I recently came across Jeremy Stangroom's The Great Philosophers: From Socrates to Foucault. I have enjoyed reading this work, but am curiously surprised at the absence of Jesus being numbered among the great philosophers in light of the attempts to define philosophy. While the word philosophy literally means "love of wisdom," there is no broad based consensus of a working definition.

Some believe philosophy is best viewed in terms of abstract subject matter. It attempts to answer such questions as, "What exists? How do we know? What are we going to do about it? Who am I?  Where did I come from?  Where am I going? How should I then live?"  

Others believe philosophy is best understood in terms of methodology. The method should be a careful and systematic thought process, giving reasons for the conclusions and allowing those conclusions to be focused. Anyone can give a reason for something being right or wrong, but the view becomes philosophy when it is rooted in reason.

There is a third view of philosophy. It is best understood in an attitude or way of life. Socrates, for example died because he believed the unexamined life was not worth living. This understanding of philosophy stands in contrast and sometimes conflict with a systematic methodology, or metaphysics and epistemology.

I would suggest that in Christ all three of these approaches to philosophy converge. It should not come as a surprise for all truth is of God, and Jesus said, "I am The Way, The Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6).

For those lovers of wisdom who lean towards metaphysics and epistemology, hear Christ as He cries out, "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak" (John 12:46-50).

For those lovers of wisdom who enjoy methodology, study the Sermon on the Mount in the gospel of Matthew, chapters 5-7, and you will find a systematic way of thinking with rational conclusions for all that is articulated.

And for those who believe philosophy is best comprehend and understood in an attitude or way of life, "Behold the Man." He has astonished multitudes. Consider:

"Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the Child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book... He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His Divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a Cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while he was dying- and that His Coat. When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Such was His human life-He rises from the dead. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the Centerpiece of the human race and the Leader of the column of progress. I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as that One Solitary Life."

In Christ, all the philosophies of life are united. All other philosophers are lesser luminaries of that "One Solitary Life."