Curtis,
Edward M. “Old Testament Wisdom: A Model for Faith-Learning Integration,”
Christian Scholars Review 15.3
(1986) 213-27. Cited
with permission.
The "integration of
faith and learning" is a notion which in recent years
has
become central to the thinking of many Christian educators, yet the
possibility
that we can find models for such integration in the biblical text
itself
has been little explored. In this essay Edward M. Curtis finds such a
model
in the Old Testament concept of wisdom, and he explores the im-
plications of the model both for biblical studies and
for Christian schol-
arship generally. Mr. Curtis teaches Old Testament at
Talbot Theological
Seminary.
By Edward M. Curtis
Old Testament Wisdom:
A Model for
Faith-Learning
Integration
DURING THE PAST few
years regular attention has been
given by Christian educators to the concept of the
integration of faith and learn-
ing. These discussions have
produced a number of helpful suggestions includ-
ing the significant
observation of a Biola colleague, Dr. Bruce Narramore, that a
basic barrier to the integration of faith and
learning comes from the fact that the
evangelical community tends to isolate God's special
revelation from his general
revelation.1 One element that has
been missing from the discussions thus far has
been the establishment of a biblical basis or model
for the process of integration.
It
is the thesis of this paper that the Old Testament concept of wisdom provides
such a model, and establishes some essential
guidelines for practicing integra-
tion.
Biblical Data
An understanding of wisdom in the
Old Testament must take cognizance of
two kinds of data. First of all it must consider
the meaning of the primary
Hebrew
words for wisdom (hakam,
"wise" and hokma,
"wisdom"), and secondly
it must take into account the themes, content and
forms that are found in the
Old
Testament wisdom material.2 The breadth of
the data combined with the
1 Bruce Narramore, "The Isolation of General and Special
Revelation as the Fundamental
Barrier
to the Integration of Faith and Learning," (paper presented at the Biola President's
Luncheon,
October 22, 1984), pp. 1-23.
2 This will include the
books of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes and certain Psalms (identified
primarily on the basis of vocabulary, themes and
structure). It is generally recognized today that
wisdom influence goes far beyond these books and can
be found many places in the Old
Testament. As Murphy ("Theses and
Hypotheses," in Israelite Wisdom:
Theological and Literary
Essays in Honor of
Samuel Terrien, ed. by John G. Gammie,
et al. [
Press,
19771, pp. 39—40) points out, "It is not a question of direct influence of
the sages or of the
wisdom literature, but rather of an approach to
reality which was shared by all Israelites in
varying degrees. . . . Such an understanding was
not a mode of
213
variety of ways in which the Hebrew words are
used make it difficult to formu-
late a precise definition of wisdom3
though the general meaning of the term is
clear. Some indication of the meaning of wisdom can
be discovered by examin-
ing the synonyms that are
used with the words hakam
and hokma.
Among the
common synonyms are the words nabon, "perceptive,"
"skilled";4 bina, "in-
sight," "understanding";5 tebuna,
"insight," "skill";6 yodea’, "one who knows"
(either in the sense of understanding, experience or skill);
in addition several
synonyms suggest the idea of doing what is right
or what contributes to success
and prosperity.
Especially instructive is Prov. 1:2–5 where the wisdom that the book of
Proverbs
offers is described using a number of these synonyms along with
musar, "training,"
"discipline"; haskel,
"wise behavior"; mezimma, "discretion"
(or according to Toy "the ability to form plans"7);
‘orma,
"shrewdness" and
several moral nouns like
"righteousness," "justice" and "equity." It
appears
that these synonyms are piled up in an attempt to
define the broad concept that
is wisdom. Von Rad says,
Presumably a comprehensive term, for
which there is no longer any handy
word, can
be constructed here for the reader by the fact that, to a certain
extent,
into this prologue a number of known terms have been inserted so
that by
this cumulation the desired extension of the
conceptual range is
achieved.
Certainly the individual terms used are differentiated from each
other; but
perhaps not in a way which can be precisely defined, for they
obviously
overlap with each other too. By the cumulation of
many terms
the text
seems to aim at something more comprehensive which could not be
expressed
satisfactorily by means of any one of the terms used.8
The
kinds of words that are used to draw this comprehensive picture of
wisdom (skill, insight, prudent dealing, ability to
form plans, shrewdness,
knowing how to do, etc.) clearly
suggest that the thing that is in view here is
practical in nature rather than theoretical, and
the way the words "wise" and
"wisdom" are used confirm this conclusion. The words are
used of craftsmen
who made priestly garments according to the
instructions given them by Moses
(Ex.
28:3), of the chief artisans of the tabernacle (Ex. 31:3–6), of skilled weavers
(Ex.
35:25–26), of various artisans (Ex. 35:36–36:1), of sailors (Ps. 107:27
["their
wisdom/skill
was swallowed up," i.e., the conditions that confronted them were
so severe that their unaided skill was not
adequate to enable them to successful-
thinking cultivated exclusively by one class; it
was shared at all levels of society that interpreted
daily experience." In the present author's
opinion this explanation best accounts for the wisdom
emphasis found in many places in the Old
Testament.
3
See for example the comments of James Crenshaw, "Prolegomenon" to Studies in
Ancient Israelite Wisdom, ed. by James L.
Crenshaw, (New York: KTAV, 1976), pp. 3-5.
Among
the examples are Gen. 41:33, 39; Dt. 4:6; 1 Kgs. 3:12; Isa. 5:21 and 29:14; Prov. 17:28
and 18:15. The examples from Isaiah and Proverbs
are particularly significant because the poetic
parallelism clearly establishes the fact that the
two words are virtual synonyms.
5
E.g., Deut. 4:6; Isa. 29:14; Job 28:12, 20, 28,
38:36, 39:17.
6 Ex. 36:1; 1 Kgs. 5:1 (
7 C. H. Toy, Proverbs, International Critical
Commentary, (
1899),
p. 7.
8 Gerhard
von Rad, Wisdom
in Israel (York: Abingdon Press, 1972), p. 13.
214
Old
Testament Wisdom: A Model for Faith-Learning Integration
ly navigate the waters]
and Ezek. 27:8-9), of military strategists and statesmen
(Isa. 10:13) and of
women skilled in lamentation (Jer. 9:17).
The practical nature of wisdom is
reflected in the statement David made to
Solomon
from his death bed as he pointed out to Solomon the problem Joab
would pose for his survival as king. David said,
"Act according to your wisdom,
and do not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace."9 David was simply
acknowledging the fact that as long
as Joab remained alive he would cause
problems for Solomon; David was advising Solomon
to ''do whatever was nec-
essary to solve the
problem." The "practical result" orientation of wisdom is
even more clearly illustrated in the story of
Solomon at
Solomon
acknowledged his inability to rule and judge the nation over which he
was king and he asked God to give him "an
understanding heart to judge the
people, to discern between good and evil."
Because he asked for discernment to
understand justice, God gave him "a wise and
discerning heart." The very next
incident that is reported in 1 Kgs. 3 is the story of the two women who came to
Solomon
each of whom insisted that the other woman's child was suffocated
during the night and that the child that remained
alive belonged to her. Immedi-
ately after Solomon was
promised a wise and discerning heart, he was con-
fronted with an extremely complex problem to
test whether he had been given
wisdom. The means by which Solomon identified the
mother of the living child
was reported to the people and "when all
the king had handed down, they feared the king; for
they saw that the wisdom
of God was in him to administer justice."
Thus Solomon's ability to solve this
problem convinced the people of his wisdom; the
fact that it was such a complex
problem convinced them that the wisdom must, in
a special sense, have come
from God.
Wisdom can be defined as the ability
to succeed; it is the ability to form a
correct plan to get a desired result. (The
principles that enable a person to
succeed in a particular endeavor would be called
"wisdom" as well.)10 The fact
that achievement of a desired goal is a prominent
aspect of wisdom is suggested
by the fact that this is a common element in many
of the examples mentioned
above: a craftsman or artisan is wise or skilled in that
he is able to follow a plan
given to him, or one in his mind, and bring the idea
into reality; sailors are wise
in that they can successfully navigate their ships
to a desired destination and
return safely; a political leader is wise in that he can
successfully accomplish
what the demands of his office require. An embryo
that cannot find its way out
of the womb at the proper time is called unwise (Hos. 13:13). God's wisdom
enabled Him to create the world (Prov. 3:19 and 8:22-31).
The same conclusion is suggested by
the fact that what the Bible calls
9 1 Kgs.
2:6.
10 Von Rad (Old Testament
Theology, v. 1, trans. by D. M. G. Stalker [
and
Row Publishers, 1962], pp. 418,428) has defined wisdom as "practical
knowledge of the laws
of life and of the world, based on
experience." Crenshaw (Prolegomenon, p. 4) notes a variety of
other definitions such as "the art of succeeding
in human life, both private and collective"
(Cazelles) or
"the ability to cope" (Kenworthy).
215
Christian
Scholar's Review
wisdom does not always involve a moral dimension. Isa. 40:20 and Jer. 10:6
describe people who are wise or skilled in making
idols, and certain wise men of
Isa. 44:25 and Dan. 2:10–12). This pragmatic (but
not always moral) dimension
of wisdom is evident in certain proverbs like Prov. 17:8 which says, "A bribe is a
charm in the sight of its owner; wherever he turns he
prospers"—though the
moral evaluation of the use of bribes is also found
in the same chapter in verse 23
which says, "A wicked man receives a bribe from
the bosom to pervert the ways
of justice." This same non-moral dimension of
wisdom is clear in the incident
related in 2 Sam. 13 where Jonadab
is described as "wise" (though most English
translations are reluctant to
translate hakam
as "wise" in this verse); his wisdom
was used to devise a plan to enable Amnon to have sexual relations with his half
sister Tamar. Thus it seems clear that, on one level
at least, the primary element
in wisdom is its ability to accomplish a goal
rather than its moral character.11
and perhaps in the book of Job (the setting of the
book seems to be in
the wise men mentioned in the book presumably were
from
of the Phonecians is
mentioned in Ez. 28 and Zech. 9:2; that of the
Persians in
Est.
1:13 and 6:13; that of the Babylonians in Dan. 2:12–13 and 5:7. In some
instances the wisdom associated with these other
nations is viewed negatively
because of their pride or because the wisdom was
associated with divination and
magic,12 but often the wisdom is recognized and
is acknowledged as legitimate.
The
wisdom of Solomon is, in fact, compared with the
wisdom of the "sons of
the East" (perhaps
4:29–34
is that the readers would be impressed by the fact that Solomon's
wisdom surpassed that of the very people who were so
well known for their
wisdom.
When the wisdom literature of
that of
content and form. Many of the same themes are
found (e.g., the problem of the
righteous sufferer) as well as similar forms
(e.g., acrostics, maxims, etc.). In
addition the content of many of the proverbs are
very similar to those found in
the Bible and while the question of dating is
particularly difficult, there is the
11 It would not, however,
be correct to conclude that wisdom has no concern for moral
values. In
will see below, wisdom is embedded in a culture that
is dominated by Yahwistic values, and those
moral values are quite evident in the wisdom
material.
12 E.g., Ex. 7:11; Isa. 10:13 and 44:25; Jer. 50:35.
13 The designation of the
Mesopotamian material as wisdom literature comes from the fact
that in content and form it is similar to the
biblical material which calls itself wisdom. As
Lambert
(Babylonian Wisdom Literature,
[Oxford: Oxford University Press, 19601, pp. 1—2)
has pointed out the Babylonians and Assyrians
applied the term wisdom (nemequ)
to their
{magical and divinatory traditions. Translations of the
Mesopotamian wisdom literature can be
found in Larnbert;
translations of some of the Egyptian texts can be found in Marian Lichtheim,
Ancient Egyptian
Literature,
3 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975, 1976, 1980).
216
Old
Testament Wisdom: A Model for Faith-Learning Integration
strong probability that at least some of these
proverbs existed in
and/or
sibility that some of these
proverbs were borrowed by the biblical authors.14
There are a number of passages that
state that wisdom is a gift from God,15
yet when the content of the biblical wisdom
literature (many of the proverbs, for
example) is considered and compared with the
similar material from
us to be a secondary sense. Many of the proverbs
articulate principles that can be
identified by any insightful person who carefully
observes the world around
him, and it appears that
the same principles that contribute to a person's
success. It does not require
direct revelation from God (what theologians have
traditionally called special
revelation) to realize the benefit of diligence and
the way it contributes to a
person's success; the same is true of the
problems that a bad temper can gener-
ate for a person or the value of patience or the
dangers involved in making rash
judgments or commitments. It appears that this
"secular" level of wisdom
comes from God in the same sense as is affirmed in Isa. 28:23–29; there the
farmer's knowledge of how and when to plant and
cultivate his crop is said to
come from God. This understanding, however, does not
come as the result of
direct revelation from God; rather the farmer
carefully observes and calculates;
he tries various techniques in order to improve
his agricultural skill. His own
experience with planting and harvesting, in fact,
only supplements and refines
the traditions that have been recognized by many
past generations.
This kind of knowledge is possible
for the farmer, in part, because God has
created order and regularity in the world. There
is a general consensus among
scholars that wisdom presupposes the existence of
"an all-embracing cosmic
order . . . , which, served as the cohesive force
holding together the various
14 Many of the proverbs
from
not seem to be the leading candidates for borrowing
by the biblical authors—though Agur and/or
Lemuel (both of whom are mentioned in connection with
some of the collections of proverbs in
the biblical book) may have been from the
Mesopotamian region. Most scholars suppose that
there is a much better possibility that some of the
proverbs may have been borrowed from
There
are striking similarities between Prov. 22:17–23:14
and an Egyptian collection called the
Teaching
of Amenemope; the question of the direction of the
borrowing is still debated and will
not be answered as long as there are questions
about the date of Amenemope. Given the close
relationship between Solomon and the
Egyptian court (Solomon married a daughter of the
Pharaoh),
the borrowing could have taken place in either direction; studies based on the
language
of the two collections remain inconclusive. It is
clear that there are some significant theological
differences between the two collections and some
have said that the Egyptian collection reflects a
"higher" theology than one normally finds in
sufficiently objective to answer the
question of the direction of borrowing. The fact that the
book of Proverbs begins with the words "the
proverbs of Solomon" does not resolve the question
either, since at least some of the sections could have
resulted from his choice of the proverbs rather
than his authorship of the statements.
15 E.g., Ex. 28:3,
31:3,6, 35:31, 35:35–36:2 (all referring to the skill that God gave to
certain craftsmen); 1 Kgs.
3:4–15 (referring to the wisdom to judge and rule that God gave to
Solomon);
1 Kgs 5:9–14 (
and literary endeavors); Ps. 51:8 (
217
components of created order in a well-integrated,
harmonious whole."16
recognized, of course, that this order was created
and maintained by Yahweh,
and this order clearly provides the basis for
systematic and repeatable observa-
tions about the natural
world. As Hermisson has noted,
the conviction that the regularities within the
human and the historical-social
realm are not in principle different from the ones
within the realm of nonhuman
phenomena,"17 and thus no radical
distinction was made between "nature
wisdom" and "culture wisdom." Biblical
wisdom literature is noted for its lack
of explicitly theological themes; there is little
mention of redemption, the cove-
nant, God's deliverance of
His people, etc. The dominant theme in the wisdom
literature seems to be the theme of creation; this
appears to be the case because
creation constitutes a fundamental prerequisite
for successfully perceiving truth
by studying the world and the people in it.
Man is able to comprehend God's
creation because he is made in the image
of God. The literary context of Genesis 1 makes it
clear that the creation of man is
the climax of God's creative activity18
and man alone is said to be made in the
image of God (or perhaps better "as the image of
God"). It is clear that the image
of God gives to man a pre-eminent position in the
created order and sets him
apart from everything else that God has made. Man's
exercise of dominion over
the rest of creation appears to be the consequence
of his creation in the image of
God
and in all probability equips man for that task. It seems clear that man has
been given faculties for comprehending his world as
a part of his creation in
God's
image in order, among other things, to exercise dominion over the rest of
creation as is described in both Gen. 1:26–28 and
Ps. 8.
Level-One Wisdom
God's creation of the world with its
order and regularity and God's creation
of man in his image are essential prerequisites
for perceiving the wisdom that we
are suggesting should be identified as level-one
wisdom. These ideas also provide
a vital interface between the
divine/human/created world. On the one hand, the
image of God makes man able to relate to God (as the sonship analogy in Gen. 5
makes clear); on the other hand, it makes man able to
comprehend the world
and its order and this is an essential element in
man's exercising dominion over
the rest of creation.
16 Leo
G. Perdue, Wisdom and Cult,
Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series, 30
(Missoula,
Montana: Scholar's Press, 1977), p. 135. Waltke
("The Book of Proverbs and Ancient
Wisdom
Literature," Bibliotheca Sacra,
136 (1979), p. 135) also notes that the "notion of a fixed,
eternal righteous order does compare favorably
with the biblical meaning of 'wisdom.' . . .
[wisdom] is an eternal order existing for man's good. . . .
Wisdom is God's fixed order for life, an
order opposed by chaos and death." Note the
similar statement of Hermisson, "Observations on
the Creation Theology in Wisdom," in Israelite Wisdom: Samuel Terrien
Festschrift, p. 44.
17 Hermisson,
p. 44.
18 For a detailed study
of the image of God see the author's 1984
Parallels," available through University
Microfilms.
The final chapter of that work discusses the
meaning and significance of the statements in
Genesis.
218
Old
Testament Wisdom: A Model for Faith-Learning Integration
It appears legitimate—one might even
say necessary—to conclude that
there is a level of wisdom that comes out of the
crucible of human experience; it
can be recognized by man, even after the fall, as
he carefully and perceptively
studies his world and the people in, it. He is
able to identify many of the princi-
ples by which the natural
world operates; he is able to identify many things that
contribute to success in living as well as many
things that will prevent success. It
appears that this is the way many of the
principles in the biblical wisdom
literature had their origin,19 and this
probably accounts for the parallels in con-
tent between the biblical wisdom literature and that
of other nations.20 This may
also account for some of the common moral values
that
neighbors and for some of the ideas about god that
are expressed in certain
pagan hymns and which are similar to ideas applied to
Yahweh in biblical
texts.21
19 Some have described
the different mechanism of revelation suggested here as
"horizontal revelation" in contrast with the
"vertical revelation" that appears to be the norm for
the law and the prophets. Ronald Allen (Praise! A Matter of Life and Breath, [
Nelson
Publishers, 1978], pp. 92–97) recognizes the same differences in the mechanics
of
inspiration that we are suggesting. He suggests that
the prophets are characterized by God
communicating new knowledge that man
could not otherwise know through his messengers;
many of the psalms are characterized, not by new revelation,
but rather by the believer's response
to earlier revelation; much of the wisdom material
is characterized by the sage's reflection on the
way God's world works.
20 In pointing out the
similarities and parallels between the biblical wisdom material and
that of other ancient Near Eastern cultures and
seeking to account for those similarities, it is
important to recognize that there are fundamental
differences as well. These differences are most
apparent in the realm of moral values and
theology, but the Yahwistic perspective produced by
the covenant caused many of the
"non-theological" principles (though this secular/theological
distinction was not recognized in
"What
is surprising ... is that many of the most elementary experiences appeared
quite differently
to [
understanding" (Wisdom, p. 5).
21 This touches on a
number of theological issues that continue to be debated vigorously,
and obviously the questions cannot be resolved in
one footnote. The principle that we have
applied to explain the origin of what we are
calling "secular" wisdom or level one wisdom—and
which seems to be affirmed by Scripture—could apply
just as well to other areas. This would
suggest that man created in the image of God and
living in the presence of God's general
revelation can perceive certain moral truths. This
is consistent with a number of Old Testament
texts that recognize the moral responsibility of
nations other than
seems to be consistent with Rom. 1-2 as well. This would
explain the fact that various laws that
are contained in the covenant are known from
Mosaic covenant. As many have noted, the
significant element in the covenant is not the
originality! of the laws;
rather it lies in the fact that Yahweh affirmed the truth of them in His
revelation to Moses. In the same way, it seems
plausible that man is capable of discerning certain
truth about God as he is confronted by God's general
revelation in the world. Many are reluctant to
admit that unredeemed man is capable of discerning
any moral or spiritual truth because they
feel that this undermine the doctrine of the total
depravity of man. It should be pointed out that
Calvin
recognized the fact that unredeemed man perceives truth in these areas and he attributed
this to the revealing activity of God rather than to
the ability of man. These issues are discussed at
length by Berkouwer (General Revelation [
J.
E. Jennings, "Ancient Near Eastern Religions and
Biblical Interpretation," in Interpreting
the Word of God, Festschrift in honor of Steven Barabas, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1976), pp. 11–
219
Christian
Scholar's Review
What we are calling level-one
biblical wisdom generally reflects a different
perspective than other biblical literature, though
as Waltke has clearly demon-
strated there is theological
consistency between the wisdom material and the
other biblical material.22 The wisdom
material reflects man's struggle to perceive
truth as he looks at life in the world God has
created. Most of the proverbs
involve observations about life and what
contributes to success in living and
what does not. Job describes his own struggle to
square the reality of innocent
suffering with the wisdom theology that he and his
friends share. The book of
Ecclesiastes
involves Qoheleth's search for order and for
something in life that is
not vanity. The material is not characterized by theophanies (the significance of
the theophany in the Book
of Job will be noted later); it is not characterized by
dramatic revelations or by "Thus saith the LORD." This material recognizes that
because God created the world and maintains it
there is consistent order in the
world. An awareness of the order God has built into
the world enables a person
to live in harmony with those principles and
contributes to his success, and
much of the wisdom material reflects man's search
for that order.23
We have suggested that there is in
the Old Testament a kind of wisdom that
has its origins in human experience and
observations about life in the world, and
we have suggested that there are many similarities
between this wisdom and the
wisdom that
the legitimacy of this wisdom; it is important to
recognize as well that the Bible
sees clear limits for this kind of wisdom. The
inability of Job and his friends to
explain why an innocent man would suffer is
clearly expressed in Job 28, and his
problem is finally resolved through a theophany. The conversation with Yah-
weh did not answer Job's
questions; rather it emphasized the limited capacity of
man to penetrate into such mysteries. Qoheleth's search for the key to life, for
some profit that death cannot eradicate,
demonstrates the limits of wisdom as
well. He says in Eccl. 8:17, "I saw every work
of God, I concluded that man
cannot discover the work which has been done under the
sun. Even though man
should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and
though the wise man should
say, 'I know,' he cannot discover." The limit
to the wisdom that can be dis-
cerned by man's observation of
his world is clear from Isa. 19:11-12 where the
30.
The question of natural law is discussed by John Barton, "Natural Law and
Poetic Justice in
the Old Testament," Journal of Theological Studies 30 (1979), 1–14 and by Alan F. Johnson,
"Is
There
a Biblical Warrant for Natural Law Theories?" Journal of the Evangelical Theological
Society, 25 (1982), 185–201.
22 Bruce Waltke, "The Book of Proverbs and Old Testament Theology,"
Bibliotheca
Sacra, 136 (1979), 302-17. See also the article by
Waltke mentioned above in n. 16.
23 In addition to the
discussions of Crenshaw and Waltke see the discussion
of H. J.
Hermisson,"Creation Theology in
Wisdom," in Israelite Wisdom: Samuel
Terrien Festschrift, 43-
57.
It is possible that the desire to discover the patterns and order that God has
created into the
universe is programmed into mankind. This idea is
perhaps expressed in Eccl. 3:11 in the
statement that God has put 'olam in man's heart. The meaning of the
word olam
is a key for
interpreting the verse, and a number
of different meanings have been proposed. A number of
commentators, on the basis of the
context and use of the word elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible,
would translate the word "eternity" and
would basically agree with Kaiser's conclusion that man
220
Old
Testament Wisdom: A Model for Faith-Learning Integration
inability of Pharaoh's advisors to discern the
plans of Yahweh is declared. Man's
limited capacity for wisdom is also evident from
the fact that God's truth some-
times turns out to be the opposite of what appears
correct to man (Isa. 8:11–15;
or the statements of Proverbs that giving money to
the poor actually contributes
to a person's prosperity).
Man's wisdom is limited both because
he is finite and because he is fallen.
As
a result "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way
of
death" (Prov. 14:12).
The result of following man's perception of what is right is
described in the Book of Judges: "Every man
did what was right in his own
eyes," and this led to gross immorality and
political disaster (e.g., the story of
the Levite and his concubine in Ju.
19–21), as well as to religious practices that
were gross distortions of God's intention (e.g., the
story of Micah in Ju. 17–18).
The
historical context in which these incidents are placed makes it clear that the
actions of the people in doing what was right in
their own eyes were the exact
opposite of the obedience to God's covenant
revealed at Sinai which should
have characterized God's chosen people.
Level-Two Wisdom
The limits imposed on man's
understanding by his finiteness and his fallen-
ness suggest that man's perception of reality and
his identification of the princi-
ples of order God has
created in the world will include both truth and error. This
means that there are many things that man can know
only if God reveals them to
him. Scripture makes it clear that God has given
such a revelation to man, and
the Bible comes to us as the definitive statement
of that special revelation. In that
special revelation God has communicated to man
much about Himself, His
redemptive activity on man's behalf, His moral
truth, and many of His purposes
and desires for mankind and history. Clearly this
is wisdom that has come to us
from God and we would identify this special
revelation as level-two wisdom.
The special revelation of Scripture
contains numerous examples of what
appears to be level-one wisdom, and this
suggests several important conclu-
sions. First of all, it
suggests something about the mechanics of inspiration of
this material; it appears that a major element in
the Holy Spirit's work here
involved filtering out the mixed material of
empirical observations aboutlife so
that what comes to us in the biblical wisdom
literature is both true and appropri-
ate for God's intended purposes. As
a part of both general and special revelation. He
says, "the factors held in