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.

gratitude and thankfulness: a difference without distinction?

 

You hear many people advocating "an attitude of gratitude" as a preferable perspective on their life. We also celebrate Thanksgiving and advocate a thankful heart as a great way to live. It is easy to use these ideals interchangeably, but are they? And if not, does it matter? 

Two good questions you've probably never asked.

Let's explore.

Webster says gratitude is "an emotion of the heart, excited by a benefit or favor received." Thankful is "impressed with a sense of kindness received and ready to acknowledge it."

On the surface we recognize that being grateful and thankful are a little different (or we wouldn't need both words" but seem very similar, at least in practice. So we can safely say they are different, but does the difference really matter. In other words, is there a distinction?

If two things are distinct, then their effect is different. So, for gratitude and thankfulness to be "different without a distinction" then there are subtle differences but their effects are basically the same. Let's see. 

The effects of gratitude and thankfulness occur within the soul of the one who is grateful and thankful. These ideals should give us a positive sense of our surroundings and how they affect us. Both certainly do. But there is more we need to explore. There are possibly other effects each may have on our soul, and they may be different (making them distinct).

For gratitude, Webster goes on to say, "an agreeable emotion accompanied by good will toward the benefactor, and a disposition to make a suitable return of benefit." This implies gratitude is a social exchange phenomenon because there is a need for reciprocity of some kind. You say, "Ok, that's normal." Well, yes it is. Social exchange is fundamental to the human condition. Humans must find some way to return favor when favor is received. It's our nature. 

Webster stops with thankfulness as just an acknowledgment, not a need to return favor. Would it surprise you if I said gratitude is not a Biblical concept? Only thankful is. This makes sense since the Bible is God's view of redeeming human nature, not a better way to apply it.

The Greek word in Scripture for thankful is "eucharisteó", like 1 Thessalonians 5:18 - "in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." What is it about this word that makes it distinctively different from gratitude in how it affects your soul?

This Greek word means, "God's grace works well." See, grace is the opposite of social exchange. Grace is favor received simply by the good will of the giver. We simply acknowledge grace. There is not a sense of returning favor to keep things balanced. 

God's grace has a profoundly different effect on our soul than favor we receive that generates a need to return favor, like gratitude. 

In this way, gratitude and thankfulness is not just different, but also distinctively different.

So, is it the right testimony of a Christian to say, "I have an attitude of gratitude"?

Worth pondering .....