Jesus was—and is—a genius. Have you ever thought of him that way? We know him as a friend, Lord, healer, and teacher, Son of God, true God from true God. But genius? Einstein was a genius. Hawking was a genius. Men of science. Men of modernity. Men who created our world.
Jesus? He’s a religious figure. And we don’t associate religion with genius, even when we confess with Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus “upholds the universe by the word of his power.”
Peter Williams, however, wants you to consider The Surprising Genius of Jesus (Crossway, 2023). He shows readers what the Gospels reveal about the greatest teacher, and he wants you to see the cleverness and wisdom of Jesus.
Williams is the principal of Tyndale House in Cambridge and chair of the International Greek New Testament Project. He’s also the author of an excellent little book, Can We Trust the Gospels?, which is similar to The Surprising Genius of Jesus.
I read Peter’s latest just before my family embarked on a month-long stay at Tyndale House last summer. The library was helpful but the community was truly special. So for this episode of Gospelbound, I talked with Peter about The Surprising Genius of Jesus as well as the mission of Tyndale House.
The Gospel Coalition