True Wisdom VS Sensual Wisdom
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· 1,167 viewsThe Bible says a lot about people of many words, and not positively. True wisdom isn't just in saying the right things but in doing the right things.
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9 That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
What Is Postmodernism?
What Is Postmodernism?
Defining postmodernism is a little like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube; though you may be somewhat successful, you will likely make a mess of it. Postmodernism is not so much a doctrine as it is a mindset or a mood. It does not want the restraints of what has been handed down through what is called a “metanarrative.” A metanarrative, according to postmodernism, is “a religious tradition or philosophical system that commits acts of cultural tyranny by promoting the fiction that all knowledge reduces to a set of universally applicable truths.” Of course, the Bible fits the postmodern definition of a metanarrative.
John 18:37
37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.”
Was Solomon a Postmodernist?
Was Solomon a Postmodernist?
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;
“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“All is vanity.”
12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
17 And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.
Such statements about the limitations of human wisdom makes it sound like Solomon would agree with Postmodernists.
He tried to use reason and logic to figure out the best, most fulfilling, way of life. He repeatedly came to the conclusion that it was pointless.
What Saved Solomon from Being a Postmodernist?
What Saved Solomon from Being a Postmodernist?
Where postmodernism concludes that human reason is pointless, therefore there is no absolute truth; Solomon understood the only true source of wisdom.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
14 I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
Ecclesiastes agrees with the postmodernist view that life is complex and our understanding of it is limited.
However, Solomon did not reach the same conclusion postmodernists do - to reject all truth.
When Solomon saw the futility of human wisdom “under the sun” he turned back to the only true source of wisdom - God!