Dustin Smith - Jesus as incarnated wisdom

In this presentation from the 2024 UCA Conference, Dr. Dustin Smith examines what the biblical authors mean when they apply the traits, attributes, and roles of personified wisdom to the figure of Jesus Christ.

He first establishes the precedent in pre-Christian Judaism for applying texts describing personified wisdom to human beings (a theological move that many scholars have come to recognize as “incarnation”). Then he moves on to the portrayals of Wisdom Christology in Paul, Hebrews, the synoptic gospels, and the Gospel of John.

Finally, he draws conclusions related to the "incarnation" of wisdom in Jesus Christ, boldly stating: "The doctrine of incarnation does not belong to Nicene Christianity, it belongs to Jewish monotheists. It is time to reclaim what we have lost and take back the rightful property of wisdom inspired Jewish theology. Only then can we truly begin to confidently read Paul and John without having to combat difficult christological passages."

[DoctorMcFarlandStudios]

Makes total sense. Jesus is not God, He is the image of God. The attributes of God personified.

[dlbard]

Just finished going through the NT of all the times Jesus was simply called a man. I omitted the title of Son of Man. Would like someone to double-check me.
64 times in the NT Jesus was called a man

Matthew 12 times
8:27 9;3 12:24, 13:54, 13:56, 26:48, 26:61, 26:72, 26:74, 27:19, 27:24, 27:47,

Mark 6 times
2:7, 6:2, 14:44, 14:71, 15:12, 15:39,

Luke 9 times
7:39, 15:2, 23:2, 23:4, 23:6, 23:18, 23:41, 23:47, 24:19

John 28 times
1:30, 4:29, 5:11x2, 5:12, 6:52, 7:12, 7:15, 7:25, 7:35, 7:46, 9:11, 9:16, 9:29, 9:33, 10:33, 10:41, 11:47, 11:50, 18:14, 18:17, 18:, 29, 18:30, 18:39, 18:40, 19:5, 19:12, 19:21

Acts twice
2:22, 17:31

Romans 3 times
5:15, 5:17, 5:19,

1 cor 3 times
15:21, 15:47, 15, 49

1Tim once
2:5,

[taibiservent]

The reference " you will seek me and not find me" was insightful...never really understood that

[stationoffunandinfo]

Could UCA make a video on how to start a church or bible group?

[gkaye]

I have been enjoying reading your book ... it is very insightful. I am however deeply saddened that the Unitarian Christian Alliance does not seem to have any room for those of us coming from a Messianic background. It seems our view of Scripture has no acceptance among the Unitarian Christian Alliance community

[EmJay]

The issue I have with wisdom Christology is that it can be overly simplistic and reductionist. If, as Christians, we are called to embody Christ, and Christ is seen solely as the embodiment of wisdom, then embodying wisdom alone might seem to be sufficient for salvation. However, I don't believe that is the case. For example, King Solomon embodied God's wisdom, showing that humans can indeed reflect it, but there appears to be something beyond wisdom that even King David longed for.

That "something greater", as John 1 points out is the Logos, which not only encompasses wisdom but also transcends it. Unlike wisdom, the "fullness" of the Logos is uniquely Christ's. The Logos is wisdom, but it also represents power and purpose. Since the world was created not for us, but for God's Son, we can share in Christ’s blessings, but we cannot embody the fullness of the Logos. Instead, we can only be transformed by it.

In other words, wisdom Christology risks reducing salvation to the mere accumulation of wisdom, but wisdom alone is insufficient. This is why the New Covenant offers spiritual transformation through God's Logos. Wisdom requires righteousness, or the external alignment with the law, while Logos calls for faith and repentance—internal responses.
In essence, wisdom Christology risks degenerating into a form of work-based salvation.

Another concern I have with wisdom Christology is its reliance on Hellenistic philosophical ideas, which can blur the lines between Christian theology and these traditions (as what happened with Trinitarianism). This can lead to a syncretic view that diminishes the uniqueness of Christ, in the properly understood way, or rendering him too unique and distant to relate to.

I'm also troubled by the use of extra-biblical texts to support this view, as it assumes these texts interpret wisdom in the same way the Bible does. To me, these texts reflect a Stoic or Hellenistic perspective that either reduces God to wisdom or elevates wisdom to divine status, depending on how you see it. For instance, Stoicism holds wisdom as the ultimate principle and highest virtue, whereas Christianity places the Logos as the supreme principle. My question is, where is God's Logos in these extra-biblical texts? I think part of the issue lies in our inherent self-centeredness—our desire to put ourselves in the place of Christ as the center of the universe and arbiters of our own salvation, which leads to a reduction of God into a more accessible form of wisdom.

[stephenbailey]

Elohim is Being, and the source of being. Adonai and the Divine Ruach are Elohim expressing Being in creation. Wisdom is the human mind's reflection upon Being.
At the appointed time, Adonai became flesh as the man Jesus to offer a new kind of being. And all who will open their hearts to him are born to that new being by the Divine Ruach.