The Who, What, and How of Wisdom: An Exploration in Karl Barth and his ‘Descendants’

Abstract

AbstractIn light of recent interest among theologians in the category of wisdom, I offer my own reflection on the theme vis‐à‐vis the theology of Karl Barth, as well as two of his theological 'descendants' who have given a programmatic place to 'wisdom’ in their seminal projects: David Ford and David Kelsey. I structure this exploration according to three fundamental questions: 1. With whom is wisdom identified? 2. What is wisdom to those who have been exposed to its revelation? 3. How is this wisdom revealed to people? I show how Barth argues that a true account of wisdom depends on answering the first question first and doing so with key reference to scripture's witness to God's saving activity.