The Influence of Mother Wisdom on Augustine

The Book of Ben Sira was popular in the early Christian church and influenced the Church Father Augustine (354–430). He adopts the person of Wisdom as a divine mother and adapts her within the context of the early Christian church. He links to Mother Wisdom a wisdom theology, in which Jesus is her envoy. Augustine describes Mother Wisdom as an eternal nourishing divine mother. She has a permanent revelatory status by continuously giving life-giving power, which she mediates through Jesus of Nazareth. He presents her grace which she has prepared for the competentes (the candidates for Baptism), who are working towards initiation into Christian Faith. Mother Wisdom serves as hostess in biblical Wisdom literature. For Augustine, Jesus Christ has taken this place. Mother Wisdom serves instead the angels and the spiritual persons as a representative of divine nourishment.

Abraham Sahabat Allah

Abraham is called by the three monotheistic religions as friend of God. According to Gn 18:16b-33 he by his call is to become a friend of God. What does it mean? In wisdom theology of Wis 7-8 those who seek and love wisdom are called friends of God and in Jn 15:15 Christ calls all His disciples as His friends. This study tries to explore the relationship between these texts and its significance for the life of the Church in our time.

Job and the Song of Songs

These are books of impassioned dialogue and language that pushes the boundaries of intelligible religious speech. The book of Job does not treat God’s character or yield fresh thinking about theodicy. Rather, it is a book of wisdom theology (exploring the limits of human knowledge), of creation theology (considering the human place in the created order), and of mystical theology (exploring how character is transformed through suffering and, finally, through direct encounter with God). Options for interpreting the Song are now more contested than at any time since early in the Common Era. Origen’s approach is exemplary, with his lack of moralism and recognition of the Song’s poetics of relationality. Primarily through intertextual references, the Song uses the language of desire to evoke a longing that may include sexual desire and present ways to transcend it.

Identifying the Enochic Son of Man as God’s word and wisdom

While many interpreters of the Enochic Parables have recognized a connection between the Enochic Son of Man and personified wisdom, this article argues that the Enochic Son of Man should be primarily identified as God’s wisdom as well as God’s word. To this end, the article argues that (a) the Son of Man is best understood as a divine being rather than an idealized human being, (b) a prominent word and wisdom theology existed in the late Second Temple period, and (c) both similarities between the Enochic Son of Man and word/wisdom as well as the narrative of the Parables support the conclusion that the Enochic Son of Man is an apocalyptic embodiment of God’s word and wisdom.

Die Josefs- und die Exodus-Geschichte: Ihre vorpriesterliche weisheitstheologische Verbindung

Im vorpriesterlichen Text von Gen 37–50* liegt eine selbständige Josefsnovelle aus der späteren Königszeit vor, in die durch die »Midianiter-Bearbeitung« zur Entlastung der Brüder Josefs die weisheitstheologische Vorstellung einer verborgenen Lenkung der Geschichte durch Gott (vgl. Prov 16,9) eingefügt wurde (vgl. besonders 37,28aα; 40,15; 45,5b–8; 50,15–21). In dieser »weisheitstheologischen Schicht« zielt die Ankündigung Josefs in 50,20, dass der die Pläne der Brüder durchkreuzende Plan Gottes dem »Ins-Leben-Bringen eines zahlreichen Volkes (In the pre-Priestly text of Gen 37–50* an independent Joseph Novelle from the late monarchy period is present. Into this the ›Midianite revision‹ introduced (cf. especially 37,28aα; 40,15; 45,5b–8; 50,15–21) the wisdom concept of a hidden direction of history by God (cf. Prov 16,9). In this »wisdom theology layer« the declaration by Joseph in 50,20, that the plan of God, which cuts across the plans of his brothers, serves »to bring a numerous people (Le texte présacerdotal de Gn 37–50* préserve une nouvelle sur Joseph, qui date de la fin de l’époque monarchique. La »révision madianite« a déchargé les frères de Joseph en introduisant dans le récit une conception théologique et sapientielle de l’histoire orientée et dirigée par Dieu (voir en particulier 37,28aα; 40,15; 45,5b–8; 50,15–21; cf. Pv 16,9). Dans cette couche »théologico-sapientielle «, l’affirmation de Joseph en 50,20, selon laquelle le plan de Dieu annulle les projets des frères et sert le dessein divin d’»amener à la vie un peuple nombreux (

The theological paraphrasing of history: The Exodus tradition in the Wisdom of Solomon

This study of the reinterpretation of the exodus tradition in the Wisdom of Solomon investigated the possibility that the reinterpretation entailed the alignment of history and wisdom. To come to grips with this alignment, attention had to be paid to its Greco-Roman context, whilst also taking into consideration the literary and theological structure of the Wisdom of Solomon, as well as its rhetoric and genre. In a theologically creative manner, Wisdom (as divine personification) and history (as memories of salvation during the Exodus) were combined in the Wisdom of Solomon to convince the Jews in the diaspora that justice would prevail – not only in this life but also thereafter. By means of poetic imagery, rhetorical skill, historical reinterpretation and imaginative wisdom theology, religious identity were not only bolstered to resist a dominant Greco-Roman culture but also to develop a positive view of creation according to the values of wisdom exemplified by the reinterpreted Exodus traditions.