A Spirit of Wisdom

A Spirit of Wisdom Commentary by Clementine Kane Cite Share Show Bible Passage Read by Ben Quash The Apostle Paul longs for his community to be spiritually mature and filled with the wisdom of God. This wisdom is both revealed by the Spirit of God and an inherent part of God, a relatedness that is evoked in the icon of Sophia, the Wisdom of God. Sophia (Greek: ‘wisdom’) is neither an angel nor a saint, but rather the personification of an attribute of God. This icon, of the Novgorod ‘Angel of the Lord’ type, dates from the sixteenth century (Fiene 1989: 457). The figure of Wisdom is enthroned, winged, and crimson-hued. On either side, forming a deësis, Mary holds the Christ Child and John the Baptist presents a scroll. Christ Pantocrator (Ruler of All) presides over the figure of Wisdom and above him angels unfurl the banner of the starry cosmos beneath an empty throne, an apophatic representation of God the Father. The question of who or what ‘Sophia’ is has elicited varying answers throughout Christian history. Often Sophia is identified with the preincarnate Christ, the divine Logos ‘[through whom] all things were made’ (John 1:3). The Russian Orthodox theologian Sergei Bulgakov suggests that the figure of Sophia represents something deeper, the very oneness of God in which the three persons are united (Bulgakov 2008: 107). Another view, espoused by early Church Fathers such as Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130–202 CE) and Theophilus of Antioch (died c.183 CE) held that Sophia was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The icon of Sophia, the Wisdom of God, does not clearly correspond to any of these three interpretations, but makes an enigmatic contribution to the body of art, literature, and philosophy around the figure of Sophia. The Spirit of Wisdom is complex: intimately a part of God who ‘searches everything, even the depths of God’ (1 Corinthians 2:10), and yet also the gift of God to his children. Though the core of Paul’s message is simple, his ensuing teachings expand in complexity and require spiritual maturity to apprehend. In like manner, this icon yields a constellation of meanings, speaking differently to different viewers who must use wisdom to interpret it. References Bulgakov, Sergius. 1993. Sophia, The Wisdom of God: An Outline of Sophiology (Hudson: Lindisfarne Press) ______. 2008. The Lamb of God. (Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans) Fiene, Donald. 1989. ‘What is the Appearance of Divine Sophia?’, Slavic Review, 48.3: 449–76 Florensky, Pavel. 1997. The Pillar and Ground of the Truth: An Essay in Orthodox Theodicy in Twelve Letters (Princeton: Princeton University Press) Schipflinger, Thomas. 1998. Sophia-Maria: A Holistic Vision of Creation (York Beach: Samuel Weiser)