Book of Wisdom

[Padraig_77]

Some protestant sites make the following claims about the Book of Wisdom:

“Rather than the creation being spoken into existence from nothing by the word of Almighty God, as affirmed in the Scriptures (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 33:6-9; Hebrews 11:3), the Apocrypha has God creating the world out of ‘formless matter’ (Wisdom 11:17).”

“The Apocrypha teaches the erroneous doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul, suggesting that the kind of body one now has is determined by the character of his soul in a previous life (Wisdom 8:19-20). The foregoing was a common belief among heathen peoples, but certainly it is contrary to the biblical view that the soul of man is formed with him at conception (Psalm 139:13-16; Zechariah 12:1).”

How can these claims be answered?

 

[passus]

“Rather than the creation being spoken into existence from nothing by the word of Almighty God, as affirmed in the Scriptures (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 33:6-9; Hebrews 11:3), the Apocrypha has God creating the world out of ‘formless matter’ (Wisdom 11:17).”

The line from Wisdom in no way asserts the eternity of “matter.” It simply points its readers back to the account of creation issued in Genesis with which it is entirely consonant:
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2).
I would direct you to Aquinas for a much deeper consideration of those terms through a Platonic lens.

I Q 66, art. iSumma Theologiae

“The Apocrypha teaches the erroneous doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul, suggesting that the kind of body one now has is determined by the character of his soul in a previous life (Wisdom 8:19-20). The foregoing was a common belief among heathen peoples, but certainly it is contrary to the biblical view that the soul of man is formed with him at conception (Psalm 139:13-16; Zechariah 12:1).”

There is nothing of a “previous life” even mentioned in this passage and that’s where this interpretation falls short.

 

[Robbinson]

The immediately prior response is dead on.

Tell your friend to read chapter 2 of the book of wisdom for the most remarkable depiction of Jesus (even more so than Isaiah 53) in this book written by Jews hundreds of years before Christ, and then wonder why this is not in their cannon. We can imagine why the Jews chose to omit it from there cannon AFTER Christ given the images in this chapter.

Its a remarkable read.

Similarly, the book of Sirach contains striking language fortelling of the Eucharist.

Blessings,

Brian

 

[Ruthie]

I would say the authors of your websites are going way beyond proof-texting! Ignoring the meaning of the passage, they are merely nit-picking for any combination of words that can be made to look “wrong.”

Since Passus has dealt well with 11:17, I’ll just quote it.

Wisdom 11:17 (RSV):

For thy all-powerful hand,
which created the world out of formless matter,
did not lack the means to send upon them a
multitude of bears, or bold lions,

Regarding the second, Wis 8:19-20 (RSV):

As a child I was by nature well endowed,
and a good soul fell to my lot; 20 or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body.

KJV*:

For I was a witty child, and had a good spirit. Yea rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled.

To assume that this verse means the writer believed in a pre-existing soul, without making any further investigation is short-sighted.

Did Job believe it - and that, when he died his soul would live in his mother’s womb?

And he said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."Job 1:21 (RSV)

Hopefully that shows the assertion to be as silly as it is! But just in case, let me nit-pick another verse from Wisdom.

because he failed to know the one who formed him
and inspired him with an active soul and breathed into him a living spirit. Wis 15:11 (RSV)

And another verse from Genesis:

then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Gen 2:7 (RSV)

So the author seems to be in no confusion about where his soul came from.

Hope this helps,

Ruthie
*Yes, the KJV had the Apocrypha. It’s only in the last couple of hundred years they were removed.

 

[Boniface]

Hi. I know this is a little late in responding to this thread, but I just did a lengthy blog post on Wisdom 8:19-20, which you can view here if you are interested:

unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2009/08/is-reincarnation-taught-in-scriptures.html

I think it gives sufficient evidence to debunk what the Protestant websites say about it.

Pax et bonum
Boniface

 

[PeterK]

“Rather than the creation being spoken into existence from nothing by the word of Almighty God, as affirmed in the Scriptures (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 33:6-9; Hebrews 11:3), the Apocrypha has God creating the world out of ‘formless matter’ (Wisdom 11:17).”

Another feeble attempt to justify the innovation of the Protestant canon.

Strictly speaking, this Protestant commentary needs to investigate Gen 1.1-4 a little closer. Matter does exist before God speaks. God never creates the abyss and/or the water - which are something, not nothing - they exist before he speaks. The idea of God creating something from nothing certainly gets its origins in the Gen text, but, and again strictly speaking, the Hebrew text does not specifically and completely bear the idea of creating ex nihilo.

PeterK

 

[Boniface]

Actually, the OT does teach Creation ex nihilo. Check 2 Maccabees 7:28, the story of the martyrdom of the seven brothers, and you will see that Scripture states that God made everything not out of existing forms but out of nothing.

 

[PeterK]

Actually, the OT does teach Creation ex nihilo. Check 2 Maccabees 7:28, the story of the martyrdom of the seven brothers, and you will see that Scripture states that God made everything not out of existing forms but out of nothing.

This text clearly displays that Jews of this time period (200ish BC?) understood God to have created from nothing. So its safe to say they would have understood Genesis and other creation references in scripture to be asserting the same in essence. Yet Maccabees is an apocryphal book per the Protestant canon.

PeterK

 

[PeterK]

“The Apocrypha teaches the erroneous doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul, suggesting that the kind of body one now has is determined by the character of his soul in a previous life (Wisdom 8:19-20). The foregoing was a common belief among heathen peoples, but certainly it is contrary to the biblical view that the soul of man is formed with him at conception (Psalm 139:13-16; Zechariah 12:1).”

I have to agree with an earlier poster, I read no reference to the pre-existence of the soul in Wisdom 8,19-20. Not even close. Makes me wonder if the verse was sited correctly and what version of the Bible they are using. ??? Surely, it is not an outright falsehood.

PeterK