Rajkumar Boaz Johnson featured image background

Rajkumar Boaz Johnson

Professor of Hebrew, Bible and Theological Studies

Growing up in the slums of New Delhi, Dr. Rajkumar Boaz Johnson’s search for the meaning of life began early. When he walked to Hindu grammar school, he faced a dilemma. “I encountered two different realities,” he says. “One was the reality of poverty and injustice. The other was that of high-caste Hindu learning.” He wrestled with this dichotomy and expanded his spiritual search.

“The philosophy of life taught and espoused by Jesus the Messiah, as seen in the Gospels, captured my mind and imagination,” Johnson says, “I realized that in this person lay the answers to the questions that plagued my mind.” Decades later, that initial encounter with Jesus continues to fascinate Johnson and informs his life and work as an expert on the relationship of evangelical Christianity to world religions.

Today, Johnson walks with students grappling with their own big questions. He treasures the diversity of thought and experience within North Park’s biblical and theological studies department. “It is a joy to mentor students and see them develop their own skills, which incorporate their faith journey with their academic learning,” he says.

Recent Publications

Boaz Johnson. “A Biblical Theology of the Environment,” Covenant Quarterly, May 2010.

Boaz Johnson. “The Use of the Old Testament in the Syrian Orthodox Jacobite and Marthomite Traditions.” In The Old Testament Scripture in the Early Churches of the East: Bible in the Christian Orthodox Tradition vol. 1, edited by Vahann Hovhanessian. New York: Peter Lang, 2010.

“Human Trafficking and Society Today,” Evangelical Covenant Church Midwinter Conference,” February 2009.

Events/Lectures

  • “The Myth of Baliraja in Intertextuality with Messianic Themes of the Hebrew Bible.” Society of Biblical Literature, San Antonio, Texas, November 2016.
  • “Lessons from the Cloud of Witness in Genesis.” Spiritual Emphasis Week, San Diego, September 2016.

Popular Courses

  • Poetry and Wisdom Literature of the Hebrew Bible
  • World Religions
  • Introduction to the Bible
  • Conflict and Reconciliation