However, in these pages, we learn what God expects from us during suffering. And while suffering is the chief theme of the book, no answer is given. Job - The book of Job confronts the problem of human suffering and the sovereignty of God. Its literary beauty and particularly its depth of doctrine brings us to the threshold of New Testament revelation.Poetry and Wisdom Books of the Bible.

The references to the persecution undergone by the Jews (2:1-20, 15:14) lead us to suggest that the most likely date of composition was around the last years of the reign of Ptolemy Dionysius (80-52 B.C.), very close to the Christian period but before the Roman conquest, to which no reference is made.The book can be divided into three parts. In view of his many references to Egypt, he probably wrote in Alexandria, the capital of Hellenism in the Ptolemy period and the cultural focus of the Jews in the Diaspora.We do not know exactly when the book was written, but we can say that it was written later than the Septuagint translation of the Bible and before Philo of Alexandria (20 B.C.-54 B.C.), with whom the author is not acquainted. He abominates any kind of polytheism and is proud to belong to a “holy and blameless race” (10:15). We can therefore say that he was a Hellenist Jew who wrote out of his great faith in God (9:1). This is demonstrated by the language used, which is elegant and cultured, by its thematic unity, and even by its consistency of style. It is one of the seven.Although the book itself claims that it was written by Solomon, it must be pointed out that here as in the case of Ecclesiastes we have an example of recourse to pseudonymity, a device often used in the ancient world to highlight the importance of a literary work here the author used the prestige of Solomon, the greatest of the wise men of Israel.The inspired writer wrote the entire book in Greek, including the first five chapters, which were once taken to have been originally in Hebrew.

6-9) concentrates on the source of wisdom and the need to obtain wisdom. Against this background it contrasts the reward that ultimately awaits those who are faithful to God with the punishment that evildoers will receive and their unhappy fate after death.The second part (chap. As a first step toward this it stresses the need for a pure and upright heart and for avoidance of all sin. It exhorts people to practice righteousness and sincerely seek God.

In contrast to this it describes the origin of polytheism and the moral consequences of idolatry:“For all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know him who exists, nor did they recognize the craftsman while paying heed to his works, but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the luminaries of heaven were the god that rule the world. 10-19), written in a very original style, speaks of the magnificence of wisdom as demonstrated by the history of the chosen people. 9:1-6).The third part (chap. For even if one is perfect among the sons of men, yet without the wisdom that comes from thee he will be regarded as nothing” (Wis.

1:24-25).It is easy to conclude, as the writer does, that revealed wisdom is far superior to pagan wisdom—which is what he is trying to do in the three parts of the book which we have outlined. Immediate consequences follow:“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, in the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom. This is true not only of pagans, but also of members of the chosen people and of many Christians when they idolize created things. But they, who considered themselves to be so wise, failed to grasp the truth because of their moral corruption, which led them finally to idolatry. For the worship of idols that should not even be named is the beginning and cause and end of every evil” (13:1-3, 14:22-27).By natural reason they could have discovered that the universe is not the result of chance it could not cause its own existence or keep itself in being, because it needs—as pagan philosophers like Plato and Aristotle realized—a first principle or cause which would give every existing thing its being and which does not depend on any other cause for its own being or activity.

Wisdom, as we have seen, is a “reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness” (7:25-26). Therefore, the sacred text is continually exhorting the reader to search for higher knowledge which comes from God, not from man God is the source of all good things. Instead of giving them genuine knowledge, it would woo them away from the faith and from true wisdom. On their guard against the temptation they might experience in Egyptian culture—an attractive culture, but one which inevitably deflected man from his ultimate goal. God wished to put the Jews of the first century B.C.

To describe the work of the Word of God incarnate, Paul refers to wisdom as a divine attribute (Wis. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to find the apostles quoting it often in their preaching. In other words, everything that happens to man in this life needs to be seen through the prism of eternal life, where the just man will be forever happy, whereas the ungodly will suffer the punishment their sins deserve (3:9-10).Wisdom, then, brings us to the threshold of the gospel message. On the one hand it explains why the just man suffers on the other, it points up the inadequacy of earthly things to satisfy man’s yearnings for happiness. 3:1-8).This is the answer to the great questions posed in Job and Ecclesiastes. They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them forever” (Wis.

13:4-9) and of divine mercy and providence (Rom. The New Testament asserts that man, by the use of natural reason alone, can from evidence of created things come to discover the existence of God (Rom. The same thing happens in other places in the New Testament dealing with the eternal life of the just (Rom.

The Biblical Book Of Wisdom