“People who have the sort of mind that sees only one side to every question tend towards vigorous action. They succeed in everything they do because they do not stop to split hairs and have abounding confidence in their own abilities …On the other hand, those with subtle and cultivated minds tend to get lost in a maze of fine distinctions. They always see how complicated things really are, so that their powers of persuasion are nil. That is why the world is led by those who are least suited to raising its cultural and moral standards. It is only a few who manage to combine both tendencies; and in my view a lively Christian faith is the best pre-condition for the accomplishment of this miracle, because it gives both profound understanding and simplicity of heart.” (Paul Tournier)
“Our culture tends to have a focus on the mastery of information, the management of the facts…We will not be saved by information, least of all, the shallow information of our current culture. The work of salvation is slow, patient, and deep. It is filled with paradox and contradiction – things that can only be reconciled in the context of a life that lives them. Good literature, truly good literature, brings us into contact with just such realities.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“All of us are shaped by our past and personal opinions. We will either try to bully others into seeing things our way, or we will work to understand where the other is coming from and then agree on our common ground. This latter path is certainly harder and more time-consuming, but love demands nothing less. Much of our modern discourse seems to take the former approach; this will not end well for any of us.” (Father Barnabas Powell)
“Wisdom is the practical outworking of knowledge (James 3:17), and that knowledge cannot be separated from the spiritual understanding that comes through the discernment given by the Holy Spirit.” (Foundation Study Bible, Colossians 1:9)
“Becoming wise does not happen by simply “saying the prayer,” or by memorizing a list of dos and don’ts, or by signing a pledge, or by completing a six-week program. Instead, it is a lifetime process of deep transformation through faith in Christ, knowledge of God’s Word, living by the power of the Holy Spirit, and engaging in rich community with other believers.” (David Kinnaman)
“The natural man (lit. “soulish”; 1 Cor. 2:14) is one not yet joined to Christ...For such people, divine things appear to be foolishness because they inquire into divine things by human and natural reasoning rather than receiving these by faith…This language of faith in turn leads spiritually minded people to know God better, although it baffles the natural man.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 2:10-14, 12-15)
“Self-will obscures our limited human reasoning. As the Apostle Paul asks, “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1 Cor 1:20). Are we above the temptation to think ourselves wiser than God? Does His will seem too extreme at times? Let us bear in mind that we are better off when we obey first, rather than discovering later that we missed the wisdom of God’s path.” (OCPM 11/22/2016)
“Modern people tend to read ancient texts with an arrogant attitude, as if people in former times all had lower IQs than we do now. We assume that people back then were credulous, superstitious, and ready to believe absolutely any claim. But of course people were not less intelligent two thousand years ago." (Pastor Timothy Keller)
“There never has been a day when knowledge has been sweeping over the earth as it is at the present time…. But this doesn’t mean that righteousness is increasing. Therefore, let us be wary.” (D. L. Moody)
“True wisdom is confident in knowledge yet humble in the awareness that there are limits to our knowledge. Only God is God—a fact that should lead us to trust in Him rather than in our own rightness on any given topic.” (David Kinnaman)
"Of all the things King Solomon could have asked for, he asks for “this thing” that is wisdom; that is, “discernment between good and bad.” What is remarkable to me in this well-known passage [3 Kingdoms 3:5, 9-10 or1 Kings 3: 5, 9-10] is not primarily that the young Solomon (who was just a boy at the time) valued wisdom above all things, but that he recognized that it is a gift from God." (Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin)
“Christ is the true light of the world; it is through him alone that true wisdom is imparted to the mind...human beings are called to pursue wisdom; it is what we should desire more than anything else." (Jonathan Edwards, Father Thomas Hopko)
“…wisdom is much more than just information, useful knowledge, or helpful tips for living. Wisdom is a godly orientation; it is to work with the Lord under His guidance (Proverbs 2:6-7)…True wisdom can come only from God.” (Dynamis 2/25/2014, Life Application Study Bible, Isaiah 19:11-15)“Philosophy is a love of wisdom. But true wisdom is God. Therefore, the love of God is the true philosophy.” (St. John of Damascus)
“The Holy Spirit guides the believer in the way of wisdom. To refuse to live wisely is to ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit.” (Charles Stanley)
“Wisdom will be easily perceived and found when she is the sole desire of the heart." (Orthodox Study Bible, Wisdom of Solomon 6:12)
“Wisdom is a gift from God; yet we are called to search for her diligently” (Orthodox Study Bible, Wisdom of Solomon 8:21)
“The only way to become truly wise is to fear (revere) God…Too often people want to skip this step, thinking they can become wise by life experience and academic knowledge alone. But if we do not acknowledge God as the source of wisdom, then our foundation for making wise decisions is shaky and we are prone to mistakes and foolish choices.” (Life Application Study Bible, Psalm 111:10)
“… when people told me certain things about God, Christ and faith, they didn’t have any meaning to me until years later when all of sudden, I understood what they meant. But this understanding was experientially and relationally based and complementary to my reasoning, not strictly logic based. It came out of my devotion to a personal relationship with Christ through sacramental living, my morning prayer time, fasting and my continual desire throughout each day to know God and seek His truth. It was based on grace of understanding through the Holy Spirit via experience not the virtue of my own intellect alone.” (Sacramental Living)
“…knowledge in itself is empty. To be worth anything, it must lead to a changed life and right living…Knowledge of God is not a secret only a few can discover; it is open to everyone. God wants us to learn more about Him, and also put belief into practice by helping others.” (Life Application Study Bible, Colossians 1:9-14)
“To repent is to do a total"about-face.” The word in Greek literally means to"change one's mind.” Repentance is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart—a complete reorientation to a life centered in Christ.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Mark 1:14-15)
“True wisdom goes beyond amassing knowledge; it is applying knowledge in a life-changing way. Intelligent or experienced people are not necessarily wise. Wisdom comes from allowing God’s teaching to guide us.” (Life Application Study Bible, Psalm 119:97-104)
"Yes wisdom is distinct from knowledge. There are some who have considerable knowledge, and yet leave the path of wisdom...Others, by contrast, lack worldly knowledge yet still act wisely at important times." (Matthew Dickerson)
“Wisdom brings to the believer great experience and adventure. There is a personal joy and excitement that comes from an understanding of the things of God.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Wisdom of Solomon 8:8)
“Unattached to God, you may know everything and understanding nothing.” (Life Application Study Bible, Jude 1:4)
“Divine guidance comes only to prepared hearts.” (Life Application Study Bible, Matthew 2:13)
“Be willing to listen to the advice of a person who is older and wiser than you are. The experience and knowledge of such a person can be invaluable.” (Life Application Study Bible, Ruth 3:5)
“A man walking through the forest saw a fox that had lost its legs and he wondered how it lived. Then he saw a tiger come up with game in its mouth. The tiger ate its fill and left the rest of the meat for the fox. The next day God fed the fox by the means of the same tiger. The man began to wonder at God's greatness and said to himself,"I too shall just rest in a corner with full trust in the Lord and he will provide me with all that I need." He did this for many days but nothing happened, and he was almost at death's door when he heard a voice say,"O you who are in the path of error, open your eyes to the truth! Stop imitating the fox and follow the example of the tiger.” (Spirituality of Imperfection)
“… action precedes motivation. I have been guilty of sitting around and waiting to get motivated before I take on a task. It’s human nature but life doesn’t work that way. Motivation usually comes, or increases dramatically, after we take action not before.” (Sacramental Living)"The wisdom from God relates to life even during the most trying times. It is not wisdom isolated form suffering and trials. This wisdom is the tool by which trials are overcome. An intelligent person may have profound ideas, but a wise person puts profound ideas into action.” (Life Application Study Bible, James 1:5)
“Discernment is a gift from God.” (Dynamis 8/30/2012)
"....for the wise see the present in light of the past....the pursuit of wisdom integrates mind and heart. To grow in wisdom means we learn to think and act holistically." (Gordon T. Smith)
“Wisdom does not originate from the human mind – it comes from God.” (Life Application Study Bible, Job 26:1)
“The conviction that human vision and experience have been distorted and corrupted by sin, and, as such, require divine purification and restoration, is, as we have constantly repeated here, an essential part of the vision and experience of Christianity as understood, taught, and lived in the...Church. Because this is so,...believers have always been, and must always be, both radically respectful of human experience and radically suspicious of it.” (Father Thomas Hopko)
“...we have to be open always to other people’s knowledge of God, to their unique experience of God.” (Andrea Palpant Dilley)
“Genuine spiritual knowledge lies not in wonderful and mysterious thoughts but in actual spiritual experience through union of the believer's life with truth.” (Watchman Nee)
"Secular scholarship provides the means for expressing experience but without the assistance of grace cannot communicate really redemptive knowledge...Countless numbers of professional theologians are awarded top diplomas yet in actual fact remain profoundly ignorant in the sphere of the Spirit. This is because they do not live according to Christ’s commandments, and so are deprived of the light of the knowledge of God." (Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov)
“Often, in our pluralistic modern world, the insights of technology and human knowledge run counter to our traditional Christian morality, experience, and wisdom.” (Dynamis 5/29/2015)
“Spiritual knowledge comes through prayer, deep stillness, and complete detachment, while wisdom comes through humble meditation on Holy Scripture and above all, through grace given by God.” (St. Diadochos of Photiki)
“Wisdom, the practical and spiritual knowledge required for skilled living, comes to those who ask of God, who pray to Him…Wisdom is present everywhere and is in all things.” (Orthodox Study Bible, James 1:5, Proverbs 1:20-21)
“The wisdom from God relates to life even during the most trying times. It is not a wisdom isolated from suffering and trials…Asking for wisdom is ultimately asking to be like Christ.” (Life Application Study Bible, James 1:5)
"People are generally called intelligent through a wrong use of this word. The intelligent are not those who have studied the sayings and writings of the wise men of old, but those whose soul is intelligent, who can judge what is good and what is evil; they avoid what is evil and harms the soul and intelligently care for and practice what is good and profits the world, greatly thanking God." (St. Anthony the Great)
"This culture values intelligence over wisdom and that is backward from how it should be!" (Bruce Van Horn)
“The wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit transcend earthly religious training, for God works in the humble and simple as well as in those who are formally educated or influential.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Acts 4:13)
“…if we receive the Lord we become foolish, because open-hearted receptivity to Christ includes embracing the Cross and the gospel of the God who empties Himself unto death. Such receptivity requires joining ourselves to the scandal and foolishness of Christ Jesus (1 Cor 1:23). Worldly wisdom is always opposed to our salvation, for God chooses to reveal Himself to spiritual babes and innocents (Mt 11:25,26).” (Dynamis 7/2/2014)
“We may study as much as we will, but we shall still not come to know the Lord unless we live according to His commandments, for the Lord is not made known through learning, but by the Holy Spirit. Many philosophers and scholars have arrived at a belief in the existence of God, but they have not come to know Him. To believe in God is one thing, to know God is another. Both in heaven and on earth the Lord is made known only by the Holy Spirit, and not through ordinary learning." (Elder Silouan of Mount Athos)
“Wisdom is twofold. It is Christ Himself, and secondly, it is His words or teachings. His children who incline their ear to Him and His teachings will guard good thinking, which is called perception. Perception is the crown of the virtues.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 5:1-6)
“Walk before God in simplicity, and not in subtleties of the mind. Simplicity brings faith; but subtle and intricate speculations bring conceit; and conceit brings withdrawal from God." (St. Isaac the Syrian)
“True wisdom can be measured by the depth of a person’s character. Just as you can identify a tree by the type of fruit it produces, you can evaluate your wisdom by the way you act. Foolishness leads to disorder, but wisdom leads to peace and goodness.” (Life Application Study Bible, James 3:13-18)
"There is a great difference between the person who learns from criticism and the person who refuses to accept correction. How we respond to criticism determines whether or not we grow in wisdom." (Life Application Study Bible, Proverbs 19:25)
“God often waits to give a blessing until you have prayed for it. Why? Good things that we do not ask for will usually be interpreted by our hearts as the fruit of our own wisdom and diligence. Gifts from God that are not acknowledged as such are deadly to the soul, because they thicken the illusion of self-sufficiency that leads to overconfidence and sets us up for failure.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)
"The Apostle Paul distinguish between two kinds of wisdom:"the wisdom of this world” and"the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:20-21). He declares Christ to be the Wisdom of God (vs. 24), for those who are united to Him receive true wisdom, while those who resist Him are selfcondemned (Jn 3:18).” (Dynamis 7/9/2014)
"A loving heart is the truest wisdom." (Charles Dickens)
"…wisdom teaches self-control, discernment, righteousness and courage…” (Wisdom of Solomon 8:7)
"Wisdom is Christ Himself…Wisdom [Christ] is omnipresent and fills all things.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 8:1, 2-3)
“…wisdom is God’s gift to us. But He gives it only to those who earnestly seek it….We gain wisdom through a constant process of growing [in Christ].” (Life Application Study Bible, Proverbs 2:3-6, 9-10)
“Wisdom is the truth of the Father and only speaks the truth. Since He is the truth, He only speaks what is righteous; there is nothing unrighteous in His words. His righteousness is one of the general virtues that begets all the other virtues. In John 14:6, He said,"I am the truth.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 8:7-8)
“People who sin against Wisdom act contrary to their own God-given nature (souls). For human nature is good in itself, but those who behave contrary to their nature act ungodly toward their own souls." (Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 8:35)
“…we must know ourselves. Many bad decisions stem from an inability to know what we are and are not capable of accomplishing. The gospel keeps us from over- or underestimating our own abilities, because it shows us both our sin and God’s love for us in Christ. Third, we learn wisdom through experience. The foolish heart—blinded from reality because of its idols—does not learn from experience. In fact, the ups and downs of life can lead us to many false inferences. The proud person blames all failures on others, while the self-hater takes full blame for them even when others are responsible. Without the knowledge of God and self that the gospel brings, experience may teach us precious little; but if we know God and self, then time deepens our understanding of human nature, of how human relationships work. All this leads to wisdom in decision-making.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)
“There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.” In other words, the various occasions are to be prudently judged: when the tongue ought to be restrained, it should not be unprofitably loosened in speech, or when it could speak with profit, it should not indolently withhold speech." (Pope St. Gregory the Great)
“There is a balance to be struck between speaking out and keeping silence. Simply put, we should speak when it would do some good, and keep silent when it would not. It is wisdom to know the difference.” (Fr. Joseph Irvin)
“When you have to confront someone with unpleasant news, pray for courage, skill, and tact. If you want that person to respond constructively, think through what you are going to say. How you present your message may be as important as what you are going to say. Season your words with wisdom."(Life Application Study Bible, 2 Samuel 12:1))
"One of the most annoying types of people is a know-it-all, a person who has a dogmatic opinion of everything, is closed to anything new…don’t be a know-it-all. Instead, be open to the advice of others, especially those who know you well and can give valuable insight and counsel. Learn how to learn from others. Remember, only God knows it all.” (Life Application Study Bible, Proverbs 1:7)
"Your life preaches at least as loudly as your words." (Mark Grace Driscoll)
“In this age of information, knowledge is plentiful, but wisdom is scarce.” (Life Application Study Bible, Proverbs 1:7-9)
“…most of today’s so-called education offers intellectual attainment, but rejects God as the reliable Source of wisdom and the Guide to it. At best, education does a creditable job of accumulating reserves of human knowledge, enlarging mental faculties and sharpening perception within a defined framework. At worst, it merely provides access to social positions and professions, and puts out leaders lacking wisdom to solve life’s abiding problems.” (Dynamis 6/5/2013)
“The reason we are intelligent but often lack wisdom is simply that we don’t seek it or understand how to seek it. We too often focus our thoughts and energies elsewhere. Further, the true and ultimate intelligibility of the world is concealed from those of us who do not know Christ.” (Patrick Henry Reardon)
“Without Christ, we still have our natural intelligence, which is God’s gift to us, but often lack wisdom to use this gift as it was intended which is to benefit us and others so we can live a life of joy and peace that is the result of spiritual growth.” (Sacramental Living)
“… human information and Christ’s wisdom can be polar opposites whether in speaking, business dealings, self-evaluation, estimation of others, approach to coping with troubles, stance before God, worth to the general public, or one’s contribution to the security of family, community and nation. Human thinking is often dominated by a"me first” attitude whereas Christ’s wisdom is rooted in considering others before ourselves.” (Dynamis 1/3/2010, Sacramental Living)
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” (1 Corinthians 1:19)
“The wisdom of this world is attractive and reasonable, and on the surface appears to be true. But such earthly wisdom denies God and leads us away from Him..." (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 18-20)
“When human knowledge ignores God, it only highlights our problems because it can’t provide answers without God’s eternal perspective and solution.” (Life Application Study Bible, Ecclesiastes 1:16-18)
"God’s way of thinking is far above ours; He knows all the futile thoughts of the"wise.” (Life Application Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 18-21)
“True wisdom and life are found only in Christ, in our total abandonment to the love of God and neighbor.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 18-20)
“We come to know God's wisdom through the Holy Spirit..." (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 2:4)
“Wisdom does not originate from this life or from the human mind—it comes from God.” (Life Application Study Bible, Job 26:1,2)
“Seeing and embracing God as He truly is makes us wise, for it gets us in touch with reality. Just as turning the lights on in a dark room enables you to walk without bumping into things, seeing the justice, greatness, sovereignty, wisdom, and love of God prevents you from stumbling through life in bitterness, pride, anxiety, and discouragement.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)
"Our intellectual knowledge cannot save us or bring us anywhere near to understanding God. It is faith which does these things." (Fr. Joseph Irvin)
“Poor human reason when it trusts in itself substitutes the strangest absurdities for the highest divine concepts." (St. John Chrysostom)
“God's word is not something outside of us and unaffecting us. It is not intellectual knowledge, but God Himself working in us to lead and convict and encourage us to the very depths of our souls” (Fr. Joseph Irvin)
“The Holy wisdom that is imparted by the Spirit is not given exclusively in the Church’s seminaries! Many among the faithful, through worship, prayer, and the ascesis of spiritual exercises, are well-grounded in the Faith.” (Dynamis 6/21/2013)
“No matter how intelligent and well educated you are, you must come to Jesus with an open mind and heart so He can teach you the truth about God.” (Life Application Study Bible, John 3:1)
"Faith in God includes going farther than our rational headlights will shine...Sometimes our brains are our own worst enemies because grace isn't logical (Tom Tarrants III, Judah Smith)
“If we do not consciously seek Christ... we are divorcing ourselves from wisdom. Most people do not seek Christ or seek Him secondarily after we put our energies in other areas first. We tend to feed our minds with thoughts of gain, entertainment, pleasures and other things either in lieu of Him or before Him. But He tells us to seek first Him and His kingdom and all of the things we desire will be given to us. This is not the prosperity gospel guaranteeing riches but rather a message to us that if we seek Him and wisdom first, our earthly life will be one of inner peace and joy, and that our needs will be met.” (Sacramental Living)
“...knowledge cannot save us from ourselves. If we know more than before, it means only that we have greater scope to enact our fantasies. . . . The message of Genesis is that in the most vital areas of human life there can be no progress, only an unending struggle with our own nature.” (John Gray)
“To those who are distrustful, who doubt and dispute and use only the faculty of reason and are not open to God, God does not show Himself. God does not enter locked souls; He does not force an entrance.” (St Porphyrios)
“There is a big difference between knowing about God and really knowing God. Knowing God is a lifelong pursuit, something that happens progressively throughout our lives, not something that happens over the course of a few days or weeks. Attaining the true knowledge of God doesn’t come through reasoning or logic or through reading books for intellectual knowledge. It must be God-given, and it comes through revelation. It comes as we seek God and gain experience with Him through trusting His promises.” (Joyce Meyer)
“Knowledge is worthless if it doesn’t deepen our heart for God and increase our faith. But constantly immersing ourselves with knowledge of Godly teachings will do that over time. That is why feeding our soul, if you will, by praying every morning, reading the daily Bible readings, reading books about God and Christianity and going to as many Church services as possible is so important to our spiritual growth. None of this has to do with intellectual knowledge or gaining self-satisfaction by being pious, but rather it is always about faith, understanding and loving God and doing whatever we can to stay in constant relationship with Him.” (Sacramental Living)
“Wisdom comes from knowing and trusting God.” (Life Application Study Bible, Ecclesiastes 8:1)
“Since Pentecost, the Church has proclaimed Wisdom Incarnate to be the unique miracle that defends against all heresies (see Acts 2:24-28). He came so “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16).” (OCPM 1/2/2016)
“Before His Incarnation, Wisdom assumed the feminine gender according to the grammatical conventions of ancient Greek and Hebrew. Once Christ is revealed to the world as the Wisdom of God, however, we understand Him to be the very source of the light that shines into our hearts!” (Dynamis 2/25/2014)
“In His Person, the Wisdom of God was proclaimed in the flesh and shown forth to men in its wonderful strength and beauty.” (Saint Nikolai of Zicha)
“The true miracle of the Wisdom who imparts wisdom is the light that He creates in those who embrace and follow Him. He fills those who strive through repentance and prayer to be ever more blameless and acceptable to Him (Prv 22:12) so that their faces shine (Eccl 8:1) with an illumination that comes from Him, the Source of all wisdom.” (OCPM 1/3/2016)
"Wisdom is always personal: in fact, perfect wisdom is personified in Proverbs 8 as having been with God from all eternity and at the creation, as well as being the divine source of all human wisdom." (Arthur Holmes)
“Wisdom does not originate from the human mind – it comes from God.” (Life Application Study Bible, Job 26:1)
“Here is the story of salvation...He [man] prays and is enlightened with discernment: only God can save him. He calls on God, who sends wisdom—that is, Christ—and His Spirit…Everything necessary for our salvation is contained in the perfection of discernment which is embodied in Christ." (Orthodox Study Bible, Wisdom of Solomon 7:6, 7, 6:15)
“…gaining wisdom is first and foremost an inner process…we must develop the habits conducive to acquiring wisdom…We are to hear in our spirit, integrating the words into heart and soul. Then wisdom will appear in the form of action. Wisdom when acquired takes the form of life-giving habits.” (Dynamis 2/25/2014, 3/2/2015)
“Asking for wisdom is ultimately asking to be like Christ. The Bible identifies Christ as the “wisdom of God…Christ is the true light of the world; it is through Him alone that true wisdom is imparted to the mind.” (Life Application Study Bible, James 1:5, Jonathan Edwards)
“What leads to the inner decision to ignore Wisdom’s call? Since the issues that Wisdom raises “are the issues of life” Proverbs 8:34), it really depends on how we define life. The Lord Jesus says, “I am . . . the life” (John 14:6). If we exclude Christ from our consideration of any aspect of our lives, then we are operating on an entirely different ground from that of the Lord. Life’s issues might then seem to encompass nothing more than health, wealth, status, ideology, or the boastful worldviews of the clever and conniving. However, when we move away from the Master who is life, we actually “love death” (Proverbs 8:35).” (Dynamis 3/10/2015)
“We all want our children to be smart. Unfortunately, people have largely forgotten that there is a huge difference between intelligence and wisdom. Intelligence is a measurement of things you know. Wisdom is your ability to discern right from wrong and make moral choices. A wise person will follow God. An intelligent person may or may not.” (Sonya Haskins)
“Wisdom has a special character and meaning in the Bible. It is not simply factual knowledge. It is insight into the very nature “of things. It is the knowledge of the logos or inner principle of reality, whereby we know the significance of things and their relationship to everything else. Through wisdom, we know their proper use, and know it vitally, in life itself. We could say wisdom is a kind of practical application of knowledge.” (Father Thomas Hopko)
“Wisdom begins with knowing God. He gives insight into living because He created life. To know God is not just to know the facts about Him; you must stand in awe of Him and have a relationship with Him." (Life Application Study Bible, Proverbs 9:7-10)
“When Christ says of his detractors that they do not know God, He dismisses their mastery of the facts…Those who accused Christ and urged the Romans to crucify Him, not only knew the facts of the Jewish faith – they were experts. Had the “facts of the case” been an issue, then Christ would have engaged in argument and debate. As it is, He only engaged their taunts and questions with answers that put them off – and put off His crucifixion until the time was ripe. But the disciples, and those who sought true knowledge from Him, received very different responses – not always easily understood – but always leading them towards the true knowledge that transforms and saves.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Christ is the true light of the world; it is through Him alone that true wisdom is imparted to the mind…In Scripture wisdom always is traceable to God, who in the second Person of the Trinity is Himself often called Holy Wisdom.” (Jonathan Edwards, OCPM 1/29/2016)
“Wisdom is not smarts, nor cleverness, nor a high IQ…The Word of God became the incarnate God-man who enables us to grasp, in our variable human nature, that all true wisdom derives from God.” (OCPM 10/20/2015, 1/25/2016)
“Knowing Christ personally is the greatest wisdom anyone can have…Knowing Christ is knowing God.” (Life Application Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 1:22-24, Colossians 1:4-5)
“Evil men are evil not by nature but by choice. They have chosen not to know Wisdom and His instruction. Therefore, wisdom cannot be found among them. But perception and discernment are two aspects of the crown of the wise, for they choose to know Wisdom and His instruction.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 14:6)
“Righteousness is one of the general virtues of Wisdom [Christ] implanted in those who know and love Him. To do righteous things shows the free movement of the will in one who lives according to Wisdom and His virtues. To speak the truth also shows the free movement of the will in one who declares the knowledge Wisdom imparts to him.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 21:3)
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