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| Born | 31 December 1904 |
|---|---|
| Died | 10 December 1991 (aged 86) |
| Alma mater | Kings College London |
Douglas Johnson (1904-1991) was a Physician, Surgeon and Theologian who became the first secretary of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship,[1], which he was instrumental in founding, along with the Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) and the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES).
Biography
editJohnson was born into a Christian family on 31 December 1904.[2]
As a young man, he took his evangelical Christian faith very seriously and hoped to work overseas as a medical missionary.[3] Whilst still a student at King's College Hospital in 1928, he helped found the IVF (now UCCF). Johnson went on to qualify as a doctor, being awarded the London Royal Colleges conjoint diploma in 1931.[3] Johnson then practised at an inner London medical mission, a role he undertook alongside his IVF responsibilities, until he conceded that the growing IVF required a full-time General Secretary.[2]
He was also the the inspiration behind the founding of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students,[4] becoming its first General Secretary.
Retiring from IVF in 1964,[2] Johnson continued to act as CMF's General Secretary for a further ten years. At the time of his death, CMF has 4,000 British doctors as members.[3]
In his autobiography, John Wenham pays tribute to Johnson as "though almost unknown to the world at large [he] was one of the great influences on the church in the twentieth century – perhaps the greatest."[5]
Family
editJohnson had a wife, Dorothy, a daughter and two sons.
Johnson's son Alan (1938-2006) was a gastrointestinal surgeon, and past president of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, whose achievements included pioneering new treatments for conditions of the gullet, stomach and biliary tract. He shared his father's faith and died of a heart attack in the churchyard of St John's, Wotton, near Dorking, where he was about to preach a sermon for St Luke's Day on compassion in medicine.[6]
Published Works
edit- Capper, W. Melville and Johnson, Douglas, Arthur Rendle Short: Surgeon and Christian. London: Inter Varsity Fellowship.
- Johnson D (1979), Contending for the Faith: a History of the Evangelical Movement in the Universities and Colleges. London: IVP.
- Johnson D (1987), The Christian Medical Fellowship - Its Background and History, London: CMF publications.
References
edit- ^ Bruce, Steve (2002). God is Dead - secularization in the West (Religion in the modern world). Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 0-631-23275-3. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
Douglas Johnson, a medical student who became the first full-time secretary of the Inter-Varsity Fellowshio (IVF, as the evangelical alternative to the SCM was later known), said: 'It remained something of an enigma to the SCM leaders that some of the distinguished seniors were sympathetic to the Evangelicals. They, however, would pass it off with the comment that scientists and medicals, however well trained, would not know any better theologically.' (1979: 153).
- ^ a b c Barclay, Oliver (January 2005). "Douglas Johnson: the invisible man". Evangelicals Now. Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom. ISSN 1369-45450. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
Because he was so self-effacing, few people realise just how important he was for the revival of evangelicalism in the last century, and how much we owe to his work. He was quietly behind many important developments that we take for granted.
{{cite news}}: Check|issn=value (help) - ^ a b c Fergusson, Andrew (1992). "Obituary: D Johnson BA, MRCS, LRCP" (PDF). BMJ. 304 (11 April 1992). British Medical Association: 304. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
{{cite journal}}: More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ Robinson, Donald (1997). "Fifty Years of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students". Lucas (23): 111-120. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
Stacey Woods credited Douglas Johnson of the British IVF with the genius that brought about the IFES.
{{cite journal}}: Check|authorlink=value (help); External link in|authorlink= - ^ Wenham, John (1998). Facing Hell: The Story of a Nobody. An autobiography 1913- 1996. London, United Kingdom: Paternoster Press. p. 224. ISBN 0-85364-871-9.
- ^ "Professor Alan Johnson, Gastrointestinal surgeon". The Independent. 8 November 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
Category:1904 births
Category:1991 deaths
Category:Alumni of King's College London
Category:20th-century English medical doctors
Category:English Christian theologians
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