Words from the Wise: Exploring Biblical Wisdom

In the letter of James in the New Testament, we read: 'If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you' (James 1:5). What a remarkable offer! The free gift of wisdom to anyone, simply by asking! But what is this wisdom, and is it really that readily available? Here we explore the theme of biblical wisdom as a whole and put this statement from James into the wider context of the Old Testament wisdom literature and Paul's declaration of Christ as the Wisdom of God. Our world prides itself on human cleverness and intellectual achievement. But are we missing out on the greater wisdom from above? Attaining wisdom from the Only Wise God and Creator of all things should be a priority. Surely, here is an offer none of us can afford to refuse."

Table of Contents: Introduction 1. Defining Wisdom 2. The Fear of the Lord 3. Listen, My Son 4. Meet Lady Wisdom 5. A Tale of Two Houses 6. Proverbs: The Collections 7. Proverbs: Their Nature and Style 8. Proverbs 22:6, A Case Study 9. Proverbs: Thirty Sayings of the Wise 10. Proverbs: Chapters 25 to 29 11. Proverbs: Chapter 30, The Sayings of Agur 12. Proverbs: Chapter 31, Sayings of King Lemuel and a Poem on the Wife of Noble Character 13. Preaching from the Book of Proverbs 14. Job: An Introduction 15. Job: Meet the Cast 16. Job: Going Round in Cycles 17. Job: Chapter 28, A Wisdom Poem 18. Job: Chapters 38 to 42, And God Said . . . 19. Job: Summary and Conclusions 20. Ecclesiastes: Meet Your Teacher 21. Ecclesiastes: Words of the Teacher 22. Ecclesiastes: More Words of the Teacher 23. Ecclesiastes: Some Final Thoughts 24. The Relationship Between Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes 25. Wisdom in the Psalms 26. Wisdom in the Apocrypha 27. Learning from Solomon 28. Christ, The Wisdom of God 29. James and the Gift of Wisdom 30. Two Kinds of Wisdom 31. The Nature and Value of Wisdom 32. In Conclusion