Jesus the Great Philosopher by Jonathan T. PenningtonSample

Day Three: The Christian Philosophy of Living Well in Community

Philosophy asks questions like, What is the nature of reality? How do we know this? What does it mean to be human? How do we order our relationships and emotions? How do we find true happiness? In today’s world, we have forgotten to ask the Bible these crucial questions. And as a result, we have lost a major part of what Holy Scripture is saying and how it is meant to function in the Christian life. 

Religious and philosophical ideas never used to be separate, nor should they be. Religion in the ancient world was not primarily a set of beliefs to be cognitively acknowledged but an allegiance to a certain God or gods that showed you how to see the world and how to be in the world so that you might find life and flourishing. 

So too was ancient philosophy. Philosophy was an allegiance to a certain way of seeing and being in the world, learned and lived in community for the purpose of finding the Good Life. The Good Life refers to the habits of practiced wisdom that produce in the human soul deep and lasting flourishing.

The New Testament authors give unmistakable hints that this is how we are to think of the church by describing it with terms that come straight from ancient political theory. Let’s take two obvious descriptors—ekklēsia (which we translate “church”) and koinonia (“fellowship”). The biblical authors’ choice to use the Greek word ekklēsia is significant (Matthew 16:18; 18:17). It was already used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to describe the assembled gathering of God’s people. The New Testament follows suit. The writers and translators of both Testaments knew what they were doing when they adopted this famous Greek word. No Greek-reading person would miss the implication of ekklēsia.

Closely related is the term koinonia, which described the community of the city-state, the people who make it up and are acting together for the Good (1 John 1:7). To have koinonia is to participate in the common Good of the society. Once again, it is no accident that the church adopts this term to describe itself. 

The church is also a structured society, described as an ekklēsia and koinonia. But we often don’t think this way. Internal church relationships are a prime example of our modern tendency to think of Christianity as only a religion, not a whole-life philosophy. 

In what ways do you see the good life lived out in community within your local church?