EMBRACING WISDOM

Dr. Richard J. Henderson June 3, 2007

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John 16:12-15
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Introduction

The world is flat; that is not only obvious to any observer, it is a truth from God. If you look out at the ocean, as far as you can see it is obvious that the world is flat - you don't see any curve to it. If you stand high above the plains and look out on a clear day you can see for miles, and the land is flat, there is no bend. These scientists who are saying the world is round are evil. They deny God's creation and the truth of our faith. They must be condemned.

The earth is the center of the universe. Everything revolves around the earth. Clearly God made humans the highest of his creations - the center of the world. Those scientists who deny that the Earth is the center of the universe are evil and must be condemned. They deny the word of God and the teachings of the church. Arrest them and stop them from teaching this falsehood.

There was a time when these statements were made without snickering or laughter, but passionately - feeling the depth of truth in every word. People felt their understanding of the world was under attack and they fought back. People were arrested and condemned for teaching that the world was round and the sun was the center of the universe.

We think we know the truth about the world in which we live. Often we equate our worldview with biblical truth, and feel that any assault on our understanding is an assault on Christianity and the Bible.

We condemn those who think differently, and sometimes we condemn them on behalf of God as well.

I

The book of Proverbs is part of what is known in the Bible as the "Wisdom Literature." It consists of books and parts of books in the Bible which pass on knowledge and wisdom to the reader. Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes are wisdom books; many of the Psalms reflect the wisdom tradition. While these books differ in the way they communicate wisdom, they all want to pass down knowledge learned from teaching and experience.

We can see this wisdom literature in its simplest form in the short, pithy sayings of Proverbs - the understanding of generations passed down in brief, powerful statements.

Wisdom literature understands that wisdom comes from God; it is created by God and valued by God. To have wisdom is to be closer to God.

II

Our scripture today, from Proverbs, tells us that God created wisdom even before creation. God is the source of all that's true. Wisdom, knowledge, and discretion have been created by God since before the world began.

As people of God, we have no need to hide from truth - we don't need to be afraid of knowledge. When we know more of truth, we know more about God's world.

But, sometimes truth ends up telling us what we'd rather not hear. Sometimes knowledge followed to its conclusion is threatening. It challenges our world-view.

In 1616, on directives from the Inquisition, Galileo was ordered not to "hold or defend" the idea that the Earth revolves around the sun. In 1633 after the publication of his book, the Catholic Church demanded that he recant his beliefs because, they said, "the proposition that the sun is in the center of the world and immovable is absurd, philosophically false, and formally heretical, because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scripture."

Before this time people had always understood that the Earth was at the center of the universe. That made sense because we thought of ourselves as the most important creatures. As humans are the center of creation, so our world must be the center of the universe.

For teaching otherwise, Galileo was arrested, unable to publish anything else, and he lived the rest of his life under house arrest. His knowledge was threatening.

Isn't it interesting that it was the church that condemned him. Galileo's challenge to their world-view was made into an assault against God. They equated their understanding of the world with God's understanding of the world. We sometimes take what we think we know and try to turn it into what God must know.

Incidentally, 350 years later, on October 31, 1992, Pope John Paul II apologized for the way the Galileo affair was handled.

III

Sometimes the discomfort of new knowledge pushes us to a new way of looking at the world. New facts about the world may upset us, but they can lead to a deeper, more realistic under-standing of God's creation.

Five hundred years ago people knew that the world was flat - that was obvious. Then they were told it actually is a round globe. For all their lives - for all of history - they had known that the world was flat; now scientists were saying that the world is round.

This new knowledge was very upsetting to lots of people. It was so disturbing that many people denied that it was true, even when it was very obvious. (In fact, there is a society of people who still hold that the world is flat - some new knowledge can be very upsetting!). But acceptance of new knowledge brings new understanding, new truth.

When Galileo taught that the earth revolves around the sun, it was shocking and aberrant to most people. Their natural response was to reject this information and attack the teacher. But later when we learned the truth of his teaching, it changed our world view to one which is more accurate and true. It turns out our world view wasn't God's world view after all.

God always knew the world was round, and God always knew the Earth revolved around the sun. Finding those truths, as difficult as it was, brought us to a better appreciation of God's creation.

Conclusion

The experiments of Galileo can teach us not to be afraid of the truth.

Learning and growing is a life long experiment. As we learn new information, we don't need to be afraid of what is clearly true. Yes, we want to be sure that what we learn is true, not someone's opinion, but we have no reason to fear whatever is true.

Since God is the source of truth, we are not afraid to discover what is true. In fact we welcome it as a deeper understanding of the world God has given us. As we get closer to truth, we have a greater appreciation of what God has done, and is doing.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2007