Luke Timothy Johnson

Who is Luke Timothy Johnson?

Luke Timothy Johnson is an American New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity who 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, Luke-Acts, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Epistle of James.

He often lectures at universities and seminaries worldwide. He is a noted critic of the Jesus Seminar, often taking stances against Burton Mack, Robert Funk and John Dominic Crossan in discussions of the "historical Jesus." Johnson objects to the Seminar's unconventional historical methodology. He attempts to carve out a critically conservative position on this hotly debated topic.

In other areas, he disagrees with Roman Catholic teaching. For example, he has publicly declared his support for women's ordination and he has expressed concern for what he perceives to be the Roman Catholic Church's overemphasis and singling out of homosexual partnerships amidst the myriad of other sexual sins condemned in the Bible.