Book Review: The Surprising Genius of Jesus (Williams)
Peter J. Williams thinks that Jesus is a genius. He demonstrates his claim by examining Jesus' storytelling and his use of the Old Testament.
When you think about Jesus, how would you describe him? Son of God. Miracle worker. The Messiah. But what about genius? Peter Williams thinks you should describe Jesus in this way, and he sets out to illustrate Jesus’ smarts in his The Surprising Genius of Jesus: What the Gospels Reveal about the Greatest Teacher.
Williams utilizes the parable commonly known as The Prodigal Son (he refers to it as “the story of the two sons”) to demonstrate Jesus' genius, emphasizing Jesus' multi-layered allusions to the Old Testament, especially to Genesis, and his ability to convey different messages to multiple audiences simultaneously through the same narrative.
With tact and precision, he offers an engaging close reading of the parable in Chapter 1 and then demonstrates the allusions to various narratives in Genesis in Chapter 2. Williams goes beyond this narrative to briefly show allusions to the Old Testament in fourteen of Jesus' parables (Chapter 3), before launching into a defense of Jesus as the original source of these parables (Chapter 4). Finally, he argues that Jesus is more than a storyteller and a genius—he is God incarnate (Chapter 5).
Williams identifies Jesus' creative storytelling and skillful use of the Old Testament as key indications of Jesus' genius. It is not surprising, then, that the majority of the book is an examination of the links between the Old Testament and Jesus' teachings. I wonder if the book would have been better marketed as an exploration of Jesus' use of the Old Testament rather than as an argument for Jesus' genius. I think that we can all agree that about Jesus' smarts—he is the very son of God. But Williams' overall emphasis is less on Jesus' genius and more on his use of the Old Testament.
I really enjoy the whole subject of the New Testament's use of the Old Testament. I am also quite open to making connections across the canon, even sometimes acknowledging some connections that are tenuous or otherwise difficult to defend. Overall, the connections Williams draws out are defensible. At times, however, I wonder if he should exercise a bit more restraint (e.g., his connection of the Rich Man and Lazarus to Esther seems dubious to me).
At the same time, Williams demonstrates careful readings of Jesus' teaching and models canonical consciousness. By reading The Surprising Genius of Jesus, you will likely grow in your ability to relate Jesus' teachings to the Old Testament. Despite my earlier critique, Williams offers a helpful model of how readers of the New Testament can (and should!) interpret Scripture in light of earlier Scripture.
There is one final payoff for reading this book. Williams really does give a sense of Jesus' intelligence in a way that might reconfigure your mental picture of Jesus. If so, you will likely be led to worship, which is a great benefit of reflecting on the full character of Jesus.