What Is Biblical Wisdom? (Crucial Questions)

by R.C. Sproul

The word philosophy combines two important Greek words: the first part of the word comes from the Greek phileō, which means “to love.” We are familiar with this word in the English language because we all know the meaning of the city of Philadelphia—the city of brotherly love.

The second part of the word philosophy comes from another Greek word, sophia, which is the word for “wisdom.” When you combine these words, philia and sophia, the simple meaning of the term philosophy is “the love of wisdom.”

However, I soon discovered that Greek philosophy, for example, focused on abstract, weighty questions in metaphysics (the study of ultimate being) and epistemology (the study of the process by which human beings learn).

Socrates was convinced that proper conduct, or right living, is intimately connected with right knowledge.

When we come to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, we see a completely different emphasis on the pursuit of wisdom among the Jews compared to the Greeks. When we speak of the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, we’re referring to the group of books that includes Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Job.

By contrast, for the Jew with his sacred Scriptures, the very first line of the Old Testament says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

The question that concerned the Jew was not whether there is a God but rather who that God is. What is His name? What is His nature and character? And the whole of the Old Testament focuses on God’s self-disclosure—the unveiling of His character, His person, and His nature to His covenant people.

For the Jew, wisdom meant an understanding, practically speaking, of how to live a life that is pleasing to God.

It was the pursuit of godliness that was the central concern of the writers of Hebrew Wisdom Literature.

the absolute, foundational, necessary condition for anyone to have true wisdom is that he must first possess a...

Martin Luther called it a filial fear. It’s the fear of a child who is in awe of his father and doesn’t want to do anything that would violate his father and disrupt their loving relationship.

When the wisdom writer says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, he is saying this: If we want to acquire actual wisdom, the absolute, essential starting point at which we begin and continue that quest is in a posture of reverence and adoration for God.

Wisdom is constantly being contrasted with foolishness.

To be foolish to the Jew is not necessarily to be stupid—a person could be erudite, extremely learned, and still be called a fool. One of the harshest judgments that we could receive from the mouth of Christ is to be called a fool.

According to the Bible, to be called a fool is to be deemed irreligious and godless. The fool is the person who has no respect or reverence for God, and when someone does not have any reverence for God or adoration in his heart toward Him, his life will inevitably show it.

We also see that the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament makes a clear and sharp distinction between wisdom and knowledge.

Humanity has tamed its universe—we can go to the moon, cure diseases, and build powerful computers—but we can’t tame the impulses of our own hearts. We have acquired knowledge, but we lack wisdom. And the Wisdom Literature teaches that we can possess knowledge yet never have wisdom.

However, the reverse is not the case—we cannot have wisdom without knowledge.

The anti-intellectual spirit of our times would rejoice in the proposition that we don’t need to study the Bible or theology—that all we need...

The Wisdom Literature says: Get knowledge, but above all, get wisdom. The purpose for learning the things of God is the acquisition of wisdom—we can’t have wisdom without knowledge. Ignorance breeds foolishness, but the knowledge that we must pursue to gain this wisdo...

there can be no real human wisdom until we first know the...

How can we know how to live in a way that pleases God if we don’t know the God...

But these are not either/or—we must have knowledge and wisdom, knowledge and love, not an ignorant love or an ignorant wisdom.

In poetic expression, we are told that before God ever created the world, He had from all eternity, within Himself, His own personal wisdom.

it is that the wisdom of God points us to the absolute wisdom of God—Christ Himself.

Yet today, we won’t even travel as far as across the street to gain wisdom. We neglect God’s Word, which is the supreme textbook of all wisdom. And in that regard, we have become fools.

The Bible, for the most part, is not written in technical, philosophical language that requires a special degree before one can understand it. In fact, one of the great principles of the Reformation was the view of the basic clarity of Scripture.

That is, its central message is so clearly and simply set forth in so many places that a child can understand what is necessary to know for faith and life in the presence of God.

At the same time, we must recognize that not all Scriptur...

These different styles, or forms, of Scripture require certain basic rules of interpretation in order to understand them correctly. Our particular focus is Wisdom Literature, which is in large measure communicated through poetry.

That particular technique or literary device is called parallelism.

The first is synonymous parallelism. This is seen when the same idea is expressed in two consecutive lines, but the wording is different. In other words, the writer uses different words to say the same thing.

The final line, “the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace,” reiterates what the first and second lines say. They are synonymous.

God doesn’t tempt anyone in the sense of luring or enticing him to sin. That would cast a shadow on the holiness of God. If the Bible looks askance at such an idea, why would Jesus say, “Lead us not into temptation”?

To ask the Father not to lead us into temptation is to say: “Father, don’t send me to the place of testing or ask me to bear that kind of difficulty. Instead, deliver me from ponēros, the evil one.” And we would miss all of that if we didn’t recognize the presence of parallelism in the text.

Antithetical parallelism occurs when statements are made together but are in direct contrast with each other.

Psalm 1 provides another example of antithetical parallelism by contrasting the godly man, who is like a tree planted by streams of water bringing forth fruit, with the wicked, who are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Scripture often contrasts the wise man and the fool, the righteous person and the godless person, and the difference is displayed in strikingly vivid images.

The third form of parallelism is synthetic parallelism, which contains a buildup from one level to the next.

This passage builds toward a crescendo as it lists a number of specific sins that God hates.

This same thing happens sometimes when we’re reading the New Testament and listening to the teachings of Jesus, our supreme mentor. We read the Gospel accounts over and over again, and we begin to grasp the flow of Jesus’ thinking.

Think about this for a moment. What would you expect Jesus to say in response to them? No matter how many times I’ve read this passage and how much I know what’s coming, I’m still surprised at Jesus’ answer. He says, “Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt. 6:9). Then He gives His disciples the model prayer.

In the 1960s, something unique in the history of Christianity erupted in the United States: the charismatic movement.

There are various aspects to prayer, including thanks-giving, confession, supplication, and adoration.

We tend to use the word adorable as a synonym for cute, but Calvin, like many of the other Reformers, was trying to capture the profound sense of adoration we ought to feel for the greatness and the glory of God.