_THE WISDOM THAT IS FROM ABOVE._
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
variance, without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown
in peace for them that make peace."--ST. JAMES iii. 17, 18.
At the beginning of his Epistle St. James exhorts those of his readers
who feel their lack of wisdom to pray for it. It is one of those good
and perfect gifts from above, which come down from the Father of
lights, who "giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not" (i. 5, 17).
He now, after having sketched its opposite, states, in a few clear,
pregnant words, what the characteristics of this heavenly gift of
wisdom are. In both passages he probably had in his mind, and wished
to suggest to the minds of his readers, well-known utterances on the
same subject in the Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus, and Wisdom.
"My son, if thou cry after discernment, and lift up thy voice for
understanding; if thou seek her as silver, and search for her as for
hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and
find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of His
mouth cometh knowledge and understanding" (Prov. ii. 3-6).
Again, the magnificent "Praise of Wisdom" in the twenty-fourth chapter
of Ecclesiasticus, in which Wisdom is made to tell her own glories,
opens thus: "I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and covered
the earth like a cloud;" and it continues, "Then the Creator of all
things gave me a commandment, and He that created me caused my
tabernacle to rest, and said, Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thine
inheritance in Israel. Before time was, from the beginning, He created
me, and until times cease I shall in nowise fail" (vv. 3, 8, 9).
And in the similar passage in the Book of Wisdom, in which the praise
of Wisdom is put into the mouth of Solomon, he says, "Wisdom, which is
the worker of all things, taught me.... She is the breath of the power
of God, and a pure emanation from the glory of the Almighty: therefore
doth no defiled thing fall into her. For she is the effulgence
(ἀπαύγασμα: Heb. i. 3) of the everlasting light, the unspotted
mirror of the power of God, and the image of His goodness. And being
one, she can do all things; and remaining in herself, she maketh all
things new; and in all generations entering into holy souls, she
maketh them friends of God, and prophets. For God loveth nothing but
him that dwelleth with wisdom" (vii. 22, 25-28).
Three thoughts are conspicuous in these passages. Wisdom originates
with God. It is consequently pure and glorious. God bestows it upon
His people. These thoughts reappear in St. James, and to them he adds
another, which scarcely appears in the earlier writers. Wisdom is
"peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy, and good
fruits." In Proverbs we do indeed read that "all her paths are peace"
(iii. 17); but the thought is not followed up. It does not seem to
occur to the son of Sirach; and not one of the twenty-one epithets
which the writer of Wisdom piles up in praise of this heavenly gift
(vii. 22, 23) touches upon its peaceable and placable nature. It was
left to the Gospel to teach, both by the example of Christ and by the
words of His Apostles, how inevitably the Divine wisdom produces, in
those who possess it, gentleness, self-repression, and peace.
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, easy to be entreated." The "first" and the "then" may be
seriously misunderstood. St. James does _not_ mean that the heavenly
wisdom cannot be peaceable and gentle until all its surroundings have
been made pure from everything that would oppose or contradict it; in
other words, that the wise and understanding Christian will first free
himself from the society of all whom he believes to be in error, and
then, but not till then, will he be peaceable and gentle. That is, so
long as folly and falsehood remain, they must be denounced, and made
either to recant or to retire; for only when they have disappeared
will wisdom show itself easy to be entreated. Purity, i.e. freedom
from all that would dim the brightness of truth, must precede peace,
and there can be no peace until it is obtained.
This interpretation contradicts the context, and makes St. James teach
the opposite of what he says very plainly in the sentences which
precede, and in those which follow, the words which we are
considering. It tries to enlist him on the side of partisanship and
persecution, at the very moment when he is pleading most earnestly
against them. He is stating a logical, and not a chronological order,
when he declares that true wisdom is "first pure, then peaceable." In
its inmost being it is pure; among its very various external
manifestations are the six or seven beneficent qualities which follow
the "then." If there were no one to be gentle to, no one coming to
entreat, no one needing mercy, the wisdom from above would still be
pure; therefore this quality comes first.
When the author of the Book of Wisdom says that wisdom is "a pure
emanation from the glory of God: therefore can no defiled thing fall
into her" (vii. 25), he is thinking of a pure stream, into which no
foul ditch is able to empty its polluting contents, or of a pure ray
of light, which does not admit of mixture with anything that would
colour or darken it. He does not use the word for pure which we have
here (ἁγνός), but one which signifies "unmixed," and hence "unsullied"
(εἰλικρινής), and which occurs Phil. i. 10 and 2 Pet. iii. 1. The word
used here by St. James is akin to "holy" (ἅγιος), and primarily
signifies what is associated with religious awe (ἅγος), and hence
"hallowed," especially by sacrifice. From this it became narrowed in
meaning to what is free from the pollution of unchastity or bloodshed.
As a Biblical word it sometimes has this narrow meaning; but generally
it implies freedom from all stain of sin, and therefore is not far
removed in meaning from "holy." But it is worth noting that whereas
Christ and good men are spoken of as both pure and holy, yet God is
called holy, but never pure. Divine holiness cannot be assailed by any
polluting influence. Human holiness, even that of Christ, can be so
assailed, and in resisting the assault it remains "pure."
In the passage before us "pure" must certainly not be limited to mean
simply "chaste." The word "sensual," applied to the wisdom from below,
does not mean unchaste, but living wholly in the world of sense; and
the purity of the heavenly wisdom does not consist merely in victory
over temptations of the flesh, but in freedom from worldly and low
motives. Its aim is that truth should become known and prevail, and it
condescends to no ignoble arts in prosecuting this aim. Contradiction
does not ruffle it, and hostility does not provoke it to retaliate,
because its motives are thoroughly disinterested and pure. Thus, its
peaceable and placable qualities flow out of its purity. It is
"_first_ pure, _then_ peaceable." It is because the man who is
inspired with it has no ulterior selfish ends to serve that he is
gentle, sympathetic, and considerate towards those who oppose him. He
strives, not for victory over his opponents, but for truth both for
himself and for them; and he knows what it costs to arrive at truth.
We have a noble illustration of this temper in some of the opening
passages of St. Augustine's treatise against the so-called
_Fundamental Letter_ of Manichæus. He begins thus:--
"My prayer to the one true God Almighty, of whom, and through whom,
and in whom are all things, has been and is, that in refuting and
disproving the heresy of you Manichæans, to which you adhere perchance
more through thoughtlessness than evil intent, He would give me a mind
composed and tranquil, and aiming rather at your amendment than your
discomfiture.... It has been our business, therefore, to prefer and
choose the better part, that we might have an opportunity for your
amendment, not in contention, and strife, and persecutions, but in
gentle consolation, affectionate exhortation, and quiet discussion; as
it is written, The Lord's servant must not strive, but be gentle
towards all, teachable, forbearing, in meekness correcting them that
oppose themselves....
"Let those rage against you who know not with what toil truth is
found, and how difficult it is to avoid errors.... Let those rage
against you who know not with how great difficulty the eye of the
inner man is made whole, so that it can behold its Sun.... Let those
rage against you who know not with what sighs and groans it is made
possible, in however small a degree, to comprehend God. Finally, let
those rage against you who have never been deceived by such an error
as that whereby they see you deceived....
"Let neither of us say that he has already found the truth. Let us
seek it as if it were unknown to us both. For it can be sought for
with zeal and unanimity only if there be no rash assumption that it
has been found and is known."
And to the same effect, although in a different key, a critical writer
of our own day has remarked that "by an intellect which is habitually
filled with the wisdom which is from heaven, in all its length and
breadth, 'objections' against religion are perceived at once to
proceed from imperfect apprehension. Such an intellect cannot rage
against those who give words to such objections. It sees that the
objectors do but intimate the partial character of their own
knowledge."[72]
It will be observed that while the writer just quoted speaks about the
_intellect_, St. James speaks about the _heart_. The difference is not
accidental, and it is significant of a difference in the point of
view. The modern view of wisdom is that it is a matter which mainly
consists in the strengthening and enrichment of the intellectual
powers. Increase of capacity for acquiring and retaining knowledge;
increase in the possession of knowledge: this is what is meant by
growth in wisdom. And by knowledge is meant acquaintance with the
nature and history of man, and with the nature and history of the
universe. All this is the sphere of the intellect rather than of the
heart. The purification and development of the moral powers, if not
absolutely excluded from the scope of wisdom, is commonly left in the
background and almost out of sight. What St. James says here is fully
admitted: the highest wisdom keeps a man from the bitterness of party
spirit. But why? Because his superior intelligence and information
tell him that the opposition of those who dissent from him is the
result of ignorance, which requires, not insult and abuse, but
instruction. St. James does not dissent from this view, but he adds to
it. There are further and higher reasons why the truly wise man does
not rail at others, or try to browbeat and silence them. Because,
while he abhors folly, he loves the fool, and would win him over from
his foolish ways; because he desires not only to impart knowledge, but
to increase virtue; and because he knows that strife means confusion,
and that gentleness is the parent of peace. Christians are charged to
be "wise as serpents, but _harmless as doves_."
The Scriptural view of wisdom does not contradict the modern one, but
it is taken from the other side. In it the education of the moral and
spiritual powers is the main thing, while intellectual advancement is
in the background or out of sight. There is nothing in the teaching of
Christ or his Apostles that is hostile to intellectual progress; but
neither by His example, nor by the directions which His disciples
received or delivered, do we find that culture was regarded as part
of, or necessary to, or even a very desirable companion for, the
Gospel. Neither Christ nor any one of His immediate followers came
forward as a great promoter of intellectual pursuits. Why is this? It
would perhaps be a sound and sufficient answer to say, that valuable
as such work would have been, there was much more serious and
important work to be done. To convert men from sin to righteousness
was far more urgent than to improve their minds. But there is more to
be said than this. That perverse generation had to "turn, and become
as little children," before it could enter into the kingdom of heaven.
To develop a man's intellectual powers is not always the best way to
make him "humble himself as a little child." Increase of knowledge may
make a Newton feel like a child picking up pebbles on the shore of
truth, but it is apt to make "the natural man" less childlike. But for
no one, whether catechumen, or convert, or mature Christian, can the
cultivation of his intellect be as pressing a duty as the cultivation
of his heart. "To speak with the tongues of men and of angels," and to
"know all mysteries and all knowledge," is as nothing in comparison
with love. And it is in some measure possible to see why this is so.
Man's moral nature certainly suffered, and ruinously suffered, at the
Fall. It is not so certain that his intellectual nature suffered also.
If it did suffer, it suffered _through_ the moral nature, because
depravation of the heart depraved the brain. In neither case would
there be any necessity for the Gospel to pay special attention to the
regeneration of the intellect. If man's intellect was unscathed by his
fall from innocence, it could continue its natural development, and go
on from strength to strength towards perfection. If, however, the loss
of innocence has entailed a loss of mental capacity, then the wound
inflicted on the intellectual nature through the moral nature must be
healed in the same way. First purify the heart and regenerate the
will, and then the recovery of the intellect will follow in due
course.[73] It is easy to reach the intellect through the heart, and
this is what the wisdom that is from above aims at doing. If we begin
with the intellect, we shall very likely end there; and in that case
the man is not raised from his degradation, but equipped with
additional powers of mischief. "Into a soul that deviseth evil, wisdom
will not enter, nor yet dwell in a body that is sunk in sin" (Wisdom
i. 4).
"Full of mercy and good fruits." The wisdom from above is not only
peaceable, reasonable, and conciliatory, when under provocation or
criticism, it is also eager to take the initiative in doing all the
good in its power to those whom it can reach or influence. Thus it
goes hand in hand with that pure and undefiled religion which visits
"the fatherless and widows in their affliction" (i. 27). Just as
St. James has no sympathy with a faith which does not clothe the naked
and feed the hungry, and offer of its best to God (ii. 15, 16, 21),
nor with a tongue which blesses God and curses men (ii. 9), so he has
no belief in the heavenly character of a wisdom which holds itself
aloof in calm superiority to all cavil and complaint, with a
condescending air of passionless impartiality. The intellectual miser,
who gloats over the treasures of his own accumulated knowledge, and
smiles with lofty indifference upon the criticisms and squabbles of
the imperfectly instructed, has no share in the wisdom that is from
above. He is peaceful and moderate, not out of love and sympathy, but
because his time is too precious to be wasted in barren controversy,
and because he is too proud to place himself on a level with those who
would dispute with him. No selfish arrogance of this kind has any
place in the character of the truly wise. His wisdom not only
enlightens his intellect, but warms his heart and strengthens his
will. He believes that "the wise man alone is king," and that "the
wise man alone is happy," yet not because he has the crown of
knowledge and abundance of intellectual enjoyment, but because he
"fulfils the royal law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"
(ii. 8), and because happiness is to be found in promoting the
happiness of others.
"Without variance, without hypocrisy." These are the last two of the
goodly qualities which St. James gives as marks of the heavenly
wisdom. Similarity in sound, which cannot well be preserved in
English, has evidently had something to do with their selection
(ἀδιάκριτος, ἀνυπόκριτος). The first of the two has perplexed
translators, and the English versions give us considerable choice:
"without variance," "without wrangling," "without partiality,"
"without doubtfulness," "without judging." Purvey has for the two
epithets "deeming without feigning," following the Sixtine edition of
the Vulgate, which has _judicans sine simulatione_, instead of _non
judicans, sine simulatione_. The word occurs nowhere else either in
the Old or in the New Testament; but it is cognate with a word which
St. James uses twice at the beginning of this Epistle (διακρινόμενος:
i. 6), and which is there rendered "doubting" or "wavering." Of the
various possible meanings of the word before us we may therefore
prefer "without doubtfulness." The wisdom from above is unwavering,
steadfast, single-minded. Thus Ignatius charges the Magnesians (xv.)
to "possess an unventuring spirit" (ἀδιάκριτον πνεῦμα), and tells the
Trallians (i.) that he has "learned that they have a mind unblameable
and unwavering in patience" (ἀδιάκριτον ἐν ὑπομονῇ). And Clement of
Alexandria (_Pæd._ II. iii., p. 190) speaks of "unwavering faith"
(ἀδιακρίτῳ πίστει), and a few lines farther on he reminds his readers,
in words that suit our present subject, that "wisdom is not bought
with earthly coin, nor is sold in the market, but in heaven." If he
had said that wisdom is not sold in the market, but _given_ from
heaven, he would have made the contrast both more pointed and more
true.
"The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make
peace." The Greek may mean either "_for_ them that make peace," or
"_by_ them that make peace;" and we need not attempt to decide. In
either case it is the peacemakers who sow the seed whose fruit is
righteousness, and the peacemakers who reap this fruit. The whole
process begins, progresses, and ends in peace.
It is evident that the heavenly wisdom is pre-eminently a _practical_
wisdom. It is not purely or mainly intellectual; it is not
speculative; it is not lost in contemplation. Its object is to
increase holiness rather than knowledge, and happiness rather than
information. Its atmosphere is not controversy and debate, but
gentleness and peace. It is full, not of sublime theories or daring
hypotheses, but of mercy and good fruits. It can be confident without
wrangling, and reserved without hypocrisy. It is the twin sister of
that heavenly love which "envieth not, vaunteth not itself, seeketh
not its own, is not provoked, taketh no account of evil."
[72] Mark Pattison, _Essays: Life of Bishop Warburton_, vol. ii., pp.
163, 164 (Oxford: 1889).
[73] See Jellett's _Thoughts on the Christian Life_, p. 49 (Dublin:
1884).