Since the 12th century the English language has enjoyed the word “wisdom” as the fruit of the root “wis,” an archaic word which means “to know.” So, in a manner of speaking, humankind has been on the seemingly never-ending, ever-winding Yellow-brick road, braving the journey with our companions in this small world for the single purpose that we may someday meet the “Wis.” Then what? Go back to Kansas? What ultimate deliverance is mankind seeking in the quest “to know?” Release from ignorance?
The object of knowledge is allusive; though, when we speak of wisdom, we refer to that object that embodies the accumulation of all that is learned philosophically, scientifically and theologically. Immediately the dilemma arises in that our collective knowledge philosophically and scientifically originates out of ourselves; that is, within the framework of mankind. So what have we learned other than what someone else thinks? Is this wisdom?
Solon of Athens gave us, “Know thyself.” What is the lesson of this wisdom when one sets out to master himself and discovers that he is more unknowable and unpredictable than he once thought? Where does this wisdom lead and what benefit does this knowledge bring? I believe Chilo of Sparta saw the flaw of Solon and stated, ”Consider the end.” Consider Sir Edmund Hillary who, after being asked why he climbed Mount Everest, answered, “Because it is there.” Hillary may have discovered physical attributes about himself that even he had not known before, but what did that knowledge do for Hillary over the course of his life? What contribution does that knowledge make to mankind? Nothing, beyond the fact that Hillary (as any other climber) needed a Sherpa to make the ascent. Nobody asks them why they climb Everest (medicine says “because they can,” money says “because they will,” and world view says, “out of respect.”)
I contend that the more one knows about himself, the more needy one becomes of himself and the more he owes to those around him. Isn’t it true that if one discovers all and true wisdom in his knowledge that he owes his secrets to all mankind? Thales of Miletos may caution, ”Who hateth suretyship is sure.” This can be translated as, “Come under a pledge, and mischief is at hand;” or, “Wretched pledges, for the wretched, to be pledged.” This is harder to hear, as Thales contends that Bythus (“bath” or water, the first principle of all things) is our Father, and Bythus is a jealous and angry vengeful scoundrel. Let us listen to Tertullian ask:
Now, pray tell me, what wisdom is there in this hankering after conjectural speculations? What proof is afforded to us, notwithstanding the strong confidence of its assertions, by the useless affectation of a scrupulous curiosity, which is tricked out with an artful show of language? It therefore served Thales of Miletus quite right, when, star-gazing as he walked with all the eyes he had, he had the mortification of falling into a well, and was unmercifully twitted by an Egyptian, who said to him, “Is it because you found nothing on earth to look at, that you think you ought to confine your gaze to the sky?” His fall, therefore, is a figurative picture of the philosophers; of those, I mean, who persist in applying their studies to a vain purpose, since they indulge a stupid curiosity on natural objects, which they ought rather (intelligently to direct) to their Creator and Governor.i
But the gods were nothing (literally) to Thales. Bias of Priene recognizes the logical step that actually shows hope in taking us somewhere by acknowledging, “Most men are bad.” Again, we may ask what we may take away from this teaching: avoid most people? Perhaps when Cleobulos of Lindos put forth ”The golden mean,” he meant that men should keep “The Golden Rule.” What is that rule? Is it simply, “Avoid extremes,” or “do unto others as you would have them do unto you;” or, “An it harm none, do as thou wilt?” Whatever you do, as Pittacos of Mitylene would summarize, “Seize Time by the forelock.” Horace echoed, “Carpe Diem,” to which the Victorian essayist Hilaire Belloc responded, “While you are dreaming of the future or regretting the past, the present, which is all you have, slips from you and is gone.”ii
So, what is the lesson of wisdom at this point? I believe we have learned that keeping any of these axioms would have one living at the center of himself, missing the treasure of the present in laying a-hold of the eternal! The Universe cannot consist of multiple centers—every 13 year-old is learning that lesson! What wisdom is gained when, at the end of life, the surprises we learn of ourselves (presuming we’ve not learned anything else at all) cannot pass from one to another and one has built nothing of lasting value?
Theology presses in from outside. We may be helped to transition with “He that knows not and knows not that he knows not; He is a fool—shun him! He that knows not and knows that he knows not; He is simple—teach him! He that knows and knows not that he knows; He is asleep—wake him! He that knows and knows that he knows; He is a wise man—follow him!”
Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon “God Glorified in Man’s Dependence” instructs from 1 Corinthians 1:29-31 that man must (as an imperative) look beyond himself for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. The Christian is to be knowing above what he knows now; he is to be made right because he is all wrong; he is to be set apart and escape conformity; he is NOT to go back home in Ruby Slippers as the Christian follows no Yellow-Brick Road that he may finish where he began.
Many would like to think that John Calvin is the man behind the curtain and cry out against him as the manipulator of the “Wis.” I can say I am approaching Calvin’s Institutes honestly, for in all my studies, I’ve read about Calvin—I’ve never read him. I've only read those who've read him. So far, I can say he has done nothing save direct our consideration to the source of true and solid wisdom, and this wisdom consist in the knowledge of God. Once we understand the benefits of our God who is relational, then we can know ourselves.
When President McKinley took the oath of office as President of the United States, he prayed publicly: “Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, that is so great.” Though he held the highest American honor possible, he was deeply conscious of his responsibility; and also felt his need of divine assistance. This is where we need to be and this where Calvin begins, with a deep consciousness that the sum of all wisdom is found outside man.
The truth is plainly stated. This is true psychology: the study of the soul cannot be practiced until one has first consulted its Creator.
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i Roberts, Alexander, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. III : Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997.
ii Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Satisfied, Ec 7:1. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996, c1990.
