I’ve only really known Luke Timothy Johnson through his various academic works and a few different lectures and debates. In particular, his thoughtful and nuanced call for LGBTQ+ inclusion has been really helpful to my own thinking, as has his work on Luke-Acts. And with a sentence like that, you can easily see the eclectic and wide-ranging nature of Dr. Johnson’s influence. In what is perhaps his final work, A Mind in Another Place: My Life as a Scholar offers readers a memoir that ruminates on Johnson’s public and professional life, offering a rarely-seen glimpse into Christian academia. 

 

Amid it all, personal details do seep through. They must. Johnson was catechized in Roman Catholicism and began ministry as a Benedictine monk and priest. During this time, he graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from Notre Dame and a M.Div from Saint Meinrad School of Theology. This was an interesting section, as many Christians—myself included—are virtually clueless about the monastic life and might tend to still picture it as something more akin to the Middle Ages. The monastic life did not stay, however. In one sentence, Johnson explains it all in stark detail: I entered doctoral work as a monk and ended it as a husband with a child and six stepchildren. 

 

A Mind in Another Place does not languish in those personal details. Enough is given so that the reader grasps Johnson’s context and his humanity, but we are mostly confined to his professional life—a choice that I’m sure reflects both humility and privacy. As he reflects on his time as a PhD student, he doesn’t refrain from honest and sharp critiques of the system. This theme continues as he moves into postdoctoral work, navigating the intricacies of professorship and tenure. I had thought that the exploitative policies driving adjunct work were recent, but Johnson reveals the business of academia as having always been the political, capitalistic behemoth it is. Similarly, as a doctoral student myself, I had to smile in wry compatriotism as I found Johnson recounting certain issues with academia that I have myself. 

 

Altogether, Johnson writes as one very erudite and assured. This is not a personal memoir. It is written rather formally and covers Johnson’s academic life in great detail. I hesitate to say that it’s boring—because I certainly didn’t find it so—but I understand how it could be seen as boring. There are some memoirs that have universal appeal. The appeal here is very narrow. Johnson has a particular audience and he writes for them, and for himself. This is his way of re-membering the life that he’s had and the work that he’s done. A Mind in Another Place only gave me deeper respect for Luke Timothy Johnson and the life that he’s led.