In the 20th century it...
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In the 20th century it would be difficult to point to one particular person and call that person a "wise man," or a "sage." Our minds do not function in a way that would allow us to say that the Pope or the official head of any gathered religious group was filled with the wisdom of God.
But, when Proverbs was written, wise men and sages were the successors to the prophets and what they had to say carried great weight. These writers would not limit themselves to just emphasizing the divine source of wisdom. They actually speculated about wisdom itself, it's origin and its relation to humankind. They thought of wisdom as if it were a divinely created personality which existed before the world. This meant that wisdom existed within creation and came to us to call us to love wisdom and through that love to find life. Wisdom gives us a choice.
The Wisdom that Proverbs speaks to us about allows our minds to function in such a way that we can agree with the writer in chapter 8, when he says, "The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago."
--Clarke
But, when Proverbs was written, wise men and sages were the successors to the prophets and what they had to say carried great weight. These writers would not limit themselves to just emphasizing the divine source of wisdom. They actually speculated about wisdom itself, it's origin and its relation to humankind. They thought of wisdom as if it were a divinely created personality which existed before the world. This meant that wisdom existed within creation and came to us to call us to love wisdom and through that love to find life. Wisdom gives us a choice.
The Wisdom that Proverbs speaks to us about allows our minds to function in such a way that we can agree with the writer in chapter 8, when he says, "The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago."
--Clarke
