Note about links on this site: All of the hyperlinks on this site, whether presented as text links or as footnotes, worked at the time the posts containing them were written. Most of them link to scripture passages at BibleGateway.com. The others link either to other posts on this blog or to pages on some trusted site that contain information or discussion supporting the point being made.
About me and this blog: As explained in the first post on the blog, I have known Christ since 1971 and have been writing seriously–mostly about Christian unity, history and theology–since 1995. I have been reconsidering and revising my approach, both to my life and to my writing, for the last several years. I have read a great deal of history and philosophy during that time. But most of the drive to change my approach has resulted from portions the writings of two people that God has led me to think long and hard about: Dallas Willard and Jacques Ellul.
The rest of my relevant background, very briefly, is that I am regularly employed as a research paralegal, and have been so employed for 29 years. My income is sufficient to support this blog–which I view as a part of the purpose God has given me on earth–without outside assistance, and I will never ask for any. See, 1 Corinthians 9:15-18. I also have an excessive number of college degrees–five in all–in a variety of subjects. But it is not these that qualify me to write, but my years of frequently difficult lessons living in Jesus.
My previous major writings that are still publicly available are found in:
Ian Johnson and Lauston Stephens, Our Oneness in Christ (Batimore: PublishAmerica 2006)
NOTE ON LINKS TO ONLINE ENCYCLOPEDIAS: Many concepts, movements, people, and historical events, when first referenced, will be hyperlinked to a discussion in an online encyclopedia. Usually this will be Wikipedia, although sometimes it may also be the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, or a more specialized encyclopedia listed in Wikipedia’s useful List of Online Encyclopedias. I include these links to allow the reader a quick, general, neutral introduction to the hyperlinked subject. I recognize that these online encyclopedias are of necessity incomplete and sometimes–particularly in the case of Wikipedia–contain some incorrect or doubtful information. However, if the material linked is important to the overall topic of the blog, I will plan to discuss it more thoroughly, and with better citations, in a later blog entry. The encyclopedia link is just an introduction.
Books to which I have referred, or will refer, in the blog include:
Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God (NY; Harper Collins, 1997) (Kindle Ed.)
Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (NY: Harper Collins, 1988, paperback ed. 1991)
Jacques Ellul (G.W. Bromiley, Ed.). The Subversion of Christianity (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock 1986; 2011 reprint)
Jacques Ellul (J.M. Hanks, Tr.). The Humiliation of the Word. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans 1985)
For those who insist on academic qualifications to think, my qualifications are as follows: B.S. (Chemistry) and B.A. (Linguistics), 1976, Wichita State University. M.S. (Biochemistry), 1982 (course work finished in 1980), Iowa State University; J.D., 1982, University of Iowa; M.A. (History), 1984, University of Iowa; plus one year of a History Ph.D. program, 1984-1985, University of Kansas. I was employed from 1991 to 2016 as a research paralegal in a firm that handled mostly complex civil litigation, including toxic tort litigation (in which I was always involved). That firm merged with a larger litigation firm in 2016, where I have been employed ever since.