Proverbs

Proverbs

Dear <<First Name>>

I hope you have found the reflections on Transcending Mission over the last four weeks thoughtful – and possibly a more helpful way to think of the Church’s ministry than the rather nebulous word “mission”.  Over the year ahead we will come back to the four aspects of our work – worship, evangelism, witness, and service, again.

Now we are going to spend some time looking at a selection of passages from the Book of Proverbs.  Traditionally attributed to Solomon, Proverbs is a collection of various sources – sayings addressed to a child from a teacher, poems in praise of Lady Wisdom, sections on the rich and the poor, and sections on creation, divine power and human ignorance.  Some of the material may have been written down in the 10th Century before Christ, some of it as late as the 7th.  The style is similar to other types of wisdom literature from the ancient near East.  As a collection of sayings the book is not an easy read; some sayings have made their way, for good or ill, into the English language – perhaps most infamously “spare the rod, spoil the child” (13:24) and much of Chapter 7 is very uncomfortable to read as it is concerned with protecting innocent young men from the wiles of seductive women! 

Over the next three weeks we will be looking at selected verses from Proverbs – some famous, some less so as we consider how much of this ancient wisdom can still speak to us today.

with every good wish

Andy

The Rev’d Andy Braunston,
Co-ordinator, Daily Devotions from the URC