Review: Jesus the Great Philosopher

One of the books I have been excited to dig into in recent months is Jonathan Pennington´s Jesus The Great Philosopher (Brazos, 2020). It is recognizable as part of an oeuvre of theological scholarship that attempts to cut a channel between the Christ of faith and the Big Questions of Good and Goodness posed by classical and modern philosophy. It was the late Dallas Willard who introduced me to the concept that Jesus was a smart person who probed the human experience deeply and had much to say about the Good Life. In other words, Jesus was a philosopher. Christians take him to be profoundly more than that, but he is certainly not less. Pennington begins with this point, reinforced by the striking archaeological find of Jesus in philosopher´s robes from a mural in Syrian church ruins (pp.4-6). This is a tantalizing and promising start.

A book so titled can become one of two projects—distinct but not mutually exclusive. The first: a historical and anthropological or social-scientific examination of Jesus´ social location and cultural context, and of his teachings in light of these. The second: an analytical and theological approach which explores dominical thought and parables in terms of logic, epistemology, and assertions about human nature. Approach One is well attested by the so-called quests for the historical Jesus, as well as more recent works, such as Reza Aslan´s Zealot (2013). Approach Two is equally valid, with perhaps a smaller body of scholarship. Pennington does indeed take the second avenue, but only makes it part of the way to the destination. Chapter four includes some exposition about the gospels as Greco-Roman bioi (60) and argue that they portray Jesus as a ¨winsome and powerful reasoner¨ (63) elaborating on the elements of the Good Life. Unfortunately, rather than honing in on this, Pennington blunts the focus by broadening it to Christianity: the Christian account of emotions, the Christian recipe for human flourishing, etc. Jesus of course makes appearances, especially in the discussion of friendship in the ancient world, but I felt it as a bit of a letdown.

This disappointment does not come from a place of ¨Forget the church, just give me Jesus!¨ Not at all. I recognize the need and value of a corporeal community, and of Church as alternative polis (170-171). However, Pennington´s treatment feels like the opening sketch of a political theology. This is a valid enterprise, but somewhat afield from Jesus as Philosopher. The author demonstrates enviable command of literature, from classical to modern science fiction. But the theological engagement becomes rather diffuse in later chapters. Whereas we started with the premise of Jesus was/is a Master Teacher of the Good Life, we end with Christianity is a solid system for meaningful and ordered life (you also don´t want to go to hell, probably). The latter conclusion is one I agree with, but it is broached too quickly and leaves the former inadequately explored. It would have been stronger, for my money, to widen the portrait of Jesus in the philosopher´s robe and save the Church for a second or third volume. JGP is a very fine book which falls somewhat short of its promise: thoughtful, erudite, and a bit neutered.