Wisdom?

I just got back from my Reading the Bible class. Today we talked about Wisdom Literature in the Old Testament and I learned some really insightful things. Here are a few of the highlights off the top of my head:

• First of all, it's amazing what's in the Bible when you actually read it, as opposed to simply assuming you know what it says.
• In the Psalms of lament, all but one goes from disorientation back to reorientation by the end of the Psalm. The one exception is Psalm 88. This is important theologically because it creates a space to be disoriented for a while.
• The book of Proverbs was written by the elite for the elite and the sayings in Proverbs are not applicable across time and space; they are context specific. Check out Proverbs 26:4-5 for example, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes." Should you answer the fool or not? The point here is that there is a time when you should keep your mouth shut and a time to speak up - true wisdom is knowing when to do which. There are numerous examples of such tensions in the book of Proverbs.
• Here's something to think about, how would our theology be different if we brought the book of Job and Ecclesiastes more toward the center of our biblical theology?
• The wisdom found in the book of Ecclesiastes has some things in common with Buddhism. Whereas Christians aren't sure what to do with Ecclesiastes, Buddhists will look at it and find that this wisdom makes sense. This could be helpful for ecumenical conversation.

I hope this gives you a little of the flavour of the type of classes I'm in and also gives you something to ponder.