A So. Baptist leader converts to Catholicism: My response
A few weeks ago, I was shocked to hear that one of my best former students and a trusted colleague, Dr. Jerry Johnson, had announced his conversion to Roman Catholicism.
Jerry was raised in a Southern Baptist home and had been discipled and catechized in the faith. I had the privilege of teaching Jerry at Criswell College after he had surrendered to a call to full-time Gospel ministry.
Jerry was an excellent student and a gifted preacher. After graduating with high honors in his B.A. program, Jerry enrolled in the Conservative Baptist Seminary in Denver, Colorado, where he earned his M.Div. degree, once again with high honors. He then continued his studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he earned his Ph.D. in Christian Ethics.
Throughout his academic sojourn, Jerry was actively involved in the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention, a grassroots movement to correct a liberal theological drift in the denomination. In addition to ministering in a pastoral role in churches, Dr. Johnson served in denominational leadership roles.
As a relatively young man, Dr. Johnson served as dean of Boyce College (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), president of Criswell College, and vice president for academic development at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also served as president of the National Religious Broadcasters from 2013 to 2019.
Clearly, for Dr. Jerry Johnson to convert from Southern Baptist to Roman Catholic was, and is, “big news!” For a one-time leader of the “conservative resurgence” to pledge allegiance and faith to Rome was, and is, “even bigger news.” I was immediately inundated with phone calls and emails expressing shock, hurt, bewilderment and some anger.
As a Southern Baptist since childhood, a Baptist minister since the age of 16, and someone like Jerry, who was led to the Lord, discipled in the faith, called to preach, and trained for ministry in a Southern Baptist context, I was both shocked and surprised. Personally, as a sola fide, sola Scriptura Southern Baptist, I could never, even on pain of imprisonment or death, do what Dr. Johnson has done.
However, I still love Jerry as a brother in Christ and still consider him a friend in the Lord. I pray for Jerry, and I would seek to help him if he were in need. I will continue to pray for him, including that he will recant his recent views and return to the faith of his youth and young adulthood.
However, as a Baptist Christian, I believe that all true faith is voluntary and non-coerced. So I would desire for Jerry to return to the Baptist fold only if and when they become once again, his true convictions. As a Baptist, I believe the only true faith is a voluntary and consensual faith, not one that is coerced. As the great Roger Williams put it in the 17th century New England in The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, for any man to interfere coercively with another man’s relationship with his God is “soul rape.”
One of the main reasons that religion has flourished to the extent it has in the United States is that it is a voluntary and free affirmation. It is estimated that between 15% and 20% of Americans have changed their religious affiliation within their lifetimes. Why? Because they are free to do so without fear of persecution. If people practice faith in America, it is because they choose to do so, not because they are coerced.
Sunday morning is the most voluntary time slot in American life!
So I defend to the death Dr. Johnson’s right to make the decision he has made, and I defend to the death my right to vigorously disagree with his choice and to pray for his return to the faith we once so joyously held in common.
Dr. Richard Land, BA (Princeton, magna cum laude); D.Phil. (Oxford); Th.M (New Orleans Seminary). Dr. Land served as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary from July 2013 until July 2021. Upon his retirement, he was honored as President Emeritus and he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theology & Ethics. Dr. Land previously served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) where he was also honored as President Emeritus upon his retirement. Dr. Land has also served as an Executive Editor and columnist for The Christian Post since 2011.
Dr. Land explores many timely and critical topics in his daily radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” and in his weekly column for CP.
