Posted on 07/28/2007 6:17:10 AM PDT by xzins
When you think of Jesus of Nazareth what descriptions come to mind? Do you imagine a holy man who, while off pondering deep thoughts, is not particularly brilliant? Christians might wear the fashionable bracelets with the initials WWJD, “What would Jesus do?” which demonstrate that they at least think him to be an ethical role model. However, do his followers also think of him as the smartest man in the world? I believe the way in which we think of Jesus’ intelligence directly impacts how we submit to him as Lord and King.
In chapter three of Dallas Willard’s book, The Divine Conspiracy, he writes, “And can we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord if he were not smart? If he were divine, would he be dumb? Or uninformed? Once you stop to think about it, how could he be what we take him to be in all other respects and not be the best-informed and most intelligent person of all, the smartest person who ever lived?” Jesus’ closest followers—those he traveled, ate, and lived with—were convinced that he was The Intelligence behind all the universe (John 1:1-5; Col 1:17; 2:3). And they saw his triumph over this world’s greatest weapon—death—to bolster their recognition of him as the rightful king over all minds and bodies in the universe (Rev 1:5, 18).
Consider how Willard explains Jesus’ mental greatness:
Master of Molecules “At the literally mundane level, Jesus knew how to transform the molecular structure of water to make it wine. That knowledge also allowed him to take a few pieces of bread and some little fish and feed thousands of people. He could create matter from the energy he knew how to access from ‘the heavens,’ right where he was.
It cannot be surprising that the feeding of the thousands led the crowds to try to force him to be their king. Surely one who could play on the energy/matter equation like that could do anything. Turn gravel into gold and pay off the national debt! Do you think he could get elected president or prime minister today?
He knew how to transform the tissues of the human body from sickness to health and from death to life. He knew now to suspend gravity, interrupt weather patterns, and eliminate unfruitful trees without saw or ax. He only needed a word. Surely he must be amused at what Nobel prizes are awarded for today.
In the ethical domain he brought an understanding of life that has influenced world thought more than any other. . . .And one of the greatest testimonies to his intelligence is surely that he knew how to enter physical death, actually to die, and than live on beyond death. He seized death by the throat and defeated it. Forget cryonics!
Death was not something others imposed on him. He explained to his followers in the moment of crisis that he could at any time call for 72,000 angels to do whatever he wanted. A mid-sized angel or two would surely have been enough to take care of those who thought they were capturing and killing him. He plainly said, ‘Nobody takes my life! I give it up by choice. I am in position to lay it down, and I am in position to resume it. My father and I have worked all this out” (John 10:18).
All these things show Jesus’ cognitive and practical mastery of every phase of reality: physical, moral, and spiritual. He is Master only because he is Maestro. ‘Jesus is Lord’ can mean little in practice for anyone who has to hesitate before saying, ‘Jesus is smart.’
He is not just nice, he is brilliant. He is the smartest man who ever lived. He is now supervising the entire course of world history (Rev 1:5) while simultaneously preparing the rest of the universe for our future role in it (John 14:2). He always has the best information on everything and certainly also on the things that matter most in human life.”
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: 1. Why is it that we don’t tend to think of Jesus as a master intelligence? 2. How does thinking about Jesus’ supreme intellect inform and impact your understanding of him as your life’s master?
SUGGESTED RESOURCE: For a great short book on Jesus as a philosopher, who valued reasoning and who held a well-developed worldview, see Doug Groothuis’ On Jesus, in the “Wadsworth Philosophers Series” (Wadsworth, 2003
And what's it mean if you say that He did not?
Ran across this on the web and thought it was interesting...
I have always thought of Jesus as the smartest man ever because I’ve always thought of him as part of the Holy Trinity which created the universe....”through him all things were made”
I didn’t realize there was ever a debate about how smart Jesus is.
Depending on the theology of it, many view Jesus while on earth in terms of the kenosis passage in Philippians.
When it says “He emptied Himself” it means that He set aside His divine prerogatives and became “fully human.”
Some believe that His understanding of His mission...even His relationship to His heavenly Father...was by faith.
ok - that view doesn’t jibe with what I was taught.
I was taught that Jesus is 100% human AND 100% God, from conception through His mission, until today.
Well of course He was a genius. What, this is even debatable?
He is 100% God.
The kenosis passage, though, Philippians 2:6-8, says that He did NOT consider equality with God something to be grasped but “emptied Himself” taking the very nature of a servant.
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2
He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
John 1:4
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John 1:5
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 1:6
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
John 1:7
This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
John 1:8
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
John 1:9
That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
John 1:10
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
John 1:11
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
John 1:12
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
John 1:13
who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
(NKJV)
5 SOLAS!
Isn’t the idea of genius a modern, western concept?
Well, yes. But He did not operate on earth as God, but as a man anointed with the Holy Spirit.
He did say “I can of mine own self do nothing”— John 5:30. He never exercised his Godhood in anything He did here, so as to provide for us an example of what is possible in this life.
Doesn’t the idea of “genius” suggest that if Einsteing were just XY points of intelligence higher that he, too, could’ve worked miracles?
I suppose so. Specifically Greek in origin. But how does that exclude Christ from meeting such qualifications? I don’t think it was possible for Him to have a conversation with someone and say ‘wow, I never thought about that before.’
I do think there’s a huge difference between wisdom and intelligence, meaning the ability to think powerfully. But He was pitted against the finest minds of Judaism in the Pharisees, and the sharpest political leaders in the area, and remained completely in charge at all times. He was never off His game.
Even Paul, who is arguably the most brilliant apostle, was pushed around by circumstances. Never Jesus.
I know what it says - I just don’t see how that means he somehow lost his divine intelligence.
Jesus taught us about humility, self sacrifice.
To “empty” oneself means placing others before yourself.
Placing your own wants and needs aside.
When it is stated he did not consider equality with God to be something to be grasped at...that doesn’t mean He somehow lost His divine attributes.
If he had “emptied” Himself of his divine intelligence, how could he have properly taught us the spiritual principles he left us?
I think it is a strange, disjointed view of Him.
Miracles are worked every day by people who can’t even read. Intelligence and spiritual juice have little to do with each other.
LOL. I like the way you said that. (And I agree.)
I believe is speaks specifically of Divine authority. He told Pilate that He could call down legions of angels if He wanted to. He knew very well Who He was, yet chose not to operate in that capacity.
He was constantly tempted to do it, in the wilderness by Satan, on the cross by the soldiers, (come down and save yourself!), during His ministry by the crowds who wanted a Messianic victory over Rome, it happened all the time, and I believe that it was probably His greatest temptation.
“Do you think of Jesus as a genius?”
K thought so growing up having been taught that God creates everything and plans everything and nothing happens that is not under His control in our lives, but after marrying me, I think she is having second thoughts; at times I think she is now leaning to the “open theism” surprize thing.
“but as a man anointed with the Holy Spirit.”
It goes beyond that....He is part of the Trinity. He is a man AND he is God. He was part of the Trinity prior to the Incarnation, and remained a part of the Trinity during and after the Incarnation.
John 5:30 does not negate this as he is describing the relationship between the Father and the Son. A mysterious relationship but not something that negates the Son’s status as God.
I don’t know how you can claim he never exercised his Godhood in anything while on earth.
Examples are aplenty...and just because He states He is doing the will of the Father does not mean he was not acting as God Himself.
I thought the beginning of the gospel of John made that clear.
Yep- you ever hear a musician who isn’t technically that great, but when they worship, the Presence of God sweeps through and wrecks the place? Same thing. :)
“SUGGESTED RESOURCE: For a great short book on Jesus as a philosopher,
who valued reasoning and who held a well-developed worldview, see
Doug Groothuis’ On Jesus, in the “Wadsworth Philosophers Series”
(Wadsworth, 2003”
I haven’t read the book yet...but here’s a link for anyone that’s interested.
On Jesus (Wadsworth Philosophers Series)
by Douglas Groothius
http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Wadsworth-Philosophers-Douglas-Groothius/dp/0534583946/ref=sr_1_76/002-8975660-2481603?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185631696&sr=1-76
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