Jesus the Great Philosopher

Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life

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Pub Date 20 Oct 2020 | Archive Date 4 Jan 2021

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Description

Many of us tend to live as though Jesus represents the "spiritual part" of our lives. We don't clearly see how he relates to the rest of our experiences, desires, and habits. How can Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity become more than a compartmentalized part of our lives?

Highly regarded New Testament scholar and popular teacher Jonathan Pennington argues that we need to recover the lost biblical image of Jesus as the one true philosopher who teaches us how to experience the fullness of our humanity in the kingdom of God. Jesus teaches us what is good, right, and beautiful and offers answers to life's big questions: what it means to be human, how to be happy, how to order our emotions, and how we should conduct our relationships.

This book brings Jesus and Christianity into dialogue with the ancient philosophers who asked the same big questions about finding meaningful happiness. It helps us rediscover biblical Christianity as a whole-life philosophy, one that addresses our greatest human questions and helps us live meaningful and flourishing lives.

Many of us tend to live as though Jesus represents the "spiritual part" of our lives. We don't clearly see how he relates to the rest of our experiences, desires, and habits. How can Jesus, the...


Advance Praise

“Dr. Pennington is a true academic. But don’t hold that against him. Frankly, you’d have a hard time doing so, as he is exactly the kind of pastor-theologian we need more of. Just the mention of ‘philosophy’ conjures images of classrooms I lack the will to inhabit, but in his engaging and accessible style Pennington invites ordinary learners to sit at the feet of the most extraordinary philosopher. Jesus the Philosopher is concerned not merely with our dying and eternal state but with our living—and with our abundant living, at that. You hold a book that will expand your vision for human flourishing, as you gaze through ancient lenses on the face of the Savior.”—Jen Wilkin, author and Bible teacher 

“I wish I had been introduced Jesus the Great Philosopher much earlier in life. It would have saved me from much struggle and error. I wish I had had a book like this one to teach how we can see and understand the way in which the truths taught by the world’s greatest thinkers are reflected in many ways in the everyday world around us—yet find their ultimate source and end only in Jesus. Deep and wide, informative and accessible, challenging and humane—this is a book that will help you not only to think better but to live better too.”—Karen Swallow Prior, author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books and Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist 

“When many people think of philosophy, they think of arid and abstract syllogisms. That’s not this book. This book, written by one of the most brilliant biblical scholars of this generation, makes a compelling case for Jesus as Lord, as Savior, and as Philosopher. This philosophy of Jesus is incarnational rather than abstract, holistic rather than syllogistic, and revelatory rather than just argumentative. This book addresses the mind, the heart, the soul, and the life. That’s why it’s the book we need right now. Read and find wisdom. Read and find Christ.”—Russell Moore, president, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention 

“Our world continues to struggle with who we are, what we are about, and where to find happiness. Jesus the Great Philosopher addresses these issues and answers these problems by presenting Jesus as our all in all. Jonathan Pennington’s research and writing are a true gift to the church. Throughout this book, you will find his curiosity infectious and his excitement contagious. With the uncovering of ancient truths and the discovery of ageless practices, you will be motivated to love Jesus for all he is—the beginning and the end, the philosopher for all of life. Enjoy this book and learn to live with Jesus as your great philosopher.”—Kyle Idleman, bestselling author of Not a Fan, Grace Is Greater, and Don’t Give Up 

“In Jesus the Great Philosopher, Jonathan Pennington lifts up an often-neglected aspect of Jesus’s identity in order to showcase the beauty of Christianity as a way of life—an answer to the meaninglessness and confusion felt by many today who look for solutions in philosophies that bring no lasting satisfaction. Pennington gives us a Jesus-directed introduction to many of life’s most profound questions.”—Trevin Wax, senior vice president of theology and communications, LifeWay Christian Resources; author of Rethink Your Self: The Power of Looking Up before Looking In and This Is Our Time: Everyday Myths in Light of the Gospel

“Dr. Pennington is a true academic. But don’t hold that against him. Frankly, you’d have a hard time doing so, as he is exactly the kind of pastor-theologian we need more of. Just the mention of...


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Featured Reviews

Jesus a great savior? Absolutely. Jesus a perfect shepherd? Of course. Jesus a great philosopher? Hey, wait a second.

Today, philosophy in many Christian communities is viewed with some suspicion and little necessary for the Christian faith. And it seems even more alien and scandalous to us, to say that Jesus was a philosopher. This alarmism arises from ignorance or baseless prejudices, because the truth is that Jesus is the greatest and best philosopher.

To help us come out of the shadows, and discover this impressive aspect about Jesus, we find this book entitled "Jesus the great philosopher", written by Dr. Jonathan T. Pennington, who with great skill and with a friendly and academic style, makes us see that as Christians we can confidently say that Jesus is the great philosopher and therefore he offers us the best philosophy. As the author writes “Christianity is not just a set of doctrines but a divine whole-life philosophy worth dying for, if need be”.

Therefore, it is time to know and follow Jesus and his philosophy.

In this book, the reader will find a good short introduction to philosophy, and how Christianity from its inception has promoted the true philosophy. For this, the author presents us the great philosophical ideas found in the Scriptures, particularly presenting Moses as a philosopher, who presented the life instructions to the people and how the prophets spoke of this, to finally speak of the Gospels as testimony of the life of Jesus, and of how the philosophy of Christian life is presented. All this under four criteria: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics.

Then the author takes us to a more practical part, in which he talks about emotions, relationships and happiness. Issues that directly address our understanding of the philosophy that we find in Scripture. There would be a lot more to say, especially on the approach to stoicism, which is very good. But, I encourage you to get this book.

I believe this book will challenge our understanding of who Jesus is, leading us to see our Lord as the one who shows us how to live. Only in Jesus the Messiah, we find true eudaimonia and ataraxia.

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Dr. Pennington has written many books, articles, and essays on a broad range of biblical topics. None more so than what Jesus has to teach his disciples on how to live life well in the world and the kingdom of God as disciples and the church. Pennington uses his New Testament background and specifically his knowledge of Jesus's teachings giving the reader a portrait of Jesus that few are willing to portray or acknowledge: Jesus as the great philosopher. This book will stretch, educate, and have you pondering Jesus as you never have before. "Jesus is much more than the great philosopher, but he is certainly nothing less than that."

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This is an excellent and helpful title from a brilliant author. It provides--at a very accessible level that will appeal to students, laypersons, and ministry leaders--a much needed explanation of the philosophical culture the Bible was written in and answers. I will require this for students and heartily recommend it to everyone. What a helpful, eye-opening book!

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Both a misunderstanding of philosophy and a failure to see Christianity as a philosophical rule of life have led to difficulties for Christians. Christianity has rightly focused on the vertical relationship between God and man, but has lost its touch in being a philosophy that affects every area of our lives; like a man who can do math on paper to budget, but fails to spend accordingly. Has this disconnect driven me and you away from Christ to “alternative gurus” instead of letting Christ inform every aspect of our daily living?

In many ways, this book is the perfect companion to The Bookshelf. My goal is to read and learn in order to be matured in my thinking and especially my living. Pennington says the philosophical vision of Jesus has this very message and is the truest answer to living the “Good Life”. While some truth can be gleaned from other philosophical views, the truth they contain is only partial. “In comparison with the Christian philosophy, all other views on relationships, emotions, and happiness are fractional and incomplete (and sometimes just flat wrong).” Christianity “sees” rightly in order to truly “be” happily.

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Jesus is the solution to mankind’s greatest problem, but He also offers the answers to mankind’s greatest questions. We would do well to consider Him, as Jonathan Pennington encourages us, as a philosopher of the ancient variety who thought and taught wisdom. Ancient philosophers quested for truth and knowledge, the right, and the good. All of us, in our own way, seek what they sought. Pennington skillfully demonstrates that our deep questions about life are not new. Nor are they unanswerable. Jesus profoundly answered them as no other philosopher could—ancient or modern. The beauty of Jesus the Great Philosopher is that it intelligently presents Christianity as the ultimate philosophy.

I do not disagree with calling Jesus a philosopher. There is no quibble from me about calling Jesus’ teaching a philosophy. As John Frame writes,

Philosophy generally is understood as an attempt to understand the world in its broadest, most general features….If one seeks to develop a truly Christian philosophy, he will certainly be doing so under the authority of Scripture and thus will be applying Scripture to philosophical questions, As such, he would be doing theology, according to our definition (85).

Philosophy and theology are closely intertwined. No question. But I do question Pennington’s claim that contemporaries of Jesus considered him a philosopher. Pennington marshals the evidence of ancient biography to show that the Gospel writers viewed Jesus as a philosopher since they used the genre of bioi. But bioi were also written about other important figures as Pennington, himself, concedes. Although there was indeed a general difference in how biographies of philosophers were written. As Burridge points out,

Lives of generals, politicians or statesmen tend to be more chronologically ordered, depicting their great deeds and virtues, while accounts of philosophers or writers are more anecdotal, arranged topically around collections of material to display their ideas and teachings (337-338).

Truth be told, when it came to Jesus, the Gospel writers were dealing with someone with great deeds and virtue along with a collection of teaching material. This point would benefit from further study. Other potential weaknesses in making the case Jesus was considered a philosopher is that none of the Gospels ever refer to Jesus as such. He is called “Lord/Master,” “Teacher” and “Rabbi.” Instead of a philosopher, these titles of address show that others viewed Jesus with respect and considered Him a teacher of Jewish law. (As far as I can tell, no one has yet written a book entitled Jesus the Great Rabbi in case someone wants to jump on that opportunity.) A case could be made that Jesus having disciples supports the claim he was a philosopher. But discipleship was also an integral component of Judaism (203). Pennington adds that the Gospels treat Jesus as a philosopher by arranging His teachings into epitomes. But, according to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, a Greek epitome is an abridgement of a long work. The material in the Gospels does not seem to fit this bill. None of the writers ever describe their material as an epitome. Did the contemporaries of Jesus consider Him a philosopher? Perhaps. But the lack of compelling evidence makes it difficult to state with anything more than conjecture. It may also be worth noting that no reference is made in the Apostolic Fathers to Jesus as a philosopher. My final point in this area of discussion is that when Jesus asks, “Who do people say that I am?”, philosopher is not one of the answers given. (Prophet was.) It’s Peter who nails what the Gospel writers wanted to communicate: “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29).

Despite my lengthy engagement of a single point from the book, it is excellent. The message is valuable and should be shared. In a world dominated by blue-lit screens fueled by a never-ending supply of media, few of us are probably giving the big questions of life enough thought. This is a deeply encouraging book to read. It will give you a greater appreciation for who Jesus is and what He taught. By the time I reached the end, I was thanking the Lord that life has meaning and that the truly good life is found in knowing Jesus. I’m sure you can think of someone you know who would benefit from embracing this philosophy.

Special thanks to Brazos Press/Baker Academic for a free digital review copy of this book. This did not affect my thoughts so far as I know.

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I saved the best for last. In the last days of 2020, I began reading Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life by Dr. Jonathan Pennington, Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Director of Research Doctoral Studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This is a book I have wanted to read since the Fall of 1979 when I took Philosophy 101 at a small Christian college in Nashville, TN. I loved the class and the professor, but never knew how to connect my love of philosophy with living. After all, I had the Bible, right? Never mind trying to meld philosophy and theology. This was an error on my part because my philosophy professor was also a systematic theologian and the one who wrote the systematic theology for our denomination. He was also my advisor and would have gladly helped me to understand. Thankfully, Dr. Pennington filled that role.
In Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life, Dr. Pennington explains what philosophy is, what philosophers do, and how that has changed over the centuries. He also shows philosophical ideas of the Bible, and how and why early Christians would have considered Jesus a philosopher. The remainder of the book covers topics of life ancient philosophers would have taught and encouraged their followers to learn and to live out: educating emotions, restoring relationships, happiness, and human flourishing. He then discusses these topics in philosophical light of what the Christian Bible, and specifically Jesus Christ taught.

One of the most helpful aspects of this structure, and the entire book, is to reveal to us where some of our philosophies and practices of life originated and how they pervade our thinking and living without our conscious acknowledgement. More helpful is his explanations of how Christianity, rightly understood, can correct our thinking and practices.

The key theme, and I would argue its most important, throughout the book is living in hope, but not “baptized optimism.” “Hope is a virtue to be cultivated. Hope is a virtue of the will that can teach us to embrace both hardships and joys, because it is more than a mere emotion.” Pennington uses the topics above to express why and how we can cultivate this hope and why it is necessary.

Clearly this is a book for our times. 2020 has tested the best in and of us and in some ways, we have been found wanting. I wish the book had been available earlier in the year, but faith in God’s timing is well placed and as Dr. Pennington explains having faith is to hope.

While this is my last book of 2020 to read, it will go with me into 2021 as I re-read it. He answered my question about how philosophy, theology and living work together, but more importantly specific questions this book raised will be answered more slowly as I examine my own life and cultivate hope.

This is the one book for 2020 that I can recommend heartily and will be giving away to others.


I received an ARC of this book from the publisher.

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Is Jesus a philosopher? What would you think if you saw a big banner at your church proclaiming Jesus as our great “Immanuel, Savior, Healer, and Philosopher” (ch. 1)? It’s basically what a church in the third century did, only instead of a banner they painted Jesus on their walls, healing, teaching, and performing miracles, dressed as a philosopher. In the early second century, Justin Martyr, a Christian apologist and philosopher, saw both Jesus and the Old Testament prophets as philosophers. He explained that “philosophy is a way of finding true life,” and he had found this true life in Jesus (ch. 1). Even in 1999, George W. Bush refereed to Christ as a philosopher who had had the most influence on his life. Jonathan Pennington writes, “Christianity is not just a set of doctrines but a divine whole-life philosophy worth dying for, if need be” (I reviewed this book through NetGalley. It didn’t have page numbers, so I don’t have any for the quotes).

In chapter one, Pennington, associate professor of New Testament Interpretation at SBTS, shows the results of not thinking of Christianity as its own philosophy:

Faith is too often disconnected from other parts of our life.
We separate our life into different drawers. Just as socks, underwear, and pants go into their own drawers, we separate health, money, education, relationships, and faith from each other.
We look for other sources/alternative gurus (from Jordan Peterson to Oprah, from Marie Kondo to Nick Offerman) to advise us on hoot live the good life.
We have stopped looking to Scripture to tell us “how the world really works and how we should live in it.”
We have a book of ultimate authority and all the answers, but do we know the questions to ask? Are we asking the right questions?
What is reality?
What does it mean to be human?
Where is true happiness found, how do I get there, and what do I do when I get it?
“We have limited our witness to the world.”
Christianity needs to be big enough to make sense of your whole life, not taught in a way that divorces it from our normal life.
A Vision for Life Itself
But doesn’t philosophy just ask big, nonsensical questions without providing any answers? As Steve Martin put it, “you remember just enough” from college “to screw you up for the rest of your life” (ch. 2).

But in the ancient world, philosophy was the frame or “the vision for life itself,” helping people understand “Good and the goodness of life.” It went from meaning being wise in certain fields such as mathematics, biology, or physics, to being “a pursuit of a comprehensive understanding of all the world,” focusing “on character traits and habits that, if practiced, will result in a flourishing life and society.” Students were taught to know politics, music, and astronomy (and more) because as we see the how different aspects of the world work in harmony, we will develop a deeper inner harmony.

Four Big Questions
The philosopher was someone who had knowledge, training, years of experience, as well as virtue and integrity who could “serve as instructors and models.” These were teachers who knew the information and could teach how it fit in with the rest of life. Even the Hebrew Scriptures “actually present themselves as a philosophy of life in the ancient sense” (ch. 3). It answers the four big questions of metaphysics (what is the true nature of the universe?), epistemology (How do we know things?), ethics (what is right, and how do we live it out?), and politics (how do we structure society and institutions in the best and wisest ways?).

Jesus, the Philosopher, and the Gospels
In he early first centuries of Christianity, Jesus was depicted most often as either a king or a philosopher (just think about wise king Solomon). One of the most influential ways of writing about one philosopher teacher was through bios, “the retelling of the ‘life’ of someone famous” (ch. 5). This method was well established by the time Jesus came on the scene, and it explained the teachings, life, and dignified death of the teacher.

One way we can know the Gospels present Jesus as a philosopher is because the “form and content of the Gospels closely resemble the many Lives that were written about other ancient philosophers.” Aphorisms (short, pithy sayings), parables, and winsome arguments are a few ways we can see how Jesus functioned as a philosopher, for philosophers also regularly taught others through these styles. Jesus is “a disciple-making wisdom teacher,” and his teachings are collected into “five major topical epitomes” or blocks.

Philosophers asked what the Good was and how could we live in right accordance with it. Jesus taught the same thing, only we find the Good by looking at God who is whole, mature, complete, and perfect. Jesus teaches these truths in the Sermon on the mount, where he is a better Moses, God in the flesh, a great philosopher king giving out wise laws. John, Paul, Peter, James, and the whole New Testament in fact teaches us to imitate our great Teacher, who saved us and makes us whole, complete, and perfect.

I Got 99 Problems…
In chapter nine, Humans, We Have a Problem, Pennington writes that all humans have a problem (if you couldn’t guess). That problem revolves around “meaningful happiness.” It’s the nagging question that asks, “Does any of what we do really matter?” If it gives meaning, is it lasting? Will it make me happy? (Think Ecclesiastes.) Even in his The City of God, Augustine noted that everybody wants to be happy. However many disagree on “what this happiness looks like and how to obtain it.” Family? Food? Achievement? Religion?

According to Yuval Noah Harari in his bestseller Sapiens, are we, homo sapiens, “simply an ‘animal of no significance’”? But, concerning happiness, we often discern happiness in our lives by weighing all of our happy moments vs our bad moments instead of seeing our lives in their “entirety as meaningful and worthwhile.” We flourish through living intentionally and thoughtfully. But why do we have so many happiness gurus? Why does life feel like reading a menu at the Cheesecake Factory? Should I follow the veto diet, do CrossFit, pay it forward, do hot yoga, or (and?) journal every day?

…But Finding Happiness Ain’t One
In the end (chapter 10), Pennington points to Jesus as the one who came into the world “that they may have life, and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10). Jesus’ Beatitudes tells us what true flourishing is. We are allowed to long for happiness, and we find it fully in God himself. Psalm 1 even begins with the idea of being happy/flourishing, but certainly when you read through the rest of the psalter, it doesn’t look like very many are flourishing. But yet they are. In a covenantal relationship with God, God’s people flourish.

Recommended?
I found this to be a great book that really helped me to see another facet of Jesus, one of a philosopher, as well as what philosophy is really meant to be. I haven’t read much philosophy (from any era), but Pennington shows how Jesus and the Gospels give us the answers to happiness. Jesus answers your deepest needs. He doesn’t merely give you a list of rules to follow but changes your entire orientation to life. Pennington shows how the Bible helps us understand our emotions and how we thrive in relationship to other people. While many today don’t know how to integrate the teachings of Jesus into their new lifestyle as Christians, Pennington shows that Christianity has always wrestled with life’s important questions (despite what the new atheists say), and it offers everyone the answers to those questions.

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This book is a worthy read, if only for its important section about how friendship has deteriorated as a relationship in modern life, and how ancient philosophy, as well as Christianity as the philosophy of the good life, emphasized its importance. If you don't read it for any other reason, read it for this section.

Pennington argues well for understanding Jesus as the Great Philosopher by recapturing what ancient philosophy was, how far modern philosophy departs from it, and what happens when we compartmentalize Christianity apart from its role as a whole life philosophy for human flourising. Interestingly, he draws only on St. Justin Martyr and St. Augustine in his argument, with perhaps one reference to St. John Chrysostom, when much of the Patristic witness would confirm his words (cf Christopher Hall's "Living Wisely with the Church Fathers").

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