Wisdom—what is it?

Philosophy is the friendly love of wisdom (philia+sophia). Proverbs 8 is the classic portrait of Wisdom, and Jesus said that Wisdom’s children are easily recognizable (Mt. 11:19b; Lk. 7:35).

The Book of Wisdom, among the Apocryphal or Deuterocanonical books, has a spectacular passage on Wisdom.

In all of these, Wisdom is seen as something divine, even though the Hebrew understanding of it (maskhil) has to do with practical matters, gaining skill at living.

Now there is the Wisdombook project. (Clicking here will automatically launch the film about it.) It is more along the maschil notion than the “pure effluence of the divine”—the Holy Spirit. But well worth considering, for Wisdom comes to those who love her and seek her out... (Proverbs 8:34-35)