At the age of 38, Johnson became a born again Christian following a divorce, and later became an elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Johnson recounted that on sabbatical in England he sought, through prayer, inspiration for what he should do with the rest of his life, and then received an epiphany after he read Richard Dawkins' "The Blind Watchmaker" (1986) and Michael Denton's "" (1985). Johnson later said, "Something about the Darwinists' rhetorical style made me think they had something to hide." Despite having no formal background in biology, he felt that he could add insight into the premises and arguments. Johnson stated that he approached the creation evolution dispute not as a scientist but as an academic lawyer by profession, with a specialty in analyzing the logic of arguments and identifying the assumptions that lie behind those arguments. He noted that what people think about evolutionism depends very heavily on the kind of logic they employ and the kind of assumptions they make. Further, he pointed out that four of the eleven members of the special committee appointed by the National Academy of Sciences to prepare its official booklet titled Science and Creationism were lawyers. (That first edition of the publication, which was finished in 1984, was prepared as an amicus brief in the "Edwards v. Aguillard" case that went before the U.S. Supreme Court.) In 1989 "Of Pandas and People" by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon was published as the first book to promote intelligent design.