Discerning Wisdom in God's Creation: Following the Way of Ancient Scientists

Where can Wisdom be found? Job 28.12 Wisdom is usually associated with profound knowledge acquired over time. In ancient times, however, wisdom was also discerned as a force or factor of nature. Wisdom was not only found in human minds but also in God's creation. The wise of biblical times--as distinct from prophets, priests and kings--were tantamount to the 'scientists' of their day. And like scientists, they had a way of discerning wisdom in creation that involved the rational steps of observation, analysis and discernment. The classic question posed by the wise was: Where can wisdom be found? Or more precisely: Where and how can wisdom be discerned in nature? Or in contemporary terms: How might we follow the approach of ancient scientists and find innate wisdom 'wired' in nature today? I invite you to join me as I seek to discern Wisdom embedded in nature, and acquire a Wisdom awareness-- a cosmic consciousness that evokes a sense of wonder and profound mystery. From the Preface Norman Habel is a Professorial Fellow at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. He has long been involved in issues of biblical interpretation and eco-justice, including the task of reading the Bible from the perspective of Earth. Thee Earth Bible series and the Earth Bible Commentary series, both of which he initiated, reflect this ecological orientation. He is also concerned about how we read the book of nature and discern its mysteries.