Alex Macdonald

AncH 2000
Peter Fitch
April 14, 2016

A Library of the Wisdom of Gold

The New Testament

Introduction

The aim of this essay is to discuss the ways in which the writings of the New Testament prove what I

am calling the wisdom of gold: the value of the human soul and how it is connected to the glory of

God.

I aim to show how the New Testament creates this understanding and to distill and represent the most

important ideas that I have gleaned from the materials in this class, within the context of a logical

argument.

The argument is going to be told by oscillating through the Gospels, the book of Acts and the epistles

of Paul. This way I can write more comprehensively on the New Testament, what Ive learned so far

in this course and make one overall argument for what I think the New Testament is about.

1) The Heart of Gold: Between Father and Son (as seen in the Gospels)

Robert Kysar writes in John: The Maverick Gospel in a chapter titled The Fathers Son that the

functions of the Son are the functions of the Father.[1] This would suggest that through the actions
of Jesus presented to us in the gospels, we can get a very direct and bright sight into the heart of the

Father.

This inseparable intimacy and oneness of being between Jesus and the Father I believe is at the heart

of all the wisdom in the New Testament, we might call it: the heart of gold.

If this is the relationship between the perfect man and God, then this is also supposed to be the

relationship between every man (or man in general) and God. As Fred L. Fisher notes in Jesus and

His Teachings, All that is meant by surrender to God may be summed up in the words of the first

and greatest commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your

soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30).[2]

This leads us to Pauls letters and to his continual admonitions that Christians are to fight and struggle

for unity.

2) The Connective Tissue (as seen in Pauls Epistles)

Maxie D. Dunman, in a section title The Shared Life of the People of God (The Communications

Commentary) speaks of the Greek word koinonia, which translates best as fellowship, as being a

major, intrinsic theme in Pauls writings.[3]

He notes that interrelatedness and interdependence are principles laced throughout the epistles,

quoting 1. Cor. 12:26: If one member suffers, all suffer together, if one member is honored, all

rejoice together and Rom. 15:1: We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak.

Finally Dunman argues, the new life into which we have been born through Christ is a shared

life.[4]
But what does Paul think the connective tissue for this kind of fellowship is? He writes in 1

Corinthians that we are supposed to view our fellow believers as parts and pieces of a body. Just as we

have one body, made of many distinct parts, yet we nurture it, take care of and experience it as an

intimate whole, we are supposed to conceive of our fellow believers and treat them in this same kind

of way: treating them with spiritual gentleness and kindly affection. We are to be towards the body of

Christ the same way we should be towards our own bodies, to love our neighbors as ourselves

(Mark 12:31).

In Galations 3:28 Paul writes that there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there

male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus and in Romans he writes that nothing shall

separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 9: 39).

These two passages taken together create the effect that nothing can separate us from all being one in

the love of God in Christ Jesus, so that effectively Jesus is both our eternal reconciliation to God and

our universal, communal bounding in godly unity.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer echoes this reality in Christology, in a section titled Christ as Church. He writes

that, between his ascension and his coming again the church is his form and indeed his only form

and even writing that, the church is thus not only receiver of the Word of revelation, but is itself the

revelation and Word of God.[5]

Its pretty clear as you read through Pauls letters, this message resounds: the essence of Christ, his

deepest way of being, his love is the connective tissue between all human beings who have submitted

themselves to God.
As the writer of 1 John notes, this kind of love is a love that lays itself down and bears the burdens of

others, This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay

down our lives for our brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16). Its this kind of love, which is

self-sacrificial for the sake of others, that both creates and allows for, the bond of fellowship called

koinonia.

3) The Interconnectivity of All Creation (as seen in Acts)

The entire theme of the books of Acts is the inherent and intrinsic interconnectivity of all beings. We

can see this reflected, in local church after church, as the gospel dives deep down into their

communities, joy sparkles in their hearts and overflows out into explosive missionary acts and

journeys across the known world.[ 6]

The inherent understanding within the early believers hearts was that this message is for everyone and

must be spread to every soul across the world, so that all hearts may be connected within and to Jesus.

The beautiful and holy consequence being, that as the church spreads, unity between peoples and

people-groups begins to expand and explode across the world. As Jesuss heart of gold goes out, the

world becomes a little more, and more, unified.

And we can see in the Epistles of Paul that this was Gods wisdom behind the foundation of the

world.

4) The Wisdom behind the world (as seen in the Gospels & Pauls Epistles)

John Wesley writes in his commentary on John 1 that the Word existed, without any beginning and

that all things began to be made by the Word. He notes that In the beginning is a direct reference to
Genesis 1:1 (In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth) and states that Jesus is the

Word whom the Father spoke from eternity and who speaketh the Father to us.[7]

The idea of the Word is the Greeks concept the Logos, which can be expressed as the inherent

divine structure within creation. This means that for Wesley, Jesus himself is the foundational

wisdom behind and within creation, and we see this reflected in the events of Acts. It also suggests

that implicit within this inherent divine structure is the revealing of the Father and the proclaiming and

celebrating of what God has done through Jesus. This gives us a clue into what the inherent intention

and purpose for human beings is within creation.

Pauls writing in Colossians echoes this point: all things have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church;

he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might be

preeminent (Colossians 1:16-19).

In the final chapter of his book The Reason for God, Tim Keller speaks of The Dance of God. He

describes this as the endless joyful love shared by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit throughout all

eternity; a dance of perfect harmony, glory, delight and unity. He speaks of how the Father delights in

the Son, who delights in the Spirit, who delights in the Father and that their shared glory is actually

their shared love within the essence of their own shared perfection.[8]

I think there is something very beautiful we can see in this lens, about the Logos of creation: it is a

structure of holy love, shared glory and delight, with God at its center but with all beings included.

And this is reflected in the majesty of creation, which Paul echoes when he says, since the creation of

the world Gods invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made (Romans 1:20). This means that the intrinsic beauty

within creation - the sunset texturing the evening atmosphere in low amber glimmers - is directly a

reflection of the Logos, of the very center of God, of the Trinitys sacred communion.

5) The Human Soul as a Focal Point of Creation (as seen in Acts)

In the same way creation intrinsically reflects the delight and beauty of Gods nature, we as a part of

creation, reflect these same qualities.

J.R.R Tolkien, in his essay On Fairy Stories, speaks of how the human being as a creative agent is a

manifestation of the image of a Creator. In writing fictional worlds, he describes us as co-creators

with God, who re-envision the original creation, reflecting our own personal experiences of beauty

into them as a way of taking part with God in creation and expressing worship to Him.[9]

This ability to co-create with God is a part of what sets us apart from the rest of creation, in terms of

our unique relation to God. It demonstrates that we are beings, made specifically by God to reflect his

personhood.

One of the main points emphasized in the book of Acts is a focus on individual human souls as focal

points of Gods active love. We can see in the stories of Saul, Lydia, Cornelius and the traveling

eunuch that human souls have an inherent value and worth to God. This special focusing on Gods

end, upon our souls, is what reflects and creates our distinct worth and value in the creative order.

Two examples from acts demonstrate Gods heart towards humanity rather beautifully. In the story of

Cornelius we can see that Gods salvation expands outwards towards all peoples, every tribe and
language and nation. In this we can see that Gods love and focus on us, is not only individual but also

expansive and universal. It is as wide as it can go.

In the story of Saul we can see that Gods salvation extends down through to the deepest, darkest

elements of what being a human being can mean. Saul is a man filled with hateful rage, systematically

rounding up Christians and having them humiliated, beaten and murdered. Later, Paul even calls

himself the chief of sinners. In Jesuss salvation and redemption of Saul we can see that Gods

focused love for individual human souls is as deep as it can go.

Another important theme we see in Pauls story is in all that he suffers on his missionary journeys. As

Paul mentions, it has been granted to us to not only believe in Christ but also to suffer for his sake

(Philippians 1:29). What then is the role of suffering?

6) Refining Us in the Fire (as seen in Pauls Epistles)

Dallas Willard discusses this in The Spirit of the Disciplines. He says that the disciplines are designed

to re-align our souls up with God.[ 10] Emphasizing that there are both negative disciplines: fasting,

solitude, silence, secrecy, sacrifice and positive disciplines: celebration, prayer, worship, study,

teaching, and that each kind has its place. The negative disciplines help us cut out things that are

ungodly within us, actively taking part in what Jonathon Edwards called mortification (putting to

death the deeds of the flesh) and the positive ones helping us actively take part in vivification (taking

part in the life of Christ).[11]

In Romans 5: 3-5 Paul writes of the mysterious paradox of suffering. He writes that suffering forms us

in perseverance, that perseverance forms us a greater character, which surprisingly gives us a kind of

hope. Most interesting of all is that he notes, that our hope end ups abounding in glory and joy

because Gods love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. I think this is rather
incredible and it lines up with two other verses in Romans, where he talks about nothing being able to

separate us from the love of God in Christ and that due to this, in all kinds of sufferings we are more

than conquerors.

He goes on in Corinthians to note the characteristics of this kind of love that is being formed in us:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on

its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the

truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians

13:4-8).

Finally, Peter shows us that this kind of love, that God is producing in us through trials, which can

endure all things, is a quality of faith or of being, that is worth even more than gold: These [trials]

have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes

even though refined by fire--may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1

Peter 1:7).

7) The Glory of God

This love or way of being that is produced in us, springs off the human soul in sprinkles of joy and

delight. This effusion of love for God is the visible reflection and manifestation of the glory of God.

Even as John Piper writes in Desiring God, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in

Him.[12]

In this we can see that the human soul is the apex of created things. If glory here means the value of

God displayed and God connotes the most ultimate thing in existence, then logically, the value of

the most ultimate thing in existence would be the most precious and important kind of value there is.
And so, if we are as human beings, the point at which this radiance shines off most clearly and

brightly, then the human soul could be considered the apex of creation.

And this is the wisdom of gold, the wisdom that the New Testament pours down into this world from

heaven, of the value of the human soul, as a rock caught up in the shining, rushing waters of Gods

holy and pure spiritual love, in Jesus of Nazareth.

Love is the wisdom of gold and the New Testament is a library for our hearts and souls, to search

through this wisdom, to struggle with it and wrestle with it and to eventually, be overcome by it. As

the song Ive been listening to while writing this essay (Since Your Love - United Pursuit) resounds,

And I was made by You, And I was made for You, And I am unfulfilled without full

communion!.[13]

The sun, moon and stars, shout your name, they give you reverence. And I, will do the same, with

all my heart, I give you glory - United Pursuit.

Appendix - Where the Gold Rests: A Framework for Sifting

Lets say the gold is the spiritual wisdom for our hearts within the New Testament and the ground is

the consistency and texture of our interpretative lenses.

What I have learned through this class is that if it the ground is immovable, the gold is significantly

harder to get out, but that if it has been softened enough by living waters our hearts can dig out the

gold from the ground more easily. The other side of this metaphor being, that if the ground is too

moist, perhaps it cant hold the gold in the first place.

One of the main points I learned from the materials in this class is that: the wisdom of gold teaches

you how to be.

We could see in Jersaks book in his discussions about how love freely gives but does not manipulate

or control. Teaches you to let go of greed and of clinging on to those that have been valuable in your

heart. We let go of our dragons treasure and gain a greater wealth, the spiritual riches of love

We could see this in N. T. Wright work through his ideas of heaven and earth being mingled together

so that they are intimately interwoven and connected with Jesus as the center of the connection.

When we place these two thoughts in the context of the idea of the wisdom of gold, we get a blissful

and beautiful picture of creation. One that can be difficult to see through the darkened lenses of our

being on occasion but that when we enter the library and open and search its books, we find, pieces

of human souls as gold intimately interconnected between God, creation and all of nature.

Showing that the value of the worth of each node in this network is due to that deep inter-connective

tissue which unites them all in God: love. Gods heart, mind and nature, his very essence itself, His

presence, that binds all things together. This is our God, whom we see through the door of Jesus,
when we peer into the window of the Library of the Wisdom of Gold. A library that invites us to

always keep searching the depths of what it means to love and to be loved in knowing Him.

Bibliography
Robert Kyser. John: The Maverick Gospel. John Knox Press, 1976.
Fred L. Fisher. Jesus and His Teachings. Broadman Press, 1972.
Maxie. D. Dunman. The Communications Commentary: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, Philemon. Hendrickson Publishers, 1981.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Christology. Collins Fount Paperbacks, 1978.
Matt Chandler. "The Church Is Born." Acts (Part 2), February 8, 2014.
John Wesley. "Explanatory Notes On John 1." John 1 - Wesley's Explanatory Notes - Bible
Commentary. http://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary.php?com=wes&b=43&c=1.
J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy Stories. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. 1947.
Dallas Willard. The Spirit of the Disciplines. Harper Collins. 1988
Edward Hickman. The Work of John Edwards. The Bath Press. 1974.
John Piper. Desiring God. Multnomah. 1986.
United Pursuit. Since Your Love. Oct. 19, 2015.

[1] Robert Kyser. John: The Maverick Gospel. John Knox Press, 1976. P.118.
[2] Fred L. Fisher. Jesus and His Teachings. Broadman Press, 1972. P. 38
[3] Maxie. D. Dunman. The Communications Commentary: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, Philemon. Hendrickson Publishers, 1981. P. 122
[4] Maxie. D. Dunman. The Communications Commentary. P.122
[5] Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Christology. Collins Fount Paperbacks, 1978. P. 58-59
[6] Matt Chandler. "The Church Is Born." Acts (Part 2), February 8, 2014.
[7] John Wesley. "Explanatory Notes On John 1." John 1 - Wesley's Explanatory Notes - Bible
Commentary. http://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary.php?com=wes&b=43&c=1.
[8] Tim Keller. The Reason for God. Dutton Penguin. 2008.
[9] J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy Stories. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. 1947.
[10] Dallas Willard. The Spirit of the Disciplines. Harper Collins. 1988
[11] Edward Hickman. The Work of John Edwards. The Bath Press. 1974.
[12] John Piper. Desiring God. Multnomah. 1986.
[13] United Pursuit. Since Your Love. Oct. 19, 2015.