The Wisdom Books

What is wisdom?

Wisdom is a grid for understanding and interpreting life.

What is the difference between higher wisdom and lower wisdom?

Lower wisdom is typically formed in truisms in which outcomes are the clear result of the same inputs. The book of Proverbs is fully a lower wisdom book, the few wisdom Psalms are lower wisdom, and the claims of the friends in Job also belonging to lower wisdom.

Higher wisdom is wisdom that is more philosophical or cynical. It is aware of the complexities of life and seeks to grapple with them. It knows that just because you are faithful, bad things may happen. Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs belong

What books are contained in the Wisdom Books?

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.

What is the message of the book of Proverbs?

The message of the book of Proverbs is that if you seek out wisdom, you are likely to flourish. At the beginning of Proverbs, Wisdom is imagined as a local matriarch who wishes for all people to learn wisdom from her and live.

What is the message of the book of Ecclesiastes?

The message of the book of Ecclesiastes is that life is like vapor, and that in the end, all of our work and striving is like vapor too. Nevertheless, we should seek to fear the LORD and keep his commandments.

What is the message of the book of Job?

The message of Job is that God cares for the individual lives of humans amidst a vast and complex universe. We learn that God orders the world through his own wisdom, though our simple and lower forms of wisdom aren’t always going to make sense of his designs or plans.

What can we learn about God from the books of Wisdom?

God has invited us to live by his wisdom, his definition of right and wrong. While things might not always work out precisely as the Proverbs describe, life isn’t all bleak as Ecclesiastes suggests. God’s wisdom is an invitation to life.