summa cum laude); Harvard University, 1976, M.P.H.

ADDRESSES: Home—Boston, MA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515.

CAREER: Journalist. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. (ABC) affiliate WCVB-TV, Boston, MA, medical editor; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and Massachusetts General Hospital, MA, joint medical appointments; Community Covenant Church, West Peabody, MA, assisting minister. Has provided commentary and reports on medical issues for numerous ABC programs, including Good Morning America, World News Tonight, Nightline, and 20/20. Worked briefly as a college admissions officer.

MEMBER: Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS: William Harvey Award, 1986-87, for "outstanding reporting on hypertension"; Lewis Thomas Award for Communications, American College of Physicians, 1988; Surgeon General Medallion, 1989; Howard W. Blakeslee Award, 1987, for "Rx for Danger" report on 20/20, 1989, for reports on World News Tonight, 1993, for three 20/20 features; Gabriel Award for best news story, 1999, for two-part "Alzheimer's: A Faded Memory;" Bradford Washburn Award, Boston Museum of Science, 1998; National Health Information Award, Health Information Resource Center, 2000; Sword of Hope Award, American Cancer Society, 2001; Emmy Award, New England Chapter of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

WRITINGS:

What You Should Know about Health Care before YouCall a Physician, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1975.

(Editor with Stephen E. Goldfinger) The HarvardMedical School Health Letter Book, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1981.

(Editor with William I. Bennett and Stephen E. Goldfinger) Your Good Health: How to Stay Well, and What to Do When You're Not, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1987.

(With C. Everett Koop) Let's Talk: An Honest Conversation on Critical Issues: Abortion, Euthanasia, AIDS, Health Care, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 1992.

Dr. Timothy Johnson's Oncall Guide to Men's Health, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2002.

Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2004.

Harvard Medical School Health Letter, founding editor.

ADAPTATIONS: Let's Talk was adapted as a sound recording by Zondervan Audio Pages (Grand Rapids, MI), c. 1992.

SIDELIGHTS: A nationally recognized medical editor and television correspondent for ABC News, Timothy Johnson is also a licensed physician who initially intended to become a Christian minister. He has written and edited several health-related books, including Let's Talk: An Honest Conversation on Critical Issues: Abortion, Euthanasia, AIDS, Health Care. The book is based on the informal correspondence between Johnson and former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop as they discuss a wide range of controversial medical issues. An Issues in Law & Medicine contributor noted that in addition to "clarifying the ethical issues involved in each topic," the book demonstrates "that people of good intent can disagree."

Despite leaving behind the ministry as a young man, Johnson has remained active in his Christian faith and still serves as an assisting minister at the Evangelical Covenant Church in Massachusetts. According to Johnson, he has had many conversations with both medical and media colleagues over the years about his religious beliefs. In an online interview for Beliefnet, Johnson told Wendy Schuman that during his discussions, his colleagues would eventually ask him, "So what do you really believe?" Johnson went on to note, "I thought to myself, maybe I should take some time and think that through and write it down, because most of us do better when we write out our thinking. It makes us face issues more precisely."

The result of Johnson's thinking and writing was the 2004 book Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey. As the title of the book indicates, Johnson primarily explores Christianity and his belief in God by asking the baffling questions that have surrounded these issues for centuries, such as why so many people have to suffer even though they do not seem to deserve it. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Susan Lee noted, "This is actually two books. One is a tour d'horizon of the big questions centered around the belief in God; the other is a personal narrative, equally interesting on what makes a God-believing person." In his discussion about God's existence, Johnson points to the origins of the universe and to human nature as pieces of the evidence that God exists. For example, he discusses the odds against the Big Bang's explosive force being just right to create the universe. As he explained to Beliefnet contributor Schuman, "The most microscopic shift one way or another, and the universe would have either collapsed back on itself or expanded too rapidly for stars to form. The probability of this happening has been compared to firing a bullet at a one inch target 20 billion light years away—and hitting the target." Johnson also discusses his preference to be called "a follower of Jesus" rather than a Christian per se.

Writing in Booklist, June Sawyers called Finding God in the Questions "a helpful and compassionate look at the spiritual questions many have wrestled with an many continue to wrestle with today." In a review in Lancet, Michael McCarthy noted that Johnson has a "liberal" interpretation of biblical teachings and commented that "while he doesn't deliver the promised tough examination of his beliefs, he does deliver a deeply felt sermon that emphasizs the best of the Christian tradition." Jeff. M. Sellers, writing in Christianity Today, called Johnson "fuzzy" when discussing "the uncomfortable issue of Jesus as sole Savior," but dubbed the book ""work of daunting questions and appropriately meek answers." A Publishers Weekly contributor lauded Johnson's discussion of the "'intelligent design' arguments for creation. The reviewer also noted that, "although some readers may disagree with Johnson, they will find it difficult not to be stimulated to think much more deeply about their own answers to these questions."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Johnson, Timothy, Finding God in the Questions: APersonal Journey, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2004.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2004, June Sawyers, review of Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey, p. 1581.

Boston Globe, July 3, 2004, Rich Barlow, "Medical Editor Takes Journey of Faith" (interview), p. B2.

Christianity Today, March 8, 1993, Larry Pierce, "Protests Cause Media Doctor to Cancel Speech," p. 58; November, 2004, Jeff M. Sellers, review of Finding God in the Questions, p. 87.

Issues in Law & and Medicine, spring, 1993, review of Let's Talk: An Honest Conversation on Critical Issues: Abortion, Euthanasia, AIDS, Health Care, p. 573.

Lancet, August 14, 2004, Michael McCarthy, review of Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey, p. 574.

Publishers Weekly, March 8, 2004, review of FindingGod in the Questions, p. 68; March 8, 2004, Jana Riess, "Ministerial Musings from a Medic" (interview), p. 69.

Today's Christian, November-December, 2004, "Why I Believe in God" (interview), p. 9.

Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2004, Susan Lee, review of Finding God in the Questions, p. D12.