In Search of Divine Presence: Some Remarks Preliminary to a Theology of Wisdom

The task envisioned in this essay is a modest one: to provide some preliminary observations about a theology of Israel's wisdom literature. I Any attempt to understand the theological perspective of canonical Hebrew wisdom" must take into account diverse materials within Proverbs, Job, and Qoheleth. 3 The several collections in Proverbs go their own ways, and individual proverbs within a single collection differ greatly from one another.' In addition, both Job" and Qoheleth depart radically in form and content from these collected proverbs. On the other hand, all three biblical works share a common way of thinking" and belong to a single world views that we customarily label "wisdom. "9 A direct consequence grows out of this fact: a comprehensive unifying theme permeates all three books. It follows that a theology of wisdom must attend to three fundamental matters: the diverse traditions, the understanding of reality presupposed, and the unifying themes that set wisdom-thinking apart from all other theological reflection in ancient Israel. 10