Dr. Boer (Rotterdam, 1960) studied theology and ethics at Utrecht University (1979–1989) and Uppsala University (1983–1984). From 1987–2001 he was a researcher at the Center for Bioethics and Health Law of Utrecht University, where his focus was on the relations between ethics, institutional healthcare, and Christian faith. In those years he served on many institutional ethics committees. In 1989 he did his church internship in Karl-Marx-Stadt in East Germany. In 1995 he got his theological licentiate at Uppsala University and in 1997 his theological doctorate at Utrecht University, both on the theocentric ethics of James M. Gustafson. In 2001, Dr. Boer was appointed senior lecturer of ethics at Utrecht University, since 2007 senior lecturer of ethics at the Protestant Theological University in Utrecht. From 2014–2019, he held the Lindeboom chair professor of Health Care Ethics at Kampen Theological University. Since 2019, he is a full professor of Health Care Ethics at the Protestant Theological University in Groningen.
From 2005–2014, Dr. Boer served on a Governmental Review Committee on Euthanasia. During those years, he has become increasingly critical of developments in this field, and has become one of the most vocal critics of the Dutch euthanasia law. In the (American) Society of Christian Ethics, Dr. Boer chairs the Interest Group Evangelical Ethics. He is a member of the Dutch Health Council, advising the Government on matters of health care policy and ethics. He is frequently heard and seen in Dutch and international media. He lives near Utrecht in the Netherlands, is married with two children, and is an active member of the Protestant Church of the Netherlands.