**UPDATED** Petition Against the Wrongful Firing of Dr. Eric Johnson

I am a Boyce College alumnus and wife of a medical doctor. I am sad to see SBTS forcing an unnecessary divide between sound theology and science. This is a form of fundamentalism, which taken to its logical conclusion would forbid believers from utilizing any form of medical science.

Christian, licensed Psychological Associate This man changed my life through a combination of faith based and psychological interventions!!!

I have a MA in secondary school counseling after graduation from Asbury U with a major in Psycholgy. Lamberts view of counseling is not the,one and,only way. After 36 years as guidance drector I do realize there is more than one way to solve personal issues. Lamberts views goes against liberals gic and my experience!

So saddened by this injustice. My wife and our marriage have benefitted greatly from the wisdom of Dr. Johnson's teaching and counsel. It's upsetting that such a kind man has been so consistently maligned by people who claim the same orthodoxy. For an academic institution that claims to be "serious" about a lot of stuff, it's a little ironic that SBTS leaders would demonstrate such a lack of seriousness in willfully surrendering the integrity of the institution to external vindictiveness and small-mindedness. Dr. Johnson, SBTS students, and all Christians who seek relational, humble godliness and not pedantic hostility in an increasingly secular world deserve better.

Boyce Alum with B.S. In Counseling

Don't fire Dr. Johnson

What is most disheartening is 5 years from now, students in the counseling program will hear bad things about Christian Psychology (as they do now) yet there will be no students to help them understand the deception. They will believe if they really care about "the sufficiency of Scripture" and "the glory of God" then they must follow through ACBC since they have hijacked these terms and make so many claims like Christian Psychologists do not care about the Bible or the glory of God (I heard these things in class). I am most sad that there will be no voice in the crowd to say actually Dr. Johnson is a great man and a great counselor. He cares about the glory of God in ways ACBC will never understand. He uses the Bible more than those that quote it so often. He has taught many of us more about the love of God in Christ than many of the other counseling professors. It's because the Bible is not just a head knowledge to him, but it's in his heart. It is clear he is speaking and teaching from a broken spirit before God. It is clear he teaches as one who knows the love and forgiveness of God. This is not to say other counseling professors do not know the love of God, but rather to emphasize how much Dr. Johnson knows it.

I was in Dr. Johnson's Intro to Biblical Counseling in Fall 2011. Best class I took at Southern. Appalling that anyone would look on him as a false teacher and even an unbeliever! Get some theological triage up in here. The debate is merely over METHOD of counseling, not the gospel.

I belong to Sojourn Community Church (part of the SBC) and have sat under Dr. Johnson's teaching even though I am not a student at Boyce or Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I firmly believe that he understands the power of Christ, rooted firmly in the truth that we are united with Him through the cross and resurrection, is able to heal us of our brokenness and the resulting impact on our lives from the brokenness of this world. But he is also wise in understanding the background and world of psychology that support, and can help, rather than hinder the understanding of who we are in this world and how we walk it. To fire him due to the power trip of another man is extremely injust. We have grace in our church for the differences in various aspects of belief, and yet this is not even one of those types of cases.

As someone who owes the entirety of his emotional health and healing to Dr. Eric Johnson, I stand in blistering condemnation of this egregious act. Eric will be fine. It's your seminary and it's students who no longer have the privilege of studying under Dr. Johnson who will suffer the most from this decision. Yet another unforced error by SBTS. Would you please get your sh*t together?

BS Biblical Counseling

For those of you unsure of the facts, I know both coworkers and friends of Dr Johnson who have affirmed the firing has taken place, possibly due to his recent book, however it is believed he will finish his semester. We honestly may not know all the gory details, but many have affirmed in general the above information. I hope in signing this we can continue to stand with him against injustice without showing animosity. Pray the Holy Spirit convicts where necessary. SBTS 2010

Wife of 2010 Mdiv graduate/2013 ThM graduate. My husband endured abuse from another professor at SBTS. He reported it to admin but nothing happened. We are tired of the culture of tribalism and bullying by those in power that is happening at SBTS. I really really hope and pray the admin will evaluate this pattern that so many of us are aware of.

What kind of evidence will satisfy you? Heath Lambert speaking publicly about private political workings within the seminary? Or Mohler speaking publicly about it? Would it satisfy you if Dr Johnson publicly spoke about this? Why would any of those things happen with a situation like this? Why would they speak publically about private dealings? But perhaps they HAVE spoken privately to lots of individuals. Has that crossed your mind? Perhaps those individuals are tired of keeping this stuff quiet. Would you like the seminary to tell you publicly that a professor openly and in public bullied my husband and had his finger in my husband's face, yelling harmful things to him? It happened, but there was no transparency about it. Or do you need to see a video to believe it? Several of us know about the administrative abuse happening at SBTS but hey, you'll believe it when you see it, huh?

Hearing about Dr. Johnson's firing is very frustrating to me. He and Dr. Daniel Block were my best professors while I was at Southern. Now they are both gone. I really believe that the counseling and spiritual care that Dr. Johnson taught is biblical and had been extremely helpful for me as I have served in pastoral ministry for the last 12 years. I am deeply saddened by this news!

I am not surprised by this firing in the least and have seen wrongs against professors at this institution before (I do not refer to when Mohler initially came to Southern and regained conservative faculty). Unacceptable.

SBTS M.Div. Grad 2008

This is stupid! He is totes awesome!!

I have had a lot of counseling in my life- none as impactful, meaningful, and God led as what Eric Johnson provided me! This greatly saddens me and is wrong!

I am a licensed counselor and I'm certified as a biblical counselor by the Association of Biblical Counselors. I don't agree with the approach of either Johnson or Lambert on counseling, but this decision isn't appropriate. There are many of us who love biblical counseling who are not nouthetic and are not Christian psychologists, but fall somewhere in the middle. The ABC and CCEF are good examples of this view. The term "biblical counseling" appears to be something non-nouthetic or non-ACBC counselors with a commitment to counseling from Scripture may have to abandon over this mess. Pull back! Please!