Inspiration and Incarnation: Wisdom Literature

Image text: Ecclesiastes 1:2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." Image source.

I've been reading "Inspiration and Incarnation" by Peter Enns. Chapter 3 is called "The Old Testament and Theological Diversity." There are diverse viewpoints within the Old Testament- one passage says one thing, and another passage says another thing which is inconsistent with the first passage. 

There's a lot of fascinating stuff in this chapter, so I'm breaking it down into several blog posts. This post will cover the part about the wisdom literature in the bible. Specifically, the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job.

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Proverbs

Proverbs is a book of wise sayings. These are useful guidelines for how to live your life, but it doesn't mean you're *guaranteed* to have good results if you follow them. That's why I never really liked the book of Proverbs when I was evangelical- it's a bunch of generalizations, all of which have exceptions so you can't take them too seriously. Unlike the rest of the bible, which was Absolute Truth [so I thought].

For example, take a look at Proverbs 26:4-5,

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,

    or you yourself will be just like him.

Answer a fool according to his folly,

    or he will be wise in his own eyes.

Here we have 2 verses which are right next to each other, and contradict each other. But it's not really a contradiction- the writer is telling us that "answering a fool" is sometimes a bad idea, and not "answering a fool" is also sometimes a bad idea.

This makes me think of conspiracy theories and 2 possible responses to them: Do you debate them and present evidence that they are false? Or do you refuse to engage with them at all? 

I've often heard people make the argument that you shouldn't debate conspiracy theorists at all, because that gives the audience the impression that both sides present a good case, and reasonable people can disagree. But also, it really bothers me how this advice is presented like it's *the* correct advice about conspiracy theories- that we should take the position that it's so obvious that they're wrong, and never ever make any attempt to explain why they're wrong.

The way this comes across, to people who believe in the conspiracy theory, is "Wow, our arguments are so good, the other side can't think of anything at all to say in response! They only thing they can do is try to cover it up!"

Instead, I think the right approach really depends on your audience. If your audience is people who don't really know anything about the conspiracy theory, then just not mentioning it is probably the best approach- if you talk about it at all, it might give them the impression that the conspiracy theory is valid to some extent. But if your audience is people who really do believe it, and genuinely don't understand "why doesn't everyone believe this- look at all our amazing evidence" then you really do have to engage with the evidence and take their claims very seriously, if you want to convince them.

In other words, there's not really an objective standard for how "ridiculous" something has to be, where you can draw a line and say "we should never debate anything more ridiculous than this line." Instead, it's about the characteristics of the population you're in. It's about the extent to which people believe in the conspiracy theory. 

Anyway, the point that Enns is making here in "Inspiration and Incarnation" is that the author of Proverbs is telling us it depends on the situation. There's not "one right answer"; you have to look at your own situation and have the wisdom to know how to apply these principles.

Similarly, there are many verses in Proverbs about wealth. "Inspiration and Incarnation" shows us a few of them:

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city,

    but poverty is the ruin of the poor. (10:15)

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;

    they imagine it a wall too high to scale. (18:11)

And there are additional examples- some proverbs that say wealth doesn't matter, and being righteous is the important thing. And some proverbs that say being wealthy is maybe not good because it gives people a false sense of security.

The book's take on this is:

The point to be stressed here is that all of these proverbs are wise. All are correct. The question is not whether they are correct but when. It is, therefore, wrong to think of "the teaching of Proverbs on wealth" with the expectation that all its statements about wealth "say the same thing" or are compatible on the level of isolated concepts. 

So reading Proverbs, you learn general advice but nothing that is *absolutely* true *all the time.* Yeah like I said, this is why I never really liked Proverbs- it doesn't give you that "this is ABSOLUTE TRUTH" that the rest of the bible does. (Or rather, that inerrancy claims the rest of the bible does.)

And one more excerpt I want to share from the book:

The wisdom in Proverbs reflects the diversity of situations we find ourselves in every day. For example, what movies one parent might allow his or her twelve-year-old to watch may differ from what other parents do with their children. When my son was ten, he asked if we could watch Saving Private Ryan together. We did watch it, but before doing so I had to consider many factors. What is his personality type? What kind of internal "filters" does he have? Is this the right time and place to put him in a controlled setting to help him grow? In this case, watching that movie was a tremendously positive experience for him. (The opening battle scene was the most graphic representation of war he had ever seen, and it helped him understand something of how horrible war is.) Some might think that the violence and dialogue in the movie are inappropriate for a ten-year-old. I certainly understand the point, but quoting Proverbs 22:6, as one shocked parent did, is not going to resolve the issue.

Start children off on the way they should go,

    and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

Simply quoting this proverb will not do. It takes wisdom to know how this proverb applies to this situation, which means an intimate knowledge of the circumstances. In my opinion, I did apply the wisdom of Proverbs 22:6 by allowing my son to watch an R-rated movie.

This is so real! You make a carefully-considered decision, informed by your Christian beliefs, and then some Christian comes along with a drive-by bible verse, just quotes 1 verse at you, as if to say "I'm right, you're wrong" and it's a verse that doesn't even say what they are using it to say.

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Ecclesiastes

Next, "Inspiration and Incarnation" discusses the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, which is also categorized as "wisdom literature" in the bible.

Let me give a quick summary of Ecclesiastes: This is about a man called Qoheleth, discussing his philosophical thoughts on the meaninglessness of life. "Everything is meaningless!" he says. People are born, then they die, what's the point of it? Sometimes you work hard, but then some lazy relative inherits all your money. Even if you have pleasures in life, that's also meaningless. Even if you get wisdom, well, that's good to some extent, but you're going to die anyway so it's still meaningless.

The quote "There is nothing new under the sun" comes from Ecclesiastes. And that song from the 60's, that goes "To everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season"- that's from Ecclesiastes.

Anyway. Ecclesiastes is not the most cheery of bible stories. And every bible nerd knows that you can't just take any isolated verse from Ecclesiastes and treat it as a declaration of truth. Be extremely suspicious of anyone supporting their argument with quotes from Ecclesiastes! 

I always understood the message of Ecclesiastes to be, it's okay to be honest about your feelings and doubts. Qoheleth is saying some brutally honest stuff about how the world works, the kind of stuff that normally we feel like we shouldn't say- we should just put on a smile and pretend everything's fine. Ecclesiastes is telling us that God can handle these not-very-cheery sentiments. We don't have to "pretend everything's fine." It's okay to say all this "life is meaningless" stuff... as long as in the end, you come back around to "Fear God and keep his commandments".

"Inspiration and Incarnation" discusses the diversity within the book of Ecclesiastes, and also the contrast between Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. 

I think, from a "biblical inerrancy" perspective, the "diversity" within Ecclesiastes is fine- we see this character working through his thoughts, exploring some ideas and then later deciding those ideas were wrong, and it's not that hard to realize that you shouldn't just pull out a random quote from the middle of it and treat it as a grand truth for how we should live our lives. For Christians who believe in biblical inerrancy, it's not a problem that Ecclesiastes presents contrasting viewpoints- it's an inerrant account of some guy struggling with these thoughts, right?

The contrast between Ecclesiastes and Proverbs is more interesting: Proverbs is all about how we should strive to get wisdom, wisdom is so great, wisdom is going to help you have a good life. But Ecclesiastes is more cynical about it. "Inspiration and Incarnation" says,

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;

    the more knowledge, the more grief. (1:18)

Do not be overrighteous,

    neither be overwise--

    why destroy yourself? (7:16)

One will not find such sentiments in Proverbs.

Ecclesiastes also says being wise is better than being foolish, but not really that much better, because everyone dies anyway. So, kind of different from Proverbs.

At the same time, though, "Inspiration and Incarnation" says that "Proverbs is not a 'flat' collection of sayings" and there is some diversity in Proverbs's view of wisdom too. And "Both Ecclesiastes and Proverbs acknowledge the ups and downs of life, the complexity of living a good life in a harsh world."

The overall point that Enns is making is that the bible gives us these different perspectives because life is like that too- life is full of different circumstances where you kind of have to figure out for yourself what the "wise" approach would be. There's no one-size-fits-all answer.

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Job

The book is Job is also part of the bible's "wisdom literature." Let me give you a summary of the story of Job:

[spoiler warning, I guess?]

Job was a very righteous man, and also very rich, and had many children. One day God said to Satan, "Look at my servant Job, isn't he great?" 

And Satan said, "Well, he's only so faithful and devoted to you because you've given him wealth, but if he lost all of that, then he wouldn't be so righteous."

And God said, "Okay fine, you can strike him and take away his wealth, and we'll just see about that."

So then a number of disasters befell Job, and he lost all his wealth, and all his children died.

Then Job's friends came and said, "Oh, these bad things must have happened to you because of your sin! Repent of your sin!"

But Job kept saying, "No, I haven't done anything wrong." And there was a lot of back-and-forth where Job's friends kept making the argument that God blesses the righteous, and God wouldn't let all these bad things happen to a good person, so it must be Job's fault, and he needs to repent of his sin.

And finally God shows up and tells Job's friends that they don't know what they're talking about, and God has Their reasons for why these things happened. Not that They're going to give Job an explanation or anything- God is so far above humans, Job will just have to be satisfied with not understanding God. 

And then God blesses Job with more wealth and more children, the end.

In "Inspiration and Incarnation," Enns makes the point that Job's insensitive, victim-blaming friends were making arguments about "God blesses the righteous" that are completely consistent with what you find elsewhere in the bible.

Here is some of what Job's friends have to say:

Blessed is the one whom God corrects;

    so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

For he wounds, but he also binds up;

    he injures, but his hands also heal. (Eliphaz in Job 5:17-18)

Surely God does not reject one who is blameless

    or strengthen the hands of evildoers.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

    and your lips with shouts of joy.

Your enemies will be clothed in shame,

    and the tents of the wicked will be no more. (Bildad in Job 8:20-22)

Yet if you devote your heart to him

    and stretch out your hands to him,

if you put away the sin that is in your hand

    and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;

    you will stand firm and without fear. (Zophar in Job 11:13-15)

God is mighty, but despises no one;

    he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.

He does not keep the wicked alive

    but gives the afflicted their rights.

He does not take his eyes off the righteous;

    he enthrones them with kings

    and exalts them forever. (Elihu in Job 36:5-7)

What is wrong with their advice? In the abstract, nothing, but that is precisely the point. Job's friends express what seems utterly true; one would not blink if one were reading Deuteronomy and came across such statements. In a way, they are well within their biblical rights to draw the conclusion they do. But Job's suffering is not in the abstract. As readers of the book of Job know, as well as Job himself, whatever the reasons for his suffering, it is not because he has been disobedient.

Job's friends were not wrong in thinking that God blesses obedience and punishes disobedience. They were wrong in appealing to this principle superficially, without sufficient knowledge of the particulars of the situation.

Many passages in the bible teach that if you do good, God will reward you, and if you do bad things, God will punish you. But the book of Job teaches that sometimes bad things happen to good people and it's not possible to come up with a reason why- it's beyond our human understanding. So there's a contrast between different parts of the bible. In general, God blesses the righteous- but that's not the whole story. And it's important that we know that's not the whole story, so that we don't behave like Job's friends. 

In my post, No One Can Take The Bible From Me (where I reviewed Rachel Held Evans's book "Inspired"), I said:

The story of Job is basically what you would get if a writer wanted to write a fictional story with the most extreme elements of "bad things happen to good people and we don't know why." Job is a righteous man, so righteous that he even makes extra sacrifices to God, just in case one of his children sinned. He is extremely rich. Then he loses everything- all of his wealth and all of his children. And the reason is that God and Satan happened to be arguing about the motivation for Job's obedience to God- it had nothing to do with any "sin", and none of Job's friends could have possibly guessed that that was the reason.

I'm imagining the ancient people who heard the story of Job... perhaps then they heard about someone in their community who suffered some terrible tragedy, and their first thought was to wonder what sin this person committed, to cause the tragedy- but then they remembered the story of Job, and how Job and his family suffered even though they were innocent.

Job wasn't a real person, but "bad things happen to good people" is real. It's fascinating to me that writing a fictional story about this real-life fact can make it feel more real.

So Job serves as a contrast to the "if you obey God, you will be blessed" perspective that other parts of the bible clearly teach. And it's good to have this contrast, because life is complicated like that.

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Chapter 3 of "Inspiration and Incarnation" is about how the bible presents diverse perspectives and doesn't always say the same thing about the same topic. The first examples given in chapter 3 come from the wisdom literature of the bible. I see this as a way of easing us in- later in the chapter there are examples of disagreements within the bible about much more fundamental topics, like the nature of God.

Like I said, from a "biblical inerrancy" perspective, it's not really a problem that the teachings found in the bible's wisdom literature aren't absolutely true all the time. Wisdom literature is, by its very nature, general good advice about life, not absolute guarantees.

In the next post on this book, we'll look at diversity within the bible's laws.

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Posts about "Inspiration and Incarnation":

Inspiration and Incarnation: Introduction
Inspiration and Incarnation: Other Ancient Near East Literature
Inspiration and Incarnation: An Aside About Apologetics
Inspiration and Incarnation: Wisdom Literature

Related:

No One Can Take The Bible From Me