My favorite 2022 book purchase

The March 2022 release of Luke Timothy Johnson's memoir, The Mind in Another Place: My Life as a Scholar, was reason for excitement - even before we could read what an excellent work Johnson has given us.

After all, one's memory gets taxed attempting to recall all of his great contributions to New Testament scholarship. Among his 35 books are: The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation (now in its third edition); The New Testament: A Very Short Introduction; several NT commentaries, as well as, monographs on the lives of Jesus and Paul.

Johnson is in the upper tier of NT scholars of this era, and also receives notice on this blog because of his involvement in the Roman Catholic Charismatic movement ("... my stress on the personal experience of God undoubtedly owes a great deal to my participation in the Catholic charismatic movement between 1970 and 1973...." he wrote in the memoir).

The book is deserving of high praise because Johnson takes readers behind the scenes into the world of NT scholarship - and does so expertly. Not only is he eminently qualified to talk about that world, but the communication skills that he is well known for are once again on display to make what could be a dry account read rivetingly.

[Click here to see a brief summary of his career and a list of courses he has recorded for The Great Courses (aka, Wondrium).]

Here's a video of Dr. Johnson talking about theological education: