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544 - Wisdom and Creation: The Theology of Wisdom Literature |
Wisdom and Creation: The Theology of Wisdom
Literature
By Leo G. Perdue
Nashville, Abingdon,1994. 420pp. $16.95.
Widespread interest in the wisdom literature of the ancient Near East during the last three decades has resulted in numerous new treatments of the phenomenon, but a theological synthesis has not been forthcoming. Perdue has tackled that difficult task, bringing with him long involvement with these texts.
Wisdom and Creation accomplishes at least three things: (1) It offers a clear account of previous efforts to write theologically about biblical wisdom; (2) it provides informed analysis of each wisdom book, with special attention to fresh translation of important units; and (3) it presents a stimulating discussion of metaphor, imagination, and rhetoric in the service of two ruling concepts, creation and providence.
Perdue traces the history of biblical theology, explaining the aversion to wisdom literature as the result of an excessive interest in saving history. He understands the few attempts to think theologically about wisdom under four categories: (1) anthropology, (2) cosmology, (3) theodicy, and (4) a combination of anthropology and cosmology-which he prefers. As the proponent of the third approach, I wish only to note that I never made exclusive claims for theodicy. Unfortunately, all four approaches apply equally well to other types of literature.
Perhaps the most valuable feature of the book is Perdue's careful explanations of crucial passages within each wisdom book. One enters the social world of the sages, becomes familiar with their rhetoric, embraces their imaginative worldview, and experiences their pathos. From the
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546 - Wisdom and Creation: The Theology of Wisdom Literature |
author of Wisdom in Revolt, the reader expects an exciting analysis of the conflicts described in the book of Job. Perdue highlights the disorientation and reorientation, the mythic language, and the radical worldview in a way that forces one to think in unaccustomed categories. The same kind of insights enliven the discussion of other biblical books, particularly Ecclesiastes and Sirach. One comes to appreciate the complexity of such books, the tension between a tenuous theological tradition and the very different realities of daily existence. Through it all, Perdue never loses sight of the importance of moral discourse.
The theological synthesis rests on metaphorical language to indicate the relationship between the deity and human beings. The overarching rubrics of creation and providence apply to the author of life, and the options are varied-king, ruler, artificer, and the like. When moving to the anthropological side of the relationship, Perdue emphasizes metaphors such as poor and slave. He believes such language offers a corrective to previous theologies of redemption, which fail to take ecology seriously, just as they ignore the secular realities that occupy the minds of modern thinkers.
Although the theological reflections are enormously suggestive, I do not think Perdue has found a way to characterize what is distinctive about wisdom literature. The categories he uses, creation and providence, apply equally well to other literary texts within the Bible. If Walther Zimmerli's oft-cited dictum about wisdom literature as creation theology has any merit, specialists need to discover the unique understanding of creation within Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth, Sirach, and Wisdom of Solomon. Unless we can say something definitively about these five works and creation, quoting Zimmerli will only misconstrue the facts. The same goes for providence. How does the view of providence in the Joseph narrative and in Ruth differ from providence in Sirach? Moreover, how does providence in Sirach resemble what Qoheleth says about God's work?
These questions will come as no surprise to Perdue. In the end, he concedes that his categories apply much more widely than his discussion of wisdom theology implies. He has actually written a provocative theology, but has he described the theology of ancient sages? His valiant effort raises the question once more: What distinguishes the sages' worldview from that of prophets and priests? Sirach complicates matters, as do Job and, in a different way, Ecclesiastes. Are we reduced to writing separate theologies for each wisdom book?
Wisdom and Creation has thirty-six pages of notes, twelve pages of bibliography, and extensive indexes. It should be read by everyone who wants to know more about the thought of ancient sages.
James L. Crenshaw
Duke University
Durham, NC