Wisdom Of God Research Articles

Book Review and Resource: Theology & Therapy: The Wisdom of God in a Context of Friendship

Book Review and Resource: Theology & Therapy: The Wisdom of God in a Context of Friendship

Nature Literature and Modern Science

Science and nature appreciation have gone hand in hand since at least the time of John Ray's The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation (1691), and finding God's marvels in the world the scientist saw was for more than a century a relatively easy task. Even the decline of natural religion in the 19th century did not kill the connection of science to sentiment; Romantic rapture simply replaced Godly awe.1 We commonly think of Darwinian evolution, showing nature as a war of all against all, devoid equally of God's hand and moral lessons, as breaking that link, but this is too simple a formulation. It was an interpretive challenge to nature writers, but it presented no problems of specialized knowledge or vocabulary. The Origin of Species was written in ordinary English and could be understood by the educated nonscientist (perhaps the last scientific classic of which this could be said).2 The rise of the biological sciences in the late 19th century presented a more serious problem. Natural history split into a variety of specialized, academic disciplines, each requiring specialized training. Research became quantitative, tied to increasingly abstruse theory, and written in a special vocabulary. To abandon science as the basis for nature appreciation was possible, but that would have robbed nature literature of much of its appeal and authority, reducing it from enlightenment to sentiment. But where in these charts, graphs, tables, technical terms, and theories could be found joy in nature and awe at its sublimity? This-finding aesthetic and spiritual meaning in a quantitative, academic science-has been the central problem of 20th century American nature writing. It has shaped the genre's

What is the Appearance of Divine Sophia?

Since the sixth century, the spiritual center of Eastern Orthodoxy has been Constantinople's Hagia Sophia Cathedral and, since the eleventh century, that of Russian Orthodoxy in two cathedrals dedicated to that same Holy Wisdom. Yet few Orthodox believers would recognize any icon of Sophia.Vladimir Solov'ev, in his poem “Three Meetings” (1898), describes three visions of Sophia—each a somewhat indistinct image of feminine beauty, suffused in a “golden azure” light. Possibly, Solov′ev's perception of Sophia originated in an icon he saw as a child (his first vision having occurred when he was nine); the Orthodox church, however, found his almost fanatical obsession with the divine femininity of Sophia to be highly objectionable. In particular, the Sophiology based on Solov′ev's writings, and advanced after his death first by Pavel Florenskii and then by Sergei Bulgakov, was attacked by the church throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Bulgakov's idea of Sophia was seen by the church as “involving a fourth feminine hypostasis in the Holy Trinity” who acted as a “gnostic intermediary between God and the world”; it was condemned as heretical. The church's unyielding position in this controversy was (and is) that only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the true Sophia—the Divine Wisdom of God—in accordance with 1 Cor. 1:23-31: “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”

Jesus, the Wisdom of God

Jesus, the Wisdom of God

John of Salisbury and the tyranny of nonsense

If you want to be a philosopher-shut up! Otherwise everyone will know that you are talking nonsense’. In the eleventh passus of Piers Plowman Imagination tells Will (the Dreamer) that he has been deserted by the learning of the clerks and bereft of the reason of his own mind because he could not stop himself from interfering and, puffed up with pride and presumption, had acted in matters where it was not appropriate for him to be the judge. ‘Philosophus esses si tacuisses’, as both the Bible and Boethius teach us: you might be a philosopher if only you could hold your tongue. Adam had had all Paradise to enjoy so long as he kept quiet. But when he ‘mamelede about mete’, when he began to talk nonsense, babbling about forbidden fruit when he should have kept mum—when he forgot that he was a man and began to pry into the mind and wisdom of God himself, to meddle with divine things-he was turned out of the garden. It is a passage which might have been taken straight from John of Salisbury, and indeed John was not a prophet without honour in the England of the fourteenth century. In many ways it is the theme tune of the Metalogicon and the Policraticus; and an ability to keep quiet was an understandably valuable attribute for a political agent of archbishop Theobald to possess as much as anybody else caught up in the ecclesiastical politics of the 1150s. But John of Salisbury would have us believe that the virtues of silence and non-interference had been one of the main lessons that he had learnt in the Parisian schools, which were cursed with the plague of words, and where he had been subjected to the relentless outpourings of those who talked too much and thereby created nonsensical things in profusion.

The Wisdom of God and Factionalism: 1 Corinthians 1-4

The Wisdom of God and Factionalism: 1 Corinthians 1-4

Review: “The Unsearchable Wisdom of God”: A Study of Providence in Richardson's Pamela

Review: “The Unsearchable Wisdom of God”: A Study of Providence in Richardson's <i>Pamela</i>

Anxiety and Trust in Feminist Experience

Previous articleNext article No AccessAnxiety and Trust in Feminist ExperienceMarjorie SuchockiMarjorie Suchocki Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 60, Number 4Oct., 1980 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/486820 Views: 7Total views on this site Copyright 1980 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Zerafa, Peter Paul, OP, The Wisdom of God in the Book of Job

Zerafa, Peter Paul, OP, The Wisdom of God in the Book of Job

Recent Catholic Writing on the Resurrection (1) The Empty Tomb Story

The foundation of Christianity, as fact and doctrine, is the resurrection from the dead of Jesus who was crucified,“a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God”(I Cor 1: 23-24).Great efforts have been made over the centuries to spell out the presuppositions and implications, historical, metaphysical and theological, of this event, and it is unlikely that anything wholly new will be discovered now. In the last ten or fifteen years, on the other hand, study of the resurrection narratives in the New Testament has quickened dramatically, among Catholics, and it is important for us all to recognize that some divergence of interpretation is now established. Without attempting even to summarise the ever increasing Catholic literature on the subject, or to examine the various problems which the divergence creates, and which the new interpretation involves, it seems worthwhile to delineate briefly some features of the approach to the gospel accounts of the Resurrection to be found in some recent Catholic theology from Germany. The same approach may be traced elsewhere, most notably in major works by the Dominican theologians Christian Duquoc and Edward Schillebeeckx, but since neither of these has yet been translated into English, it seems more useful to limit this survey to three more accessible works: Hans Küng’s On being a Christian, Walter Kasper’s Jesus the Christ, and The Common Catechism. It is not a matter of accumulating authorities for the new approach; it is rather a question of registering how widely accepted the new approach already is.

The Relation between Christ and the Wisdom of God According to Paul

The Relation between Christ and the Wisdom of God According to Paul

The Relation Between Christ and the Wisdom of God According To Paul

confirmed this opinion in an extensive study by comparing various pauline texts with passages in Proverbs, Job, Baruch, Sapientia Salomonis, Sirach, and Ethiopian Enoch2). In his view Paul regarded Christ as an incarnation of the of God described in Prov. viii and Job xxviii 3). The present study is meant to prove that such wisdom christology is not found in pauline writing. It may be useful to first collect a number of data relating to the of God from both the Old Testament and later Jewish sources.

The Idea of Justice in Islamic Philosophy

Moslem thinkers have treated the idea of justice from a religious and human point of view by examining it on two planes: God and Man. Whatever their inclinations may be, their concept of justice is linked to other connected notions such as beauty and ugliness, good and evil, free will, the volition and wisdom of God, and predestination. In the framework of this study of the idea of justice and its related concepts, we shall confine ourselves to setting out the points of view of the principal sects (the Ash'arites, the Mu'tazilites and Maturidism) and of certain philosophers such as Averroes and some mystics including Ibn'Arabi. We shall probably be led to a brief comparison of the ideas of Ibn'Arabi with those of Leibniz. For more ample details on this subject, we refer the reader to a series of articles already published in which we underlined the points of convergence between these two philosophers with regard to the infinite, monadism, optimism, good and evil, and predestination.

: The Hydrologic Cycle and the Wisdom of God: A Theme in Geoteleology . Yi-Fu Tuan.

American AnthropologistVolume 73, Issue 4 p. 961-962 Free Access The Hydrologic Cycle and the Wisdom of God: A Theme in Geoteleology. YI-FU TUAN JACOB W. GRUBER, JACOB W. GRUBER Temple UniversitySearch for more papers by this author JACOB W. GRUBER, JACOB W. GRUBER Temple UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: August 1971 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1971.73.4.02a01090AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume73, Issue4August 1971Pages 961-962 RelatedInformation

Geology - The Hydrologic Cycle and the Wisdom of God, A Theme in Geoteleology. By Yi-Fu Tuan. University of Toronto Press and Oxford University Press. Pp. xiii + 160, 9 figs. 1968. 47s. 6d.

Geology - The Hydrologic Cycle and the Wisdom of God, A Theme in Geoteleology. By Yi-Fu Tuan. University of Toronto Press and Oxford University Press. Pp. xiii + 160, 9 figs. 1968. 47s. 6d. - Volume 5 Issue 2

The Early Quakers as Advocates of Educational Reform

THE EARLY QUAKERS AS ADVOCATES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM By Richard L. Greaves* The germinative decades of the seventeenth century, so fruitful in political, social, religious, and philosphical conceptions, witnessed also the development of a far-reaching movement for the reform of educational practices and theories. Although its impact reached from the European continent to the colonies of New England, its focal point was England in the tumultuous decades between 1640 and 1660. There the broad utilitarian philosphy enunciated by Lord Chancellor Francis Bacon at the turn of the century had permeated the sphere of educational thought through the writings of men like Jan Comenius, John Dury, Samuel Hartlib, and William Petty. Even the classicallyoriented program of education outlined by John Milton in his tract Of Education (1644) was not wholly uninfluenced by the Baconian tradition. Among the Baconian tradition's most devoted adherents were leading English sectaries of the Commonwealth and Protectorate period. One such was the mystically-inclined Yorkshire preacher John Webster (1610-1682), a one-time schoolmaster whose Academiarum Examen, or tL· Examination of Academies (London, 1654) was a probing critique of English higher education; it stressed the necessity of utilitarian studies, especially in the scientific and mathematical subjects. Another was the Antmomian-inclmed minister William Dell (d. 1669), rector of Yelden, Bedfordshire, and Master of Caius College, Cambridge. The Digger leader Gerrard Winstanley, who joined the Quaker movement in the years after the failure of his communal experiment on St. George's Hill, Surrey (1649-1650),1 placed a distinct emphasis on a utilitarian, secular, and scienceoriented program of education in his plan for a communist commonwealth , published as The Law of Freedom in a Platform, or True * Assistant Professor of History, Eastern Washington State College. 1 See Richard T. Vann, "The Later Life of Gerrard Winstanley," Journal of tL· History of Ideas, XXVI (Jan.-Mar., 1965), 133-136. For Winstanley's views on educational reform, see Richard L. Greaves, "Gerrard Winstanley and Educational Reform in Puritan England," to be published in the British Journal of Educational Studies in 1969. 22 Quakers as Advocates of Educational Reform 23 Magistracy Restored (1652). The reform of contemporary medical education and practice was the principal theme of the writings of two other men with sectarian religious leanings, the Bermuda-born alchemist George Starkey (d. 1665), author of Natures Explication and Helmont's Vindication (London, 1657), and the alchemist Noah Biggs (fl. 1651), whose critique was entitled Mataeotechnia Medicinae Praxeos (London, 1651). The early Quaker writers hesitated not at all in lending their support to these persistent cries for the reform of such a fundamental aspect of society, and in so doing helped to stir among their fellow Friends an awareness of and a concern for an educational system which would more adequately meet the needs of that society. That aspect of education which was of predominant concern to the Quakers related to religious education in the schools, and in particular to instruction in divinity in the universities. Like most other sectaries their position with respect to the obtaining of religious knowledge barred the use of rational means and posited a thoroughgoing reliance on the revelatory work of the Spirit alone. In a passage the essence of which is echoed throughout Quaker literature James Nayler wrote: "The wisdom of God ... is a hidden mysterie . . . the knowledge of this mystery is the free gift of God, given onely to them who fear and love him, given without all naturall helps whatsoever . . . ."2 The logical corollary of such an epistemology with respect to education is the exclusion of religious instruction, which is precisely the position the early Quakers took. George Fox, convinced that human learning was earthly, natural, and completely incapable of revealing divine truth, categorically and caustically condemned those who went to Oxford or Cambridge to study divinity and to pore over ancient tomes and treatises in the vain hope of discovering the mind of God.3 "Where Wisdom from below prevails," wrote Thomas Lawson in pointing out the futility of such attempts, "there is a sound, a talk of Divinity, but 'tis cast out of the Region of their Hearts."4 Rather than pursuing university programs in divinity, men seeking religious...

God's Purpose for the Church

It is impossible for any man to give a satisfactory answer to the question ‘What is God's purpose for the Church?’ We can only turn with expectation to Holy Scripture and to the other vehicles of divine revelation. The letter to the Ephesians declares the purpose of God as follows: ‘He destined us in love to be His sons through Jesus Christ, as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. … To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places’ (Eph 1.5, 9; 3.8–10).

Woodrow Wilson and the Idea of the Nation State

A T the beginning of this century the nation state was regarded in the United States, as in Western Europe, as 'the apotheosis of man', the most nearly perfect form which political society could reach. It was the Greek conception of the State, affirming in one form or another the Platonic belief in a virtuous citizenry governed by virtuous rulers. John W. Burgess, the political scientist of the day, who, like scores of other American professors, was a product of the German university, employed the language of Hegel and endowed the State with supernatural powers. At the other end of the intellectual ladder, William Jennings Bryan, the perennial candidate of the Democratic Party for the Presidency, framed his creed in the language of evangelical Christianity. 'Behold a republic,' he declaimed, 'increasing in wealth, in strength and in influence, solving the problems of civilization, and hastening the coming of an universal brotherhood ... a republic gradually but surely becoming the supreme moral factor in the world's progress and the accepted arbiter of the world's disputes-a republic whose history as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. William Allen White, the revered editor of Kansas and friend of Theodore Roosevelt, affirmed his faith in 'the essential nobility of man and the wisdom of God', in democracy as 'a positive moral force, a good in itself'; and insisted that 'the way to have a golden age is to elect it by an Australian ballot'. Suiting the action to the word, many Western States wrote into their constitutions provisions for the initiative, referendum, and recall, which they borrowed from Switzerland and which, being the 'voice of the people', were confidently relied upon to bring about the millennium in government. When we turn to Herbert Croly, the intellectual leader of the American Progressive movement, we discover doubts of the capacity of the masses and a reluctance to accept the principle of majority rule. The common citizen, Croly observed in his book The Promise of Amnerican Life, could at best only imitate the saints and heroes; he could not rise to their level; he must depend upon the ability of his exceptional fellow citizens to offer him examples of heroism and saintliness. 'Faith in the people,' Croly declared, 'and confidence in popular government means . . . an utter lack of faith in those personal instruments, whereby such rule can be endowed with

The Philosophy of the Church Fathers.

Harvard University Press takes pride in publishing the third edition of a work whose depth, scope, and wisdom have gained it international recognition as a classic in its field. Harry Austryn Wolfson, world-renowned scholar and most lucid of scholarly writers, here presents in ordered detail his long-awaited study of the philosophic principles and reasoning by which the Fathers of the Church sought to explain the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation. Professor Wolfson first discusses the problem of the relation of faith and reason. Starting with Paul, who, differentiating between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world, averred that he was not going to adorn his teachings with persuasive arguments based on the wisdom of the world, Professor Wolfson describes the circumstances and influences which nevertheless brought about the introduction of philosophy into matters of faith and analyzes the various attitudes of the Fathers towards philosophy. Trinity and the Incarnation are Professor Wolfson's next concern. He analyzes the various ways in which these topics are presented in the New Testament, and traces the attempts on the part of the Fathers to harmonize these presentations. He shows how the ultimate harmonized formulation of the two doctrines was couched in terms of philosophy; how, as a result of philosophic treatment, there arose with regard to the Trinity the problem of three and one and with regard to the Incarnation the problem of two and one; and how, in their attempts to solve these problems, the Fathers drew upon principles which in philosophy were made use of in the solution of certain aspects of the problem of the one and the many. In the final part of this volume, entitled The Anathematized, he deals with Gnosticism and other heresies which arose during the Patristic period with regard to the Trinity and the Incarnation.

Calvin's Concept of Revelation

In his commentary on John 1.1 Calvin distinguishes between the words sermo (word) and verbum (word). The Greek text runs: ɛv αρχη ηνoγos, and for the translation of “Latin theology wavered between verbum, sermo and ratio before accepting verbum, the least satisfactory, perhaps, of the three.” Verbum was used in the Vulgate. Erasmus, however, went back to sermo in his translation, and Calvin followed him. “In the beginning was the Word” (sermo). In a brief note he justifies the word: “I wonder what induced the Latins to render ⋯ λ⋯γο ς by verbum; for that would have been the translation of τo ρημα. But granting that they had some plausible reason, yet it cannot be denied that sermo would have been far more appropriate.” It would seem as if we have here the basis for a distinction universal in his writings and upon which a consistent doctrine could be constructed. In fact, we have nothing of the sort, for Calvin uses the two words indiscriminately, even to the extent of using verbum when he quotes John 1.1! The most that can be said is that he always seems to couple “eternal” (aeternus) and sermo together, and never “eternal” (aeternum) and verbum, and that, on the whole, he uses sermo rather than verbum as the synonym for the “wisdom of God” (sapientia Dei), though there are exceptions.