Wisdom Has Built Her House - by Silvia Schroer (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Wisdom Has Built Her House brings together for the first time the collected studies of Silvia Schroer on the biblical figure of Sophia, divine Wisdom.

Schroer presents a differentiated image of Wisdom as female, creator, teacher, prophet, beloved, and more. In Wisdom Has Built Her House Schroer portrays Wisdom as a cosmic ordering principle, as universal architect, and as mediator of all scientific knowledge. Schroer also inquires about the contexts of these writings: about feminine wisdom and women's roles after the Babylonian exile, about the goddess traditions behind the idea of Sophia, and about their significance within a monotheistic symbol system. Schroer then follows the tradition of God imaged as Wisdom to the time of the Jesus- movement and the first Christian communities.

Teachers, students, and those looking for a well-reasoned study of personified Wisdom - and reasons for reinvisioning our own images of God - will find this in Wisdom Has Built Her House.

Chapters are Wisdom on the Path of Righteousness (Proverbs 8:20)," "Divine Wisdom and Postexilic Monotheism," "Wise Women and Counselors in Israel: Models for Personified Hokma," "'And When the Next War Began . . .' The Wise Woman of Abel of Beth-maacah (2 Samuel 20:14-22)," "Abigail: A Wise Woman Works for Peace," "The One Lord and Male Dominance in the Book of Jesus Sirach: The Image of Woman and the Image of Wisdom in a Misogynist Document," "Personified Sophia in the Book of Wisdom," "Jesus Sophia," and "The Spirit, Wisdom, and the Dove."

Review Quotes

. . . a remarkable achievement.Bernadette Brooten, Brandeis University

Along with Wisdom we come to know some of the wise women of the Bible, and we explore a place on which to stand firm in a critique of the kyriarchal domination that surrounds us in defiance of Wisdom's truth. This book is as charming and winsome as it is erudite - food for the spirit and tough arguments to strengthen the mind. Finally we have collected in one volume the fruits of Shroer's long engagement with this divine Presence. And we are all richer for that gift!Sharon H. Ringe, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.

Silvia Schroer's stunning work on Wisdom breaks new ground, with its challenge to move beyond traditional and Western ways of hearing, reading, and interpreting the biblical text. The work calls all people to ethical responsibility for the sake of all creation. Written with grace, illumined by insight, and meticulously researched, this text is thoroughly engaging. It takes into account the images of personified wisdom as they appear in both the First and Second Testaments. Schroer's work offers both the scholarly community and the general public a new and bold sense of great hope in the midst of the ongoing global struggle for solidarity: human beings with one another, and human beings with creation. Distinctly refreshing in its approach, depth, and breadth, this work needs to be a part of every scholarly conversation on Wisdom, and must be taken seriously by readers in general if transformation at its deepest level is to continue, and the reign of God celebrated.