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

by Jonathan T. Pennington

Publisher:

Brazos

, 2020

Overview

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.

Key Features

• Explores Christianity as a whole-life philosophy
• Provides dialogue beteen Jesus and ancient philosophers
• Examines Jesus’s widsom for what it means to be human, how to be happy, how to order our emotions, and how we should conduct our relationships

Contents

Your Personal Lord and Philosopher

• Philosophers, Martyrs, and Canoes
• The Genius of Ancient Philosophy

The Bible as Philosophy?

• The Philosophical “Big Ideas” in the Old Testament
• The Philosophical “Big Ideas” in the New Testament

Educating Emotions

• A Big Emotional Debate
• Christianity’s Sophisticated Solution

Restoring Relationships

• The Necessity of Relationships
• Christianity’s Renewed Relationships

Being Human and Happy

• Humans, We Have a Problem
• A Whole, Meaningful, and Flourishing Life

Top Highlights

“Christianity is not just a set of doctrines but a divine whole-life philosophy worth dying for, if need be.” (Page 9)

“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.” (Page 7)

“In her book What Did Jesus Look Like?, Joan Taylor explores this question. The short answer is that in the earliest centuries Jesus was depicted in one of two ways—as a philosopher or as a king.” (Page 57)

“But with Socrates and Plato and all those to follow, ‘philosophy’ takes on a new depth. It includes these areas of study but goes beyond them to the pursuit of a comprehensive understanding of all of the world. Philosophy focuses on character traits and habits that, if practiced, will result in a flourishing life and society. To sophia (a deep knowledge of how the world works) was added the crucial idea of the art of living well.⁶ It is the combination of these two—understanding and living—that becomes the focus of the great tradition of philosophy.” (Page 22)

“On the contrary, philosophy was the necessary bedrock for individuals and society. Philosophy in the ancient world was the lodestar, the scaffolding, the guide by which humans could experience true happiness; it was the vision for life itself. Philosophy provided the vision for the Good and the goodness of life.” (Pages 18–19)

Product Details

• Title: Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life
• Author: Jonathan T. Pennington
• Publisher: Brazos
• Print Publication Date: 2020
• Logos Release Date: 2020
• Pages: 230
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Jesus Christ › Teachings; Wisdom
• ISBNs: 9781493427604, 9781587434655, 9781587435140, 9781493427581, 1493427601, 1587434652, 1587435144, 149342758X
• Resource ID: LLS:JSSGRTPHLSPGDLF
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:57:42Z

About Jonathan T. Pennington

Dr. Jonathan T. Pennington is the associate professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He also served as a visiting professor at Southeastern Seminary, as well as the Institute of Biblical Studies in Orlando, Florida and Melbourne, Australia.

He earned a BA in history and his teaching certificate from Northern Illinois University, and his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he also taught Greek for two years as an NT fellow. For five years, he also served as the associate pastor at the Evangelical Free Church of Mt. Morris in northern Illinois.

He holds a PhD in New Testament studies from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland (in St. Mary’s College), where he wrote his thesis, “Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew,” under the supervision of professors Richard Bauckham and Philip Esler. Dr. Pennington is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the Tyndale Fellowship (Cambridge), the Institute for Biblical Research, and the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies. He’s published a variety of articles, reviews, and Greek and Hebrew language tools, as well as books like Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew (Brill),Cosmology and New Testament Theology (T&T Clark), and Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction (Baker Academic).