Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey - Hardcover

Dr. Timothy Johnson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0830832149 ISBN 13: 9780830832149

Publisher: IVP Books, 2004

Synopsis

One of Massachusetts Bible Society's Top Ten Religious Books of 2004! #8 on the New York Times Hardcover Advice Bestseller List! (June 14, 2004) #7 on the Publishers Weekly Religion Hardcover Bestseller List (October 2004) Do you wonder whether or not God is real? Do you doubt that religion can be relevant? Do you wish that faith were possible for you? Don't shy away from your questions, says Dr. Timothy Johnson, medical editor for ABC News. He believes that's where God meets you--in the midst of honest grappling with heartfelt issues. In this remarkable book, Dr. Johnson discloses his deeply personal journey of faith. With the same keen mind accustomed to medical and scientific examination, he investigates the plausibility of God's existence and explores the significance of the person of Jesus. Despite all the difficulties of faith, he explains what he believes and why. He writes, "As a physician, I have committed my professional life to healing and wellness. But my public work is only a small part of who I really am--or rather, who I want to be. This book is, in a sense, 'the rest of the story.' "For many people, religion provides answers to the big questions of life. For others, the absolute claims of religion raise more questions than they answer. I have lived on both sides--and in some senses, I still do. My path of faith has wandered through both doubt and belief, often at the same time. "Doubt doesn't have to tear down belief, however; it can purify it. When it does, the beliefs on the other side become more certain. This is why I would like to affirm that it is possible to find God even while you are still asking the big questions." Come join a fellow pilgrim on the journey. Ask your questions--and perhaps find God behind them.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Timothy Johnson (M.D., M.P.H.) is the medical editor for ABC News and has reported on health care issues for Good Morning America since 1975. He also provides on-air analysis of medical news for World News Tonight, Nightline and 20/20. Johnson holds joint positions in medicine at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is the founding editor of the Harvard Medical School Health Letter and coeditor of the Harvard Medical School Health Letter Book. He is the author of Dr. Timothy Johnson's On Call Guide to Men's Health, as well as coauthor (with former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop) of Let's Talk. Johnson lives in the Boston area. Having completed seminary before attending medical school, he serves as assisting minister of the Community Covenant Church in West Peabody, Massachusetts.

From the Inside Flap

"To all of his colleagues here at ABC News, Timothy Johnson has always been a generous dispenser of medical advice and balm to the soul. To accompany him now on these chapters of his own spiritual journey is to find confirmation of the possibility that great accomplishment and humility can coexist." Ted Koppel, Anchor and Managing Editor, ABC News Nightline

"Dr. Tim Johnson, minister and physician, brilliantly analyzes his struggle with religious belief when juxtaposed to emerging scientific discoveries. The result is a deep humanitarian exposition of the significance of the teaching of Jesus, which provides a firm foundation for addressing life's challenges." Dr. Joseph Martin, Dean, Harvard Medical School

"Tim Johnson has excelled in two of the most skeptical arenas of American life--media and medicine--while holding on to a strong and intelligent faith. Now America's best-known TV news doctor shares his own questions and his decades-long journey making sense out of the faith that shapes his life." Peggy Wehmeyer, host and managing editor, World Vision Report, and former religion correspondent, ABC News

"Dr. Johnson treats the soul as a wise physician treats the body, with honesty, tenderness and compassion. His introspective look at his own spiritual journey helped illuminate my own." Philip Yancey, author of Rumors of Another World and What's So Amazing About Grace?

"Dr. Timothy Johnson takes the reader on an exciting and highly informative spiritual journey. He casts a medically trained and critical eye on the evidence for answers to questions that haunt every human being--questions concerning our identity, our purpose in life and our destiny. Both the believer and the unbeliever will find this excellent book so challenging and so absorbing they will find it difficult to put down." Armand Nicholi Jr., M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and author of The Question of God

Reviews

It is always interesting when a public figure like Johnson, medical editor for ABC News and frequent medical journalist on shows like Nightline and 20/20, writes about faith from a personal angle. The initial chapter relates much of his life story, outlining the questions that have caused him to question and doubt. The remainder of the book is a pithy discussion of what he has discovered (and what he still doubts) about issues like the origin of the universe, proofs for the existence of God, the identity and teachings of Jesus and the practical difference that religion should make in people's lives. While peppered with gently humorous asides and personal observations, the overall focus of the book is not on Johnson himself but on the questions he explores. Most notable is his excellent discussion of the "intelligent design" arguments that have recently become so widely discussed in academic settings. His brief and very comprehensible discussion will introduce a much wider audience to these ideas. In discussing his faith, Johnson is honest enough to surprise many readers. As he himself states, "some who admire my secular achievements will be turned off by this spiritual explorationâ€"and some who admire my spiritual stance will be disappointed in my conclusions." 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.
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ABC News medical editor Johnson, who is also a practicing physician and an assisting minister at West Peabody (Mass.) Community Covenant Church, here bridges the often huge chasm between science and faith. He admits that he has learned to live with doubt and come to terms with mysteries he cannot fully comprehend. That is, he is content not knowing all the answers. He lives with contradictions, the scientist in him regarding skeptically many religious claims that seem to offer absolute truth. His book addresses three seminal questions: Does God exist? What is God like? What difference does it make? He explores the most fundamental human relationship, a person's relationship with God; examines what it means to be human; and offers observations on how we determine right from wrong. He scrutinizes the Bible on Jesus and Jesus' teachings, and he addresses such obstacles to belief as the problem of what he calls undeserved suffering. His is a helpful and compassionate look at the spiritual questions many have wrestled with and many continue to wrestle with today. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: IVP Books
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0830832149
• ISBN 13: 9780830832149
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216