Thursday, November 13, 2008

On God's Wisdom...

Rarely, I actually read something required for class that makes me feel really good about God.
This is from my Systematic Theology Professor's book:

"Viewing the other attributes from the perspective of God's wisdom enriches them, and wisdom in turn is enriched by them. For a "love" without wisdom would be no more than sentiment without effect. And wisdom without love would be reduced to craftiness without morality. Grace without understanding would be but whimsical indulgence, and understanding without grace rises only to the level of cold calculation. An unwise mercy does more harm than good by its clumsy kindness, whereas wisdom without mercy surveys suffering heartlessly. Patience without wisdom inspires no confidence of success. But wisdom without patience inspires terror. While in his righteousness God always does right, in his wisdom he always does the best. And for the loving God, the right thing and the best thing are always the same. In his holiness, God maintains his unique being in all his acts, and in his wisdom he acts in ways that will accomplish his will in all things. God is always wise in his holy acts, and always holy in his wise deeds.

God is infinitely wise in all he does because he is wisdom itself. For in his triune life, God is God in the most perfect way. God is not God automatically and unconsciously, but freely. God is not on a journey of self-discovery in which he comes gradually to understand his nature and learns how to act as God more effectively. God knows hot to be God. God knows the why, the how, and the wherefore of his deity. He knows, therefore, how to be God in relationship to his creation. He is "the only wise God" (Rom.16:27), and he deserves glory and wisdom and power forever and ever."

From page 220.

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