Sophia, Wisdom, and Jesus

Published on: Author: thatcher@uoregon.edu

Proverbs and Sirach paint very similar pictures to Sophia or Wisdom as interesting spiritual figure. Proverbs is more similar to Jesus in the way that wisdom is both from God and in a way part of Him. Wisdom is seen as something to strive for and Proverbs is talking about a feminine personification of Wisdom similar to that of Heracles in the Greek mythos. This feminine personification is also seen in Sirach but in a very different sense. In Sirach Wisdom is a symbol for Israel is a more Jewish symbol but it speaks to the ever lasting spirit that is Wisdom. There are similarities like people seeking Wisdom and living through it to become closer to God. It seems that both in Proverbs and Sirach Sophia is present at the creation of the world in Genesis possibly even before Adam. Sophia seems to have a special relationship with God that is separate but leads to Him in some way.

 

It seems like Sophias relationship with the Jews is similar to that of Jesus with Christians, which is probably why Jesus is written through the lens of Sophia. They must be seen as one as the same in both importance and role when it comes to their spiritual usage in these texts. One of the Greek values that can be seen in these texts is that of knowledge and its importance. But also the Greek view God as the wholeness of reality not a creator God who led the Jews through the exodus. This plays into the idea of Wisdom being around at the beginning when God created the world. It seems that this is a Jewish myth that could have been modernized through association with Greek and Persian influences. Though Jesus plays into this as another figure that can bring one closer to God he is quite different in the proclamation of being the literal Son of Man.

 

The Wisdom of Solomon is a similar text that talks about Wisdom and its connection with spirituality. This text talks a lot about righteousness, living with God, and the consequences of living an ungodly life. There are many similarities in the way Sophia, Jesus, and the righteous one are all portrayed throughout the texts. There is some connection to giving ones humanly earthly self up to a greater spiritual world in order to prefect their souls. This is a complex concept that was going around the Greek world at the time through different spiritual texts and hermetic Hellenistic tradition. It think it is important that Jesus be seen through the same lens as Sophia because is Sophia is eternal and of God from the very beginning it could be a primitive pre Jesus way of to describe connecting with what would be called the Holy Spirit. Though the Holy Spirit could just be considered the same as the spiritual consciousness that many Greek hermetic people believed in.