Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey [Paperback]

Timothy Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2006

Named one of the 2004 Top Ten Religious Books by the Massachusetts Bible Society! #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. This new paperback edition includes a new afterword and a study guide with questions for personal reflection or group discussion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830833471
• ISBN-13: 978-0830833474
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Examining what it means to believe, May 26, 2004

By 

David J. Gannon (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey (Hardcover)

Timothy Johnson is a physician-he the staff ABC News doctor of the moment-and an ordained minister. In Finding God in the Questions he has, essentially, written two books in tandem-a deeply thorough and thoughtful theological inquiry and his personal history and faith journey. The two books-in-tandem format works very well as Johnson provides us with both intensely framed questions of faith as well as the clues and basis for understanding his own answers to those questions.

What I especially like about this book is that it is in fact an inquiry, not a demagoguery in wolfs clothing as so many "spiritual examination" books are these days. I'm tired of the slew of books purporting to be examinations on faith that are in fact merely thinly disguised polemics that in fact dictate what one "has" to believe to be Christian. Johnson here is truly in examination mode, providing a challenging list of questions and presenting his own assessment of possible answers without ever becoming dictatorial in the process.

Not all will agree with Dr. Johnson's conclusions. He is obviously deeply skeptical of much of what passes as "acceptable" Christian dogma in these intolerant times. In fact, his skepticism reaches the point where he concludes he cannot even really call himself a Christian given the prevailing ethos but rather refers to himself as a "follower of Jesus". Obviously, those that hold the utterly dogmatic and intolerant viewpoints that so sadden Dr. Johnson will reject his conclusions out of hand-tragic given that they are the ones most in need of a truly thoughtful self examination such as the one Dr. Johnson undertakes here.

In the end one is left with a moving and though provoking book that inspires one to think seriously about many of the questions Dr. Johnson raises. That, obviously, was clearly his intent. That leaves us with a book that is a success from everyone's viewpoint.

This is a truly great book.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Message of Hope, June 12, 2004

By 

Peter Kenney (Birmingham, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey (Hardcover)

Timothy Johnson's book is an account of his own spiritual journey in which he has found God by examining the big questions which trouble many of us. He begins by asking if the universe is an accidental creation and concludes that our inner and outer universes are far too vast and complex not to be created by design. The footprints of an intelligent creator are found everywhere as in the very nature of human conscience and in our basic need to form relationships which shape our lives.

Johnson next turns to a discussion of organized religion which he sees as having a role in trying to interpret and communicate spiritual truths as well as providing a sense of community for its members. He admits that many people seek God within themselves but Johnson chooses to look mostly to the Bible for help in his search. In particular he is interested in what he can learn about Jesus from the Bible and other sources. What intrigues Johnson most is the Jewishness and humanness of Jesus as well as His radical teachings.

Johnson refers to himself as a "follower of Jesus" in the style of the earliest Christian believers before the existence of any creeds or formalized Christian religion. Above all he places great importance on the role of the servant which was valued so highly by Jesus Himself.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent ID book, January 26, 2006

By 

The Professor - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey (Hardcover)

This is the first book about Intelligent Design (ID) that I am aware of that made the New York Times best seller list. Timothy Johnson is a professor at Harvard Medical School, and several of his colleagues at Harvard, including the Dean of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Joseph Martin, endorsed his book. Johnson is also the medical correspondent for ABC news where he has done many excellent news broadcasts and documentaries. Johnson's ID book does not just defend ID, but reviews his own spiritual journey beginning from his childhood religious beliefs, common to most of us in the 1930s, to a skeptic, and then back to belief. He then discusses why ID was critical in his journey back to belief. Johnson graduated from high school as valedictorian and, after 2 years of college, decided that he wanted to become a minister. His theology studies at the University of Chicago, instead of deepening his faith, caused him to lose it (not uncommon in my experience). In his words "under the challenge of some very bright and skeptical teachers at the university of Chicago" he began to "doubt most everything" he learned as a child, including the belief that the Bible is the word of God, that Jesus was the son of God, and even the conclusion that God rules the universe. No longer a believer, he graduated and was ordained, but decided not to enter the ministry (he felt he would be a hypocrite if he did) but rather he elected to study medicine, partly due his seminary training to help others and his field placements in the hospital visitation work. He found God many years later by examining in detail the major questions that trouble many of us. He begins by asking if the universe is an "accidental" creation (the outworking of time, natural law and chance) and concluded after studying many books, including especially those by ID advocates, that our inner and outer universes are not only far too vast and complex to be the result of natural forces, but, more importantly, are constructed in such a way as to force the conclusion that they were created by an intelligent designer. The footprints of an intelligent creator, he concludes, are found everywhere in the natural world, including in the very nature of human conscience and in our basic need to form the relationships that shape our lives. Johnson cites the major ID literature, which he recommends highly, and often cites it in the chapters on ID.