Someone shared the following:
Proverbs 8: The chapter on wisdom.
Verse 19 “My fruit is better than fine gold”.
Verse 27 “I was there when he set the heavens in place”Timothy Keller preached that this wisdom here refers to the Word, i.e. Christ.
And, the meaning of “wisdom” here include understanding, or, the true understanding of things.Everything said click for me. Instead of chasing after gold, get understanding.
Understanding is the most valuable thing.
I appreciated what he shared and it brought to mind the ideas that I had been mulling over about “honour” and helped me to expand those thoughts across to what the bible says about wisdom. I have read about this thought process: Christ->Word->Wisdom although I don’t think there is any direct link between Christ and Wisdom as found in the Bible (I am no bible scholar and I certainly can be wrong) except for references where Wisdom is involved in creation. Here are some of the thoughts I shared with him:
Thanks for sharing. Your conclusion is important in teaching us how to live.
I have a different theory about wisdom from Timothy Keller’s idea about Christ. I alluded to this when I wrote a little reflection on “honour as a life principle“. Let me quote my concluding para:
“All of these is towards my thinking that God’s wisdom is embedded in life and we do well to honour these truths rather than will them away (LGBTQ+ to replace the binary male and female, for example). Ecclesiastes is a good example of someone who found wisdom by observing life on earth—wisdom that we can learn and benefit from—even though there is the more foundational truth about God that must shape all our wisdom (which Ecclesiastes alludes to at the end).”
The idea is that God embedded wisdom into his Creation. Creation is therefore not neutral and anyone who learns to live in deep harmony with Creation will gain the tools to live with God. In other words life itself is a program/game that leads us to gain the wisdom to walk with God. Yes, sin corrupted our hearts but wisdom remains a faithful witness. We still need the knowledge from Scripture to redeem our heart but Scriptural truths and wisdom are in harmony.
It doesn’t change your conclusion. It also means that the Christian does not set aside logic, rationality, intelligence, and facts but use them in the context of our knowledge of God as revealed in life and Scripture.