Honoring Professor David Johnson
Dr. David Johnson
Associate Professor of Church History and Christian Spirituality, 2001-2021
Over the years, many colleagues and students have treasured Professor Johnson’s pithy ruminations on teaching, faith, football, life. We share a few of our favorites throughout this issue honoring his wisdom, his wit, and his humanity.
“Grace will never turn your lies into truth—particularly the lies you tell yourself about yourself. It will, however, expose the truth in your lies, which is where repentance begins.” “If you are not interested in Teresa of Avila just skip any postings from me in the next few days. I am using Facebook as my theological Etch-a-Sketch. (If you are under thirty, an Etch-a-Sketch is like a computer drawing program except for the computer part.)” “One of the more difficult things to do in life is not to hear a compliment to somebody else as a criticism of yourself.” “Every morning I take a beta blocker. Then I go around for the rest of the day, thinking ‘alpha gamma delta epsilon .…’ Somehow things never seem quite right.” It is good to be around an infant—to be reminded what emotional honesty looks like. I used to cry several times a day. “The fundamental axiom of Reformed Spirituality is this: God loves you. That is sheer fact. There is no ‘maybe,’ ‘if,’or ‘but.’ There is a “therefore.’ Exploring that ‘therefore’ is my life’s work. I have figured that out just in time.” “When life hands you lemons, make margaritas. Then your only question will be what to do with the damn lemons.” 2
