John Dickson

John Dickson (born 1967) is an Australian author, clergyman and historian of the ancient world, largely focusing on early Christianity and Judaism. He currently teaches at the graduate school of Wheaton College (Illinois). Early life Dickson was educated at Mosman High School, Sydney and grew up in what he describes as "a typical Aussie home". His family were not 'religious' and rarely discussed spiritual matters. Dickson recalls that he had "never been inside a church before he was sixteen". On 12 October 1976, Dickson's father died in the Indian Airlines Flight 171 disaster at Bombay Airport. Though only nine, the event raised philosophical questions, asking his mother, “Why did God let Dad's plane crash?” In high school, Dickson was a "low performer". He attended Christian Scripture Class (SRE) in the pursuit of a "pleasant way to pass half an hour" and to "ask questions to make the volunteers look stupid". By 15, he had become intrigued by the Christian faith, particularly through a teacher who "presented Jesus in an articulate, funny and intelligent way". He became strongly interested in historical accounts of Jesus Christ, becoming, a “fan of Jesus, and then at 16 a follower of Jesus". Dickson was the lead singer of the Christian rock band "In The Silence" through the late 1980s and early 90s and would play up to six shows a week. The band's objective was to "play in pubs and clubs and talk about our faith between songs". Although their lengthy song introductions were not always well received, people would "generally just put up with their Christian spiels".