Editorial October 7, 1991 Issue

His wisdom, our thriving

Allison W. Phinney, Jr.

Wisdom isn't a word that people use as widely in everyday speech as they once did. Yet these are times that demand more wisdom of us all, as the statement from The Christian Science Board of Directors in this issue reminds us.

The books of Psalms and Proverbs in the Bible mention wisdom frequently, as does the New Testament. The writer of James, for example, concerned about pride and words without works, says: "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" And his counsel comes later: "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom."

One thing we can readily conclude is that wisdom was understood by the Biblical writers to come not from bravado and zeal but from having sufficient humility to listen to God. Job, for example, refused to play the devil's game, but he also rejected the wordy, human zeal of his so-called comforters. The result was that Job's spiritual understanding of God as the supreme creator of all was purified and enlarged far beyond anything he had imagined—and he was healed.

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Editorial
Christian Science: its provision for spiritual education
October 7, 1991
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