Showing results for "Wisdom Literature" in Christianity

The wisdom literature of the Bible was cherished in ancient Israel but was not exclusive to the people of God. The inspired writers borrowed from their neighbors in order to provide a religious humanism that is valid to this day. The sacred books ask hard questions of whether or not life has any meaning and practical answers of how to live the life we have been given well.

In 36 thought-provoking lectures, you'll explore enlightening teachings that have inspired the world and that continue to speak to life's most important questions. Throughout, you'll benefit from Father Koterski's ecumenical perspective, as he presents these teachings within the Jewish and Christian traditions and compares the varying versions of these texts. What do these writings have to say about the great philosophical problems people seek to understand? You'll find out as you contend with the literal and figurative meanings behind some of the Bible's most essential books and parts (as well as some that many of us overlook).

Did you realize that such enduring expressions as "the patience of Job" and "nothing new under the sun" derive from the Wisdom literature of the Bible? Now you can explore the wisdom of such extraordinary books of the Bible as Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, and Wisdom of Solomon with top Scripture scholar and master teacher Fr. Michael Guinan, OFM, as your guide.

Fr. Harrington brings to life the social and religious climate of the ancient world. The everyday help that Proverbs offered the ancients is explained in clear and concise manner. The importance of the fear of the Lord is captured in Sirach and Wisdom. The poem of the good wife that ends Proverbs is astonishingly modern. The context of this poem is the key to its understanding. Honor and shame, evil and death, afterlife, friendship, and community are all delved into in these works.

This book is a collection of Gibran's words on how to live. Here are his thoughts on what it means to live in community and solitude and what gives life meaning, along with his often prescient views on government, organized religion, wealth, and commerce. Gibran's sensibility feels contemporary. He did not recognize any ultimate authority outside of the human soul: "It were wiser to speak less of God, whom we cannot understand and more of each other, whom we may understand."

Our Summer Series will take a look at the Wisdom literature from the writings of Solomon, which include the Old Testament books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. Various speakers from surrounding congregations will teach a lesson on this topic through the summer.

Following the death of his little sister and the publication of his New York Times best-selling memoir The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, Rod Dreher found himself living in the small community of Starhill, Louisiana, where he grew up. But instead of the fellowship he hoped to find, he discovered that fault lines within his family had deepened. Dreher spiraled into depression and a stress-related autoimmune disease.