For the Love of Wisdom: Scripture, Philosophy, and Creation Order

If philosophy may be seen as "the love of wisdom," how might this (western) wisdom be related to the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), and to the wider sapiential characteristics and concerns of the biblical canon? Is the focus on (creation) order that many OT/HB scholars find in the wisdom literature indicative of a kind of philosophical awareness? Or is it an imposition of a later western "wisdom" onto the biblical writings? Does biblical wisdom thinking naturally lead to the development of a Christian appreciation for, and development of, philosophy? Or does a potential clash between rival (biblical and western) wisdom traditions suggest that the notion of "Christian philosophy" is oxymoronic? In conversation with the writings of Gerhard von Rad, Roland Murphy, Pierre Hadot, and others, this course will explore how wisdom thinking, as disclosed in Scripture, provokes a re-examination of the roots of western philosophy and the scholarly implications of biblical revelation.