The Tradition Western Christianity Lost.
and now desperately needs.
“Wisdom literature has never been high on the agenda of worshiping communities,” explains Katharine Dell in her book, Get Wisdom, Get Insight. (pg. 3). Dell, a Cambridge professor and author of numerous books on Old Testament Literature helps us see that “…for Christians, with the prophets at the centre for concern (focusing on the fulfillment of ancient prophesy in the person and life, death, resurrection, of Jesus Christ), and the Law in second place, the writings were marginalized…” Because the saving history of Israel and end-times vision are not a feature in wisdom texts, the Christian Wisdom Tradition was cut off of mainstream Christianity.
It was the first day of a new class that I was offering at my current church. I asked the participants, about 20 in attendance, three questions: Who in here is familiar with the Prophets? Every hand went up. Who in here is familiar with the Priest? Almost every hand. Lastly, who in here is familiar with the Sage? One hand, at most, two, hesitantly, went up. The class I was teaching, Tracing Wisdom: A Journey Through the Christian Wisdom Tradition, was designed to retrieve this tradition for the congregation and it is the first of its kind, that I’m aware of.
The Christian Wisdom Tradition
Most Christians are familiar with the books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Proverbs is highly regarded in congregations as the locus and central point of revelation for God’s wisdom. Any student of Christian Wisdom is going to begin with the book of Proverbs. It represents the conventional wisdom of ancient Israel and is accredited to Solomon, although large sections of the book of Proverbs were borrowed from Egyptian and other Ancient Near Eastern sources. Job is a dramatic narrative, and Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth), is really a pastoral reflection on the meaning of life under the shadow of imminent death. All three of these texts: Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes (it is worth noting that later parts of the Psalms are also classified as wisdom texts), are typically consulted and read in isolation from one another, they are not approached as a grouping of like texts. However, they are couched within the same genre, the wisdom genre, which represents a classification of texts with distinctive modes, and forms that give wisdom a framework of identification. Meaning, there are certain modes and forms within a text that signal to readers that this text belongs with the wisdom genre or is influenced by wisdom.
The concerns presented in wisdom literature are for humanity and the community of creation as it exists in the moment. The wisdom texts were not motivated by a longing for the “afterlife” or a deeper understanding of Israel’s salvific history and its future. Insights into daily life, and the practices that accommodated personal and communal transformation were derived from keen observations into the natural world and the animal kingdom. By observing their surroundings, early sages drew upon the rhythms and patterns of the divine and could synchronize their lives with this higher plane of awareness. Gathering cues from our external environments was a common practice among the early sages and we see it featured in the sayings and parables of Jesus who came up through the Jewish Wisdom Tradition and is presented in the Synoptic gospels as a master of wisdom.
“…one greater than Solomon is here.” Matthew 12:42
Indeed, in the gospels, Jesus is referred to as “teacher,” “rabbi” and “master” more than any other title used. He drew off of nature and the animal kingdom in his parables when describing the Kingdom of Heaven and addressing questions about daily life, purpose, and knowing God.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”Matthew 6:28
The practice of receiving guidance during crisis, the unknown, and the wilderness in the ancient world was dependent upon the person and communities capacity to tap into this way of perceiving of the divine. The early practitioners of such spiritual pilgrimages could be referred to as “way-finders.” A term commonly associated with sailing, way-finding is a way of plotting a course through untraversed terrain without the use of modern apparatus that the contemporary world has become so accustomed to.
With advances in modern technology, coupled with a, sometimes, over reliance on contemporary psychotherapy, and an extreme, over reliance on scripture as the ultimate authority for God’s revelation, we have lost touch with this inner compass that is designed to guide us through the passage of life, especially in times of the unknown. As the church continues to awaken to its future, we are without apparatus, and in need of tapping into this ancient technique and way of navigating our surroundings. As I mentioned in my last post, the old mechanisms and methods for engaging congregational impasse and challenge are useless in this new era and only by moving inward will we know how and when to move outward.
My aim is to retrieve the Christian Wisdom Tradition for the congregation, especially as it relates to leadership and congregational processes. Leo G. Perdue, Gerhard Von Rad (early scholar), Carol A. Newsom, James L. Crenshaw, and Katharine Dell are all leading scholars regarding the Wisdom Tradition and while they have been central to my own growth and understanding, I am deeply indebted to the work of Cynthia Bourgeault. I first encountered her work at Kanuga Retreat Center, in NC, about 15 years ago. She has written intuitively and extensively on the subject of wisdom. Her work provided me with an entirely new, and poignant way of dialoguing about this tradition and its relevance today. Her book, the Wisdom Way of Knowing, really captures for us what this wisdom work is all about and why we are in such great need of its inherent power. Bourgeault describes her understanding of wisdom this way: Wisdom is
“…a precise and comprehensive science of spiritual transformation that has existed since the headwaters of the great world religions and is in fact their common ground.”
The entire aim of the wisdom charter is transformation and with it the spiritual practices that accommodate its manifestation. David Bentley Hart, a Yale professor of Greek and New Testament, wrote a translation of the New Testament that was published in 2017. Most translations are done by committee for various reasons. Hart sought to offer a translation of the N.T. without any agenda or concern for fixing grammatical errors, it was just a literal translation, grammar be damned. So, in light of this, as my own Christian wisdom teacher who introduced me to the translation says, “it has a certain quality.” What is astounding is how many times the phrase “change your heart” appears in the New Testament scriptures where we read “repent.” I want to draw special attention to Hart’s translation of Luke 24:47:
“And in his (Jesus) name transformation of the heart and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all the nations…”
Normative Protestant translations of this verse omit the phrase “transformation of the heart.” The emphasis on “forgiveness of sins” and removal of “transformation of the heart,” instilled a very specific perspective of Jesus’ proclamation and admission into the “kingdom of heaven.” This perspective stretches back to the early architects of what has become the doctrinal life of Mainstream Christianity. The early church viewed knowing (gnosis) God through spiritual practice and more mystical, monastic practices in conflict with the church’s sacramental life (baptism, eucharist). While the creedal life of the church was developing through the councils, at the same time a group was being formed in the deserts of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt who were drawn to a life of spiritual practice and scriptural study as a way of knowing God with our whole selves. They would come to be known as the Desert Fathers and Mothers and represent the foundations of the monastic tradition. This group was eventually wiped out around the sixth century but their practices and emphasis on transformation of the person, although pushed into the background, remain and are now re-emerging with an intensification.
The duality between creedal life, vicarious knowledge and transformation, an inner knowing, are still being played out in our congregations. The new era that we are entering into is one of integration and the practices and texts that facilitate this attitude and behavior can be found in our in our wisdom tradition. As the church uses this wilderness experience to re-evaluate our rituals and practices to ground them in a way that meets the needs of the next generation, retrieving the wisdom tradition will be key and when leaders and ministers begin to work with this tradition, you will notice your faith communities subtly shifting and coming into synchronicity with the divine.
“As the pace of modernity seems to leave mainstream Christianity increasingly in the dust, many younger seekers are simply no longer interested in a religion that strikes them as doctrinally calcified and culturally antiquated; they have bypassed the church altogether.” (Bourgeault, Wisdom Way of Knowing).
For leadership and ministry teams, these ancient wisdom texts, albeit tough, challenge us to examine our own faith and capacity to meet a generation of people who are seeking something deeper than what the church is currently offering. As I have already mentioned, Jesus was referred to in scripture as “teacher,” “rabbi,” or “master,” prominent roles and functions of sages, more than any other title. Yet, worshipping communities for centuries have put the spotlight on Jesus as Prophet, Great High Priest, and Lord and Savior. Because of this an overwhelming portion of the gospels and distinct portrayal of Jesus has been blurred and it is one that needs to come into focus and made a feature in our communities if our path forward is to be revealed.
Ryan Burge, whose work I have referenced in my other posts, closed a church this past July that he has pastored since 2006. He has this to say about his experience:
“I walked out those doors into the blinding heat of a summer day in southern Illinois and stepped into a future where I don’t know where I will go to church next Sunday, or even if I want to go. Frankly, I don’t know if my own faith will survive, and I’m not sure if the church in America will be there for the next generation like it was for me.”
“And I’m terrified because for the first time in my spiritual life, I don’t know what’s next.”
You can read the full article here.
I know not everyone reading this is staring down a church closure. For some it could come sooner than you think. For others your church is stable, you are on the fence, not declining but not really growing. In the Baptist tradition any “growth” is probably coming from those who are returning or those who have moved to the area and were already worshipping in the Baptist Tradition. The decisions that will be made in the next 3 years will influence the trajectory of your congregation over the next decade, maybe longer. Probably longer, and our impulse is to collapse back on what has worked for us in the past even though it is clearly no longer yielding any gains.
Ninety percent of the content I will put out is going to be for everyone. It will bring in some high view theology that creates awareness around a particular topic, impasse or congregational need. That other ten percent will funnel that awareness and theological insight into very specific areas of congregational life: Missions and outreach, decision-making, major renovations, baptisms, staff meetings, weekly calendars and Sunday morning worship to start. This other ten percent that I just described will be put behind a paywall. This is the fruit of my labor. This is where my
“…deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet”
as Frederick Buechner describes it and you can decide what its worth to you. I am available for consultancy, for speaking, teaching, workshops, and retreats for your leadership/ministry teams and your congregations. I am currently working on an e-course for my wisdom class but I am happy to discuss the possibility of a zoom option. You can reach me through the contact form on my website here.
While there is a major shift happening within the American religious landscape, we have been given all that we need to navigate this phase of church life. We are seekers of “the Way.” We are the way-finders and to quote Bourgeault, “your heart already knows the way to go.”
“Ask, and it will be given to you; Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)