Jesus as Philosopher

I remain convinced that it is important for Christians, at least some of us, to think philosophically, to provide an intellectually coherent account of life and reality and our relationships to each other and to God. I was therefore encouraged by this interview with Dr. Groothuis on "Jesus as Philosopher". (It is a downloadable MP3 file, can be placed on an iPod for treadmill or jogging time...) He points out that there is an antipathy on the parts of both our non-believing academy and our own churches to thinking of Jesus as a philosopher, but that he was a master thinker and used arguments all the time in his discourse, blowing away the competition, so to speak. He suggests that it is silly to think, "Jesus is Lord" without also realizing, "Jesus is Smart." He also argues against the idea that Reason is somehow non-biblical, or sub-biblical, and notes that Jesus never dismissed reason in his answers or his teachings, as he could have if reason were unimportant or did not apply to Him as the Creator. No, rather, his answers were closely reasoned and rationally unassailable. The problem with Rationalism is that it cannot discover all the necessary givens about the universe and God, and will not accept revelation as a necessary source and root providing these starting points. We are to use reason, as Jesus did, upon the substrate of revelation. Reason is necessary but not sufficient to a true understanding of God and his creation.