{{Short description|American theologian}} {{Infobox person | name = Joseph A. Johnson Jr. | image = Bishop Joseph Johnson-portrait.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Joseph Andrew Johnson Jr. | birth_date = 1914 | birth_place = [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1979|9|29|1914}} | death_place = Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = Lincoln Memorial Park, Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | known_for = | education = Monroe Colored High School<br/>[[Vanderbilt University]]<br/>[[Iliff School of Theology]] | employer = | occupation = Theologian | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = Grace Johnson | children = 2 sons, 1 daughter | parents = | relatives = }} '''Joseph Andrew Johnson Jr.''' (1914 – September 29, 1979) was an African-American [[theologian]]. He was a professor of New Testament at the [[Interdenominational Theological Center]] and [[Fisk University]], and a bishop of the [[Christian Methodist Episcopal Church]] in Mississippi and Louisiana.
==Early life== Johnson was born in 1914 in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]].<ref name="tennesseanobit">{{cite news |title=Bishop Johnson's Rites Conducted; VU's First Black Grad |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/112289654/?terms=%22Joseph%2BA.%2BJohnson%22 |accessdate=October 8, 2018 |work=The Tennessean |date=September 30, 1979|page=10|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref><ref name="dailyheraldobit">{{cite news |title=Southern Churches Leader Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/468868532/?terms=%22bishop%2BJoseph%2BA.%2BJohnson%22 |accessdate=December 22, 2018 |work=The Daily Herald |location=Provo, Utah |date=September 27, 1979|page=4|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref> He grew up poor in a [[shotgun house]].<ref name="timesbishopjohnson">{{cite news |last1=Coffey |first1=Kathie |title=Bishop Joseph Johnson. 'Dirt-floor baby' motivates. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/211824689/?terms=%22Joseph%2BA.%2BJohnson%22 |accessdate=October 8, 2018 |work=The Times |date=July 15, 1979|location=Shreveport, Louisiana|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref>
Johnson was educated at the Monroe Colored High School.<ref name="timesbishopjohnson"/> He attended Texas College in [[Tyler, Texas]], followed by the [[Iliff School of Theology]].<ref name="timesbishopjohnson"/> He graduated from [[Vanderbilt University]]'s [[Vanderbilt University Divinity School|Divinity School]], where he earned a bachelor's degree (B.D.- bachelor of Divinity which today is a Masters of Divinity) in 1954 and a [[PhD]] in 1958, at age 44. He was the first African American to graduate from the university.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knox |first1=Simmie |title=Bishop Joseph Johnson |journal=Vanderbilt University |date=2018 |url=https://www.vanderbilt.edu/trailblazers/person/joseph-johnson/ |access-date=3 January 2026}}</ref><ref name="tennesseanobit"/> He returned to the Iliff School of Theology, where he earned a master's degree and a second PhD.<ref name="tennesseanobit"/>
==Career== Johnson was a professor of New Testament at the [[Interdenominational Theological Center]] in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name="tennesseanobit"/><ref name="dailyheraldobit"/> In 1969, he became a professor of New Testament at [[Fisk University]].<ref name="tennesseanobit"/><ref name="dailyheraldobit"/> He later became a professor and eventually the president of the Phillips School of Theology in [[Jackson, Tennessee]].<ref name="tennesseanobit"/>
Johnson became a bishop of the [[Christian Methodist Episcopal Church]] in 1966.<ref name="timesbishopjohnson"/> By 1979, he was the presiding bishop of the Fourth Episcopal District in Mississippi and Louisiana.<ref name="timesbishopjohnson"/><ref name="dailynewsobit"/><ref name="thetimesshreveportobit">{{cite news |title=Bishop Joseph Johnson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/213185901/?terms=%22bishop%2BJoseph%2BA.%2BJohnson%22 |accessdate=December 22, 2018 |work=The Times|location=Shreveport, Louisiana |date=September 28, 1979|page=3|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref> Johnson served on the [[Faith and Order Commission]] of the [[World Council of Churches]].<ref name="tennesseanobit"/> He was also the chairman of the commission on theology of the National Committee of Black Churchmen and the commission on worship of the [[Consultation on Church Union]].<ref name="tennesseanobit"/>
Johnson authored six books.<ref name="laudslate">{{cite news |title=Vanderbilt lauds late CME leader |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/283558375/?terms=%22bishop%2BJoseph%2BA.%2BJohnson%22 |accessdate=October 8, 2018 |work=The Jackson Sun | location=Jackson, Tennessee |date=October 7, 1984|page=42|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref> In ''The Soul of the Black Preacher'', he argued that Christianity was a liberating factor for African Americans.<ref name="nelsenreviewed">{{cite journal |last1=Nelsen |first1=Hart M. |title=Reviewed Work: The Soul of the Black Preacher by Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. |journal=Review of Religious Research |date=Winter 1973 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=134–135 |doi=10.2307/3509795 |jstor=3509795 }}</ref> Johnson worked on a new translation of the New Testament for two decades.<ref name="dailyheraldobit"/><ref name="dailynewsobit"/>
Johnson was the second African American to serve board of trust of his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, from 1971 to 1979.<ref name="tennesseanobit"/><ref name="tennessean84vutodedicate">{{cite news |last1=Reed |first1=W. A. |title=VU To Dedicate Joseph Johnson Center Tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/112354757/?terms=%22bishop%2BJoseph%2BA.%2BJohnson%22 |accessdate=December 22, 2018 |work=The Tennessean |date=April 12, 1984|page=18|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref> He also served on the boards of Tyler College and the Iliff School of Theology.<ref name="dailynewsobit"/> [[File:Bishop Johnson Center.jpg|thumb|right|The Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center at Vanderbilt University.]]
==Personal life, death and legacy== With his wife Grace, Johnson had two sons and a daughter.<ref name="dailynewsobit">{{cite news |title=Bishop Dies In Louisiana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/17351270/?terms=%22Joseph%2BA.%2BJohnson%22 |accessdate=October 8, 2018 |work=The Daily News |location=Huntington, Pennsylvania|date=September 27, 1979|page=2|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref> One of his sons, [[Joseph Johnson III]], was a physicist and Professor at the Florida A&M University.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Johnson-Oliver|first=Cynthia|title=In Memoriam: Dr. Joseph A. Johnson III (1940-2017) {{!}} Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project|date=28 June 2017 |url=https://bishopjosephjohnson.org/2017/06/28/in-memoriam-dr-joseph-a-johnson-iii-1940-2017/|access-date=2021-02-22|language=en-US}}</ref>
Johnson died on September 29, 1979, in Shreveport, at age 65.<ref name="dailynewsobit"/><ref name="thetimesshreveportobit"/> He was buried in Lincoln Memorial Park, Shreveport.<ref name="tennesseanobit"/><ref name="thetimesshreveportobit"/> In 1984, the Afro House on the campus of Vanderbilt University was renamed in his honor.<ref name="laudslate"/><ref name="tennessean84vutodedicate"/> In 2018, his portrait by [[Simmie Knox]] was added to Kirkland Hall, the administration building.<ref name="tntribunevanderbiltexamines">{{cite news |last1=Bratten |first1=Clare |title=Vanderbilt Examines its Past With Honors for Black Alumni/Faculty |url=https://tntribune.com/education/college/vanderbilt/vanderbilt-examines-its-past-with-honors-for-black-alumni-faculty/ |accessdate=December 28, 2018 |work=The Tennessee Tribune |date=November 15, 2018 |archive-date=December 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228174932/https://tntribune.com/education/college/vanderbilt/vanderbilt-examines-its-past-with-honors-for-black-alumni-faculty/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Selected works== *{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Joseph A. Jr. |title=The Soul of the Black Preacher |date=1971 |publisher=Pilgrim Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=9780829801934|oclc=489898582}} *{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Joseph A. Jr. |title=The Local Church and Lay Evangelism |date=1976 |publisher=Fourth Episcopal District Press |location=Shreveport, Louisiana|oclc=7450555}} *{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Joseph A. Jr. |title=Proclamation Theology |date=1977 |publisher=Fourth Episcopal District Press |location=Shreveport, Louisiana|oclc=3965982}} *{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Joseph A. |title=Basic Christian Methodist Beliefs |date=1978 |publisher=Fourth Episcopal District Press |location=Shreveport, Louisiana|oclc=4570190}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Joseph A. Jr.}} [[Category:1914 births]] [[Category:1979 deaths]] [[Category:People from Shreveport, Louisiana]] [[Category:Vanderbilt University alumni]] [[Category:Interdenominational Theological Center faculty]] [[Category:Fisk University faculty]] [[Category:American Christian theologians]] [[Category:People of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church]] [[Category:20th-century American people]]