wisdom and the soul

 

Most everybody is aware they have a soul and most people desire or at least admire wisdom. Yet, what do most people know about wisdom and the soul? How would most define these terms? make sense of them? apply them in their own life? Many people don't know what they don't know. Many people are not particularly aware of or care whether they understand these ideas in a sensible way.

For many this blog might even be a waste of time.

On the other hand, I post this blog because I am aware and do care about wisdom and the soul. I have thought about these a lot. It matters to me as I try to live well in this world.

Stay with me if you wish to explore wisdom and the soul more.

First, wisdom is considered a good thing to have. We trust others who we deem to be wise. We seek their counsel and look to them for guidance. The 1828 Webster dictionary says wisdom is "the right use of knowledge." That's nice, but do we all know what is right in the same way? The dictionary goes on to say this about wisdom - "a faculty of the mind of discerning or judging what is most just, proper, and useful." Again, as with what's right, just, proper and useful can be quite subjective. Is wisdom about abortion concerning what's just for the unwanted pregnancy or the unborn child? Is justice for the illegal immigrant justice for the sovereign nation? Wisdom for one person may not be wisdom for another. This can make wisdom somewhat problematic.

The Greek in the Bible for wisdom is rooted in the work "sophia." This appears over 50 times and means "clarity." "Sophia" is the root word for philosophy, a field of study to gain perspective on things like knowing, behaving and governing. So, in a sense philosophers have attempted to bring clarity to life and thus wisdom. How well do you think they have done. The Bible says that man only gets wisdom or clarity from the Holy Spirit. If this is what you believe, then wisdom is not man's to produce but to only receive.

Now for the soul. Again, going to Webster we read, "the spiritual, rational, and immortal substance of man, that part of man that enables him to think and reason and render a moral government." That's a lot to take in. There are many theories man has about the soul. These explanations in many ways describes various religious views man has as people try to connect the soul to this idea of spirit and immortality.

The Bible references the Greek word "psuché" over 100 times in the New Testament. This would mean the NT says twice as much about the soul as it does wisdom. Since this word for soul is the root for psychology, then this field of study focuses what man can learn about the soul. 

So, there is what man has learned about the soul, human psychology, and what the Bible teaches us about the soul. Let's call that Kingdom psychology. Interestingly, I have studied both in great depth. I find it fascinating that every construct explored in human psychology is also covered in the Bible. Things like motivation, perspective, emotion, self esteem, satisfaction and acceptance.

Yet, what Jesus says about these things are exactly the opposite of what humans have discovered through their research. This should not be surprising because humans can only see flawed human nature, what mankind is like because it fell from grace. We can only learn and discover the Kingdom soul through eyes of faith. Using physical senses cannot reveal to us the nature of the Kingdom soul.

There is an awful lot to learn about the Kingdom soul. It's all there in the Bible. Just look for it. It's not theology, its Biblical psychology. You probably can't find many churches who want to or can tell you about Kingdom psychology. It's a fantastic field of study to ponder. I can attest to that.