“Genius” is a word that gets thrown around a lot, sometimes appropriately but often not.
We should be selective in our use of it because a genius is someone whose thoughts changed the world like Newton, Einstein, Tesla, Internet inventors Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn and DNA discoverers James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin.
Dante, Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Mozart, Wagner, Calvin and Luther should also be counted in literature, art, music and theology because their achievements were made in the pursuit of virtue and without that goal genius is ultimately worthless or even dangerous.
Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln were the two greatest lawyers because they represented whole nations and brought them through very tough times to greatly improved outcomes.
There are many examples in world history of people who used their giftedness to do great harm because they were narcissistic and loved power above every human consideration. They worshipped themselves and the list pops easily to mind. The world is heavily populated now with such people who would do a lot more damage if they could.
So who was the greatest genius?
Standing alone at the summit is Jesus Christ, who applied his sublime intelligence and great manly courage to set an example of how to live and treat others and to show mankind the path toward Heaven.
Jesus as God incarnate was not only surpassingly brilliant, he acted out the ultimate pursuit of virtue by suffering egregiously and giving his life for the expiation of the sins of the world for all time.
He was one with the Creator while the others I have named were merely creations.
From the beginning people have striven all their lives to improve themselves in every imaginable way while all along the path to greatness in the eyes of God was in humble service to others.
