Wisdom and Responsibility

I recently came across this good quote from Michael Michael Fox’s recently published second volume on Proverbs in the Anchor series. This series (and this volume) is critical but there are good gems to be found here. His essays at the end of the commentary are particularly interesting. Whether or not he intends it, Fox sounds a good bit like Augustine in this good quote:

The upshot of this principle is an extraordinary assertion of individual responsibility. Each person constantly faces moral choices, with only wisdom to guide him. But wisdom is universally available (1:20-29; 8:1-4; 9:4-6); it is directly before the eyes of the one who looks carefully (17:24), and if one lacks wisdom, it is because he has chosen to spurn it (1:7b, 22, 29), to desire evil (21:10), and to love mindlessness (1:22). Sin is folly, and folly is ignorance, and ignorance is no excuse. It is itself a moral failing, the root of all failure. (p 944 )

Proverbs Driven Life

The Proverbs Driven Life: Timeless Wisdom for Your Words, Work, Wealth, and Relationships
by Anthony Selvaggio
(Shepherd Press, 2008), pb., 201 pp.

I received a copy of this book last week and was immediately interested. Good books on Proverbs are a real draw to me. Wisdom is a missing item in our culture which is far more interested in technique- and the lack of wisdom shows.

I have read various portions of this book so far and have been pleased. It is well written, engaging, substantive, and practical. The book is divided into six parts which address foundations, work, wealth, friends, marriage, and children. Each part is summed up in one sentence and is unpacked in two chapters. In the first chapter Selvaggio makes some very helpful observations on reading and interpreting the Proverbs well and he discusses how the Proverbs point to Christ. This discussion of interpreting Proverbs will be very helpful in a book where people sometimes get lost.

This is a good book that will be helpful in many contexts.