Eric Johnson (theologian)
American psychologist and academic
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Johnson earned his PhD from Michigan State University. His academic career includes ten years teaching psychology and worldview studies at the University of Northwestern – St. Paul. He later served for 17 years as the Lawrence and Charlotte Hoover Professor of Pastoral Care at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS). He retired from SBTS in 2017 and was subsequently named Senior Research Professor.
From 2018 to 2024, Johnson was Professor of Christian Psychology at Houston Christian University (HCU), where he developed an M.A. in Christian Counseling degree based on a Christian worldview. In May 2024, he retired from HCU to focus on the national expansion of the Christian Psychology Institute.
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Contributions
Johnson’s research focuses on three primary areas: the theological and philosophical foundations of psychology, the development of Christian psychology, and "Christian soul care"—a Christ-centered framework encompassing psychotherapy, counseling, and spiritual direction. He argues that while empirical research in modern psychology provides valuable data, it requires reinterpretation through a theological lens because it is often based on secularist and naturalist worldviews.
At the Christian Psychology Institute, his training programs focus on "Christ-centered therapy," which draws primarily from the Christian spiritual direction tradition and inner healing prayer, and is informed by classical Reformational theology and philosophy as well as modern psychology and psychotherapy.