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Practical Wisdom of Proverbs, The
(Foreword by Joseph M. Stowell)A chapter-by-chapter, topical study unearths the spiritual riches found in the themes and overviews of Proverbs. Perfect for group or personal study or as a practical resource for sermon preparation.
- GenresChristian
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
2 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Louis Goldberg
33 books5 followersDr. Louis Goldberg is the former Professor of Theology and Jewish Studies at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL. He received his B.S. from the University of Southern California, a B.D. and Th.M. from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, an M.A. from Roosevelt University, and a Th.D. from Grace Theological Seminary. He also completed postdoctoral work in Jewish studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
At the Moody Bible Institute, Dr. Goldberg’s Jewish background provided him with incredible insights into the Old and New Testament texts. Raised in an orthodox Jewish home, Dr. Goldberg held an important place in Christendom for years where he was able to preach, teach, and write from a Messianic perspective. From 1962–1965, he was a professor at Temple Baptist Theological Seminary in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he taught while pastoring local churches. Later, he became a faculty member at the Moody Bible Institute (1965–1994) where he served the local community and fine-tuned his gifting as an expert teacher in the Bible, theology, and world missions. Dr. Goldberg was awarded the prestigious Faculty Citation award from the Moody Bible Institute Alumni Association in 1977, and he spent his summers touring and teaching in the Holy Land and preaching to Jewish congregations around the globe. Following his work at Moody, Dr. Goldberg taught at the Russian Bible Institute in Brooklyn, New York.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Goldberg’s research on Judaism and modern Israel studies were recognized globally. In 1968, Israel government invited him to document the Israel people. He spent more than 30 summers interviewing political, social, and religious leaders in an effort to understand and catalogue the Jewish culture. Throughout, Dr. Goldberg maintained a pastor’s heart serving at various churches in Illinois, Iowa, New York, and Tennessee. He was on the advisory board of the American Messianic Fellowship and was the secretary/treasurer of the American Association for Jewish Evangelism. Dr. Goldberg was an active member of the Evangelical Theological Society where he was a frequent speaker and presenter. In 1983, he was honored to serve as the President of ETS. Dr. Goldberg also left an indelible mark on Jews for Jesus, a ministry he served for more than five decades. In 1994, the Jews for Jesus named him Scholar in Residence. Later, upon his death, the ministry renamed its official headquarter’s library in New York City in Dr. Goldberg’s honor. He was officially hailed as a “man of peace” by the Jews for Jesus founder Moshe Rosen.
At the Moody Bible Institute, Dr. Goldberg’s Jewish background provided him with incredible insights into the Old and New Testament texts. Raised in an orthodox Jewish home, Dr. Goldberg held an important place in Christendom for years where he was able to preach, teach, and write from a Messianic perspective. From 1962–1965, he was a professor at Temple Baptist Theological Seminary in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he taught while pastoring local churches. Later, he became a faculty member at the Moody Bible Institute (1965–1994) where he served the local community and fine-tuned his gifting as an expert teacher in the Bible, theology, and world missions. Dr. Goldberg was awarded the prestigious Faculty Citation award from the Moody Bible Institute Alumni Association in 1977, and he spent his summers touring and teaching in the Holy Land and preaching to Jewish congregations around the globe. Following his work at Moody, Dr. Goldberg taught at the Russian Bible Institute in Brooklyn, New York.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Goldberg’s research on Judaism and modern Israel studies were recognized globally. In 1968, Israel government invited him to document the Israel people. He spent more than 30 summers interviewing political, social, and religious leaders in an effort to understand and catalogue the Jewish culture. Throughout, Dr. Goldberg maintained a pastor’s heart serving at various churches in Illinois, Iowa, New York, and Tennessee. He was on the advisory board of the American Messianic Fellowship and was the secretary/treasurer of the American Association for Jewish Evangelism. Dr. Goldberg was an active member of the Evangelical Theological Society where he was a frequent speaker and presenter. In 1983, he was honored to serve as the President of ETS. Dr. Goldberg also left an indelible mark on Jews for Jesus, a ministry he served for more than five decades. In 1994, the Jews for Jesus named him Scholar in Residence. Later, upon his death, the ministry renamed its official headquarter’s library in New York City in Dr. Goldberg’s honor. He was officially hailed as a “man of peace” by the Jews for Jesus founder Moshe Rosen.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 28, 2015
A commentary on one of my favourite books of the Bible
10 November 2014
I'm not really sure how I am going to respond to this particular book. It certainly wasn't bad, and it did deal with the Book of Proverbs quite well, but to me it really didn't say anything that I didn't know already. I guess it is a good thing that my church hasn't asked me to do another book review on a Christian book for a while because I am actually having a lot of difficulty coming up with a book that I could write a passionate review about. I would certainly recommend that people read this book, but it really didn't have all that much in it that brought about an epiphany.
If there is one thing that this particular book did bring out was how we should view Proverbs. I have always approached it with the view of being the instructed – that is the person being given advice on how to live a good and fruitful life. However, Goldberg points out that it also works to guide the instructor by demonstrating how one should go about teaching wisdom to another. Okay, there are proverbs that specifically say that parents who instruct their children in wisdom will raise children who are blessings to them, however Proverbs as a whole tells the parent what wisdom they should be teaching their children.
Like many books of the Bible, Proverbs has more than one dimension. As I mentioned above, it is not only teaching wisdom, but also providing instruction on how to teach wisdom. Those of you who are familiar with this particular book will also notice that there are a lot of references to fools, and previously I have always taken these teachings as guides on how not to be a fool, yet Proverbs also warns us against becoming involved with bad company, and by painting a picture of a fool throughout the book, it gives us an idea of the type of people that we probably should not be letting influence us. Personally, I wish I had absorbed much of the advice that is contained in this gem as a child, before I wondered off on my folly during my teenage years.
It is interesting also to see where many of the sayings that we have today come from (though the Bible, along with Shakespeare, are the two biggest sources of many of the common sayings that we generally take fore granted). For instance, I suspect the saying 'it is better to keep your mouth closed and have people think you a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt', would have originated from Proverbs - though that actual incarnation of the quote is attributed to both Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln. Even then, we should always remember this famous quote:
Mind you, I have always had a lot of fun with the Book of Proverbs, and remember a time when I was on a church camp and managed to score the job of being the person in charge of the camp loudspeaker (probably because I simply took the microphone and used it and nobody told me to stop) and used the opportunity to quote proverbs, such as:
Remembering, of course, the context of the book as being a father giving advice to his son, which is why the woman is portrayed as the bad guy here (and no doubt we could switch it around to say 'it is better to sleep in the local dumpster than to share a house with a prick of a husband'). Mind you, if we do read through the book, once again we will notice that there are lots of traits that we are encouraged not to pick up because it builds upon a bad character, such as:
And of course, we cannot forget my favourite:
Just as an end note, all quotes come from the English Standard Version, simply because I refuse to read a Bible that is published by Newscorp (that being the New International Version and its offshoots).
10 November 2014
I'm not really sure how I am going to respond to this particular book. It certainly wasn't bad, and it did deal with the Book of Proverbs quite well, but to me it really didn't say anything that I didn't know already. I guess it is a good thing that my church hasn't asked me to do another book review on a Christian book for a while because I am actually having a lot of difficulty coming up with a book that I could write a passionate review about. I would certainly recommend that people read this book, but it really didn't have all that much in it that brought about an epiphany.
If there is one thing that this particular book did bring out was how we should view Proverbs. I have always approached it with the view of being the instructed – that is the person being given advice on how to live a good and fruitful life. However, Goldberg points out that it also works to guide the instructor by demonstrating how one should go about teaching wisdom to another. Okay, there are proverbs that specifically say that parents who instruct their children in wisdom will raise children who are blessings to them, however Proverbs as a whole tells the parent what wisdom they should be teaching their children.
Like many books of the Bible, Proverbs has more than one dimension. As I mentioned above, it is not only teaching wisdom, but also providing instruction on how to teach wisdom. Those of you who are familiar with this particular book will also notice that there are a lot of references to fools, and previously I have always taken these teachings as guides on how not to be a fool, yet Proverbs also warns us against becoming involved with bad company, and by painting a picture of a fool throughout the book, it gives us an idea of the type of people that we probably should not be letting influence us. Personally, I wish I had absorbed much of the advice that is contained in this gem as a child, before I wondered off on my folly during my teenage years.
It is interesting also to see where many of the sayings that we have today come from (though the Bible, along with Shakespeare, are the two biggest sources of many of the common sayings that we generally take fore granted). For instance, I suspect the saying 'it is better to keep your mouth closed and have people think you a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt', would have originated from Proverbs - though that actual incarnation of the quote is attributed to both Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln. Even then, we should always remember this famous quote:
Mind you, I have always had a lot of fun with the Book of Proverbs, and remember a time when I was on a church camp and managed to score the job of being the person in charge of the camp loudspeaker (probably because I simply took the microphone and used it and nobody told me to stop) and used the opportunity to quote proverbs, such as:
It is better to live on the corner of the roof, than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife – Proverbs 21:9
Remembering, of course, the context of the book as being a father giving advice to his son, which is why the woman is portrayed as the bad guy here (and no doubt we could switch it around to say 'it is better to sleep in the local dumpster than to share a house with a prick of a husband'). Mind you, if we do read through the book, once again we will notice that there are lots of traits that we are encouraged not to pick up because it builds upon a bad character, such as:
A prudent man conceals his knowledge, but fools proclaim their folly – Proverbs 12:23
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses – Proverbs 10:12
Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure. – Proverbs 11:15
And of course, we cannot forget my favourite:
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly – Proverbs 26:11
Just as an end note, all quotes come from the English Standard Version, simply because I refuse to read a Bible that is published by Newscorp (that being the New International Version and its offshoots).
November 2, 2011
Review originally posted here.
I had high hopes for this book, as I wanted to get more out of Proverbs and the author was a family friend who died before I could appreciate his presence. Unfortunately, the writing is very dry and scholarly, with little actual fresh insight. The vast majority is just a rephrasing of the book of Proverbs.
There were things I did learn, however:
1) Solomon's love of knowledge was taught to him by his father, King David. I love the concept that such a love can be passed down from one generation to the next, and as a new father myself, this gives me another thing to look forward to teaching my son.
2) In the Old Testament world, God rewarded the righteous with financial prosperity, but after Christ we are offered no such guarantee. As such, it's important to note the distinction between promises and events in the Old Testament vs. the New, which may be where some of the prosperity gospel gets its inaccurate message.
3) Salvation was available to God's children before Christ came, as there are OT references to having one's soul saved and sins taken away.
These nuggets of insight come from the fact that the author was a very learned Jewish professor who understood the link and the differences between the Old and New Testaments better than the average American Christian does today. So for that, I am glad I read the book, but I would not recommend it to others.
I had high hopes for this book, as I wanted to get more out of Proverbs and the author was a family friend who died before I could appreciate his presence. Unfortunately, the writing is very dry and scholarly, with little actual fresh insight. The vast majority is just a rephrasing of the book of Proverbs.
There were things I did learn, however:
1) Solomon's love of knowledge was taught to him by his father, King David. I love the concept that such a love can be passed down from one generation to the next, and as a new father myself, this gives me another thing to look forward to teaching my son.
2) In the Old Testament world, God rewarded the righteous with financial prosperity, but after Christ we are offered no such guarantee. As such, it's important to note the distinction between promises and events in the Old Testament vs. the New, which may be where some of the prosperity gospel gets its inaccurate message.
3) Salvation was available to God's children before Christ came, as there are OT references to having one's soul saved and sins taken away.
These nuggets of insight come from the fact that the author was a very learned Jewish professor who understood the link and the differences between the Old and New Testaments better than the average American Christian does today. So for that, I am glad I read the book, but I would not recommend it to others.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews