Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life

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 to 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

© 2020 by Jonathan T. Pennington

Published by Brazos Press

a division of Baker Publishing Group

PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.brazospress.com

Ebook edition created 2020

Ebook corrections 01.26.2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4934-2758-1

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The author is represented by the literary agency of The Gates Group.

To Ben, Dave, Justin, Michael, and Scott

of the I&C writing group.

This book came into being only through the encouragement, challenge, and joie de vivre of our fortnightly gatherings. Thank you for doing life together so beautifully!

You do not want to leave too, do you? Jesus asked the Twelve.

Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

John 6:67–68

Contents

Cover    i

Endorsements    ii

Half Title Page    iii

Title Page    v

Copyright Page    vi

Dedication    vii

Epigraph    viii

Your Personal Lord and Philosopher    1

Philosophers, Martyrs, and Canoes    3

The Genius of Ancient Philosophy    17

The Bible as Philosophy?    35

The Philosophical Big Ideas in the Old Testament    37

The Philosophical Big Ideas in the New Testament    55

Educating Emotions    81

A Big Emotional Debate    83

Christianity’s Sophisticated Solution    99

Restoring Relationships    131

The Necessity of Relationships    133

Christianity’s Renewed Relationships    155

Being Human and Happy    183

Humans, We Have a Problem    185

Christianity’s Whole, Meaningful, and Flourishing Life    201

Notes    221

Back Cover    231

Philosophers, Martyrs, and Canoes

Imagine a Christian church today somewhere in the American Bible Belt, a place where Christianity has roots deep enough and branches wide enough that worshipers have built a megachurch. This church accommodates thousands in multiple services every weekend. Picture the bustle and vibrancy of such a place, with its modern, clean, and comfortable architecture, including built-in coffee shop.

Now look up at the walls as you enter the sanctuary. You can see beautiful banners that remind churchgoers of precious truths about the One they are here to worship, Jesus. These large, deep-blue and gold, hand-sewn hangings each proclaim a name or description of the Lord drawn from the Bible. Your eyes scan across the many names, each of which communicates something important—Shepherd, King, Savior, Messiah, Friend of sinners, Immanuel.

And Philosopher.

Philosopher? Not likely. What would your reaction be? Is the preacher going to conclude with an altar call inviting you to pray to receive Jesus as your personal philosopher?

Now let’s mentally time travel to another church service. Let’s visit the gathering of a group of pious Christians some eighteen hundred years earlier, in the ancient city of Dura-Europos. This fortress town in modern-day Syria sat right on the Euphrates River, a formidable stronghold.1 It was ruled by a succession of people including the Parthians and Romans. Dura-Europos was remarkably diverse in culture, language, and religion, with places of worship for Christians, Jews, and various Greek and Roman cults—a truly metropolitan place to live and raise a family and plant gardens and worship one’s god.

That is, before it was attacked and overrun in AD 256. While the city was besieged, the inhabitants realized that the only way to protect the city was to cram everything they could find into the houses and shops that were built into the fortress wall—every bit of trash, debris, and rubble they could get their hands on. This worked for a while, but eventually the city fell to the Sasanians. The attackers came in, killed the inhabitants, took what they could find, and then completely abandoned the place. The desert sands began to drift and blow over the skeletons and drinking cups, eventually covering it over completely.

It wasn’t until right after World War I that European archaeologists stumbled upon Dura-Europos. When they did, they found that the buildings that were built into the side of the walls were an archaeologist’s dream! They were completely intact, preserved, and untouched because of the stuffed debris. Among other important discoveries, the researchers found a house church, frozen in time.

Figure 1. Wall painting from Dura-Europos of Jesus healing the paralytic [Yale University Art Gallery]

Now we can look at their church walls. What were their decorations? Like those in our imagined megachurch, these faithful Christians also used their walls to remind worshipers of who Jesus is. The painted images in this ancient church depict Jesus in various ways, as the Good Shepherd, the Great Physician, and the Water Walker. And as a Philosopher. In fact, in all the pictures of Jesus healing, teaching, and performing miracles, he is wearing the telltale philosopher’s robes, has the haircut that indicated his status as a philosopher, and is standing in the posture of a philosophy teacher (see fig. 1).

Philosopher. Painted on the walls of the church. Why?

It turns out the Dura-Europos believers were not alone. By the year AD 100, to everyone’s surprise, Christianity was spreading far and wide throughout the mighty Roman Empire. Around that time a man named Justin was born in Flavia Neapolis in Palestine, about thirty miles north of Jerusalem. As a thoughtful and sincere young man, Justin began to search for life, for some direction that would give him wisdom and meaning. He tried to be a disciple of a Stoic teacher, the most popular philosophy of the day. Unsatisfied, he tried connecting himself with a Peripatetic, a teacher of the ways of Aristotle. This too proved unworkable. When he approached a Pythagorean philosopher, he was told that he did not have the required training in music, astronomy, and geometry. Next, he began training in the ways of Platonism, with hopes that he would find the truth and behold the god of the Ideals.

He finally felt like his pursuit of wisdom was going well. But the true God had other plans. While walking near the sea, Justin fell into intense dialogue with an old man, a man who turned out to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. The man thoughtfully engaged Justin, challenging him with several insightful questions, pushing him to think about the soul and humanity’s fate—our fate that depends on the true and eternal God. Justin asked how he could learn to practice this philosophy. The old Christian’s answer was that it is the Hebrew prophets, inspired by the Spirit, who are the true philosophers of the world, and who point to the true wisdom to be found in Jesus. Justin’s heart was set ablaze, and he began reading and meditating on the prophets and the friends of Christ, coming to love the truth they spoke.

All of this is described autobiographically by Justin in what became his very famous book Dialogue with Trypho. This book was written in the classical dialogue style (first made famous by Socrates and Plato), where the teaching mode is an intense conversation. Dialogue comes from sometime in the 150s or 160s, after Justin had moved to Rome and set up a Christian philosophy/discipleship school.

This autobiographical info from Justin has a purpose. Dialogue tells the story of a Jewish man named Trypho who approached Justin and started a conversation with him. Why? Because he recognized by Justin’s apparel that he was a philosopher. Even as spurs and a ten-gallon hat would communicate cowboy to us, Justin’s robes, haircut, and manner said philosopher. Justin explains to Trypho his own story—how he came through many insufficient philosophies to finally find the true philosophy of Jesus. The Old Testament prophets were philosophers. Jesus was the greatest philosopher. And now as a disciple of Jesus, Justin is a philosopher too. Philosophy is a way of finding true life, Justin explains, and now he has found this true life in Jesus. Christianity is the true philosophy that through faith and the power of the Spirit enables people to see the world in a certain way and to live accordingly. It is the way to the truly Good Life.

And so this is what Justin did. Living in Rome, at the heart of the empire and its many philosophical schools, he taught people the true philosophy of Christianity. He dialogued, defended, apologized (that is, gave reason for his faith), both in person and in writings like the Dialogue and his First Apology and Second Apology.

And it got him into trouble. Justin was eventually arrested and tried before the city prefect Rusticus, one of the teachers of the great Stoic emperor Marcus Aurelius (and no fan of Christians). Because Justin refused to sacrifice to the gods and show obeisance to the emperor, he was executed. Up until then he was known as Justin the Philosopher. After his execution for his faith, he became known as Justin the Martyr. Justin’s martyrdom is the appropriate consummation of his life following the philosophy of Jesus. Jesus the Savior-Philosopher died faithful to God. So did his faithful disciple, Justin the Philosopher-now-Martyr.2

Fast-forward to another dialogue that happened some years later, in AD 1999. The location is not Rome but Iowa, at the Republican Party primary debate in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election. The moderator of the debate asked each candidate this question: What political philosopher or thinker do you most identify with and why? The first to answer was then-governor George W. Bush. Without hesitation, in his sincere Texan drawl, Bush answered that the philosopher who most influenced him was Christ.

Now some might debate how appropriate or erudite of an answer this was, but this is what the future president offered. Bush further explained what he meant, and what he says is more Bible Belt than Beltway and more revivalist than rigorous. Jesus as Philosopher meant for Bush that when someone accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior, this changes their heart and thus their thinking. This is how Jesus is a philosopher. That answer is maybe a bit less sophisticated than Justin’s, but it’s no less sincere. Both Justin Martyr and Governor Bush recognized in Jesus someone who offers true wisdom for how to live well.

When we examine the long space of Christian history between Bush’s and Justin’s responses, we find a rich tradition of Christians answering the same way. In statues, altar pieces, sarcophagus carvings, sermons, theological treatises, and popular stories, when standing before emperors and governors, Christians have long talked about Jesus as a philosopher and Christianity as the true philosophy of life. Christianity is not just a set of doctrines but a divine whole-life philosophy worth dying for, if need be.

But something has changed. Something has been lost. If we were to conduct a Jimmy Fallon–esque Word on the Street interview today, I doubt many, if any, would offer that Christianity is a philosophy and that Jesus is a philosopher. No one is making Jesus the Philosopher banners for their church foyers. Amazon offers minimal hits that contain both Jesus and Philosopher in their titles, and the few that are found are usually academic historical studies, not for the average churchgoer. Syllabi for courses in Bible colleges, university religion departments, and seminaries do not present Jesus as a philosopher. This is not to mention university philosophy courses. If a philosophy professor suggested Jesus as one of the subjects to study alongside Aristotle, Kant, and Hume, he or she would likely receive the dual gift of raised eyebrows and a reprimand.

But this reflects a major historical shift. Throughout the vast span of the church’s history, Christianity has been understood as a sophisticated philosophy of life with Jesus as the Great Philosopher.

So what happened? To answer the question of why the modern church has largely lost this way of speaking of Jesus as the Great Philosopher, we must step back. We’ll need to understand the seismic shift that happened to the word philosophy over the intervening centuries. We’ll tackle this in the following chapter.

But for now, we all know that we don’t put Jesus, Christianity, philosopher, and philosophy in the same sentences or even paragraphs. Who cares? Why does this matter?

I think there are four significant things that have happened to the church as a result of this loss of philosophy language:

Our Christian faith is often disconnected from other aspects of our human lives. Christianity has become merely a religion rather than a philosophy of life.

We naturally look to other sources—alternative gurus—to give us the wisdom needed to live flourishing lives, to find the Good Life.

We have stopped asking a set of big questions that Holy Scripture is seeking to answer—questions about how the world really works and how to live in it.

We have limited our witness to the world.

Let’s consider these briefly.

Disconnected faith. Whether we intend it or not, our modern lives are often built like a chest of drawers, with distinct compartments for each area. Even as we keep our socks, underwear, exercise clothes, and jeans in different drawers (or at least, most of us do), so too our lives have distinct compartments—health, relationships, money, education, leisure, religion.

Christian people also have a specific drawer for Jesus. For some it is a small, low-placed half drawer that is only opened once a week or maybe twice a month on Sundays. For others—especially pastors and missionaries—the Jesus drawer is big and probably at the top of the cabinet with well-oiled rollers. Most Christians’ Jesus drawers are somewhere in between.

[fire_fly / Shutterstock.com]

A chest of drawers is a great thing for organizing clothes (and hiding cigars from your spouse), but not for structuring our lives. Humans are organic beings who thrive only when the many parts of our lives are connected together. Our bodies, our minds, our emotions, our habits, our praying, our relationships—all of these are intimately related. They can’t be compartmentalized, at least not if we want to thrive. One cannot remove the mitochondria or ribosomes from a simple cell and expect it to function. How much more for the infinitely complex human organism! We cannot treat our lives as if the various parts are unrelated and expect to experience meaningful happiness and the flourishing life that Jesus talks about (John 10:10).

Because of various shifts that have happened in the worlds of both theology and philosophy, most Christians today experience Jesus as part of their religion or faith. But it is not clear to most faithful Christians how this relates to the rest of the real life of vocations, vacations, relationships, emotions, and, ultimately, happiness. The way we think and talk about our Christian faith is often an exercise in drawer building, not life creation. Christianity may be a great religion, but how it provides a philosophy of life is not so apparent. As theologian Peter Leithart astutely observes, many Christians are dualists, mistakenly living our lives like a layered cake—with supernatural truths on the top layer of an otherwise natural cake. The church adds a spiritual dimension to my life but leaves my natural world more or less intact.3

Alternative gurus. In real life, Nick Offerman, most famous for his Übermensch role as Ron Swanson on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, is a man’s man, fully bearded and equipped with all manner of hardcore man skills. He has reached significant enough