Wisdom Literature

If God has ordered the universe, why does life often appear profoundly unjust? Why is it that so often, despite our best intentions, our efforts to have a successful career, a stable family, and a well-balanced life, never amount to what we hope? Does human existence have a telos, a meaning and purpose in which we find fulfilment, or is the best we can hope for to carve out a feeling of satisfaction in the midst of life’s mundanity? What does it mean, and who gets to define, what it is to ‘live well’? The wisdom literature has been called the most ‘human’ collection of books in the Christian canon. In these texts, we find Israelites wrestling to live in a world in which goodness, meaning, and significance is often far from transparent. Throughout this series, we join them in looking the perplexities of life square in the face, and seeking a way of wisdom.