Wisdom Christology in the Gospel of John

by Dustin R. Smith

This volume contends that the Gospel of John presents the most thorough and robust Wisdom Christology of all the New Testament books. Wisdom Christology—the christological concept that applies the roles, characteristics, and functions of God’s personified wisdom to the man Jesus Christ—is displayed to be skillfully interwoven throughout all twenty-one chapters of the Fourth Gospel, starting with the famous prologue. In response to the prevailing tendency among interpreters to project postbiblical understandings of Jesus from the fourth- and fifth-century church councils back into the Gospel of John, this volume shows that a more fitting context emerges from Jewish Wisdom literature. By situating the Johannine Jesus in his first-century Jewish context, readers can appreciate John’s commitment to monotheism and Jesus’ role as the Father’s highly empowered human agent, fully embodying Lady Wisdom.

280 pages, Paperback

Published April 18, 2024

Reviews

[Jacob Ballard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I come to this book wearing a number of hats; disciple of Jesus, father, teacher, and pastor. When reading a theological text, I want to understand both how it impacts my beliefs and actions as a follower of Christ and also how it should change how I teach and mentor. In reading this text, I see how much Wisdom christology influences the Gospel. The personified Wisdom of the Jewish Wisdom Literature becomes incarnated in Christ. But, because this God-revealing, divine wisdom was a personification of the attribute of God, we should not think of Christ preexisting his birth. In fact, it wasn’t until Justin Martyr and Origen that the process of Christ/Wisdom/Word preexisted literally. This means that we should take seriously the authors contention in the very end of the book, while we hold up a high human Christology, we should not allow that human Christology to become divine. But instead of seeing Christ as something lowly, we should see Christ as this same God-revealing, divine wisdom, through which God fashioned the universe, and through which God gives eternal life both now and forever. For me, the book was an engaging read, with a premise I had not thoroughly considered (like Dr. Smith says, “sophia” never shows up in John!) but in the end it has convinced me of the arguments.
Thinking about the hats I wear and how it changes how I teach and mentor, I have to ask the question : to whom would I recommend this book? The author has described the book for the “interested layman.” I would agree with the assessment. The book is not *simple*. And, my one point of criticism, the book is not warm. There are points for encouragement (the way Wisdom interacts with her disciples in love), but it lacks personal connection points; we learn almost nothing of the person behind the pen. I know there are some who would have a hard time with a text that could be considered “dry”. However, where the book shines is in clarity. Dr. Smith explains where he is going. He quotes much other the material both in the Wisdom literature and in John, he explains the connection, and then he follows up each section with what he has shown. The book is not burdened by technical jargon; any necessary unusual words or phrases are defined clearly. To personify the book, the book WANTS to be read (it is “accessible”, akin to the Wisdom it describes). While I could say every lay person should read it (and maybe they should, because it would clear up questions of the Fourth Gospel and give them an appreciation for intertestamental works), I would actively recommend this book to any lay person who has questions about why John is different from the Synoptics, how the seven “I ams” define Jesus, or how the prologue should be understood. To be fair, those three questions are the concerns of almost everyone at some point. Too often, John is proof-texted without any understanding of its context; this book gives an even greater understanding of context, the full background of wisdom literature.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wisdom Christology Dr. Smith lays out ties the gospels back to the OT in a way the default Greek interpretation fails to consider.