Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 550

526

§ 84.

THE FORMS OF INSPIRATION

[Div. Ill

most effectively with simple folk, to whom only separate problems present themselves, but it refuses its service to the more richly developed mind, which faces all problems at once, and thus necessitates it by way of analysis to seek refuge in close thought.

Palingenesis meanwhile presents the possibil-

ity of resuscitating again this original

wisdom

in fallen

man,

and, at the same time, of giving him an insight into the order

and harmony which hide behind the conflicts of our sinful life, and are active to provide the cleansing of them. This does not happen to everybody, not even though the enlightening has entered in, but it takes place with those individuals whom God has chosen and inspired for this purpose, and

and what they produce Chokmah. In this, therefore, we deal with an the Holy Spirit, which directs itself to this orig-

these are the real, specific, wise men, is

called the

activity of

inal sense-of-life, to this practical consciousness of nature

and

life,

and

clarifies

this, so

again the wisdom which life,

is

affected by

it,

is

that the wise

man

discerns

apparent in God's creation and in

and proclaims

it

in parable or song.

This Chokmah, however, does not appear to him as arising

from his subjective consciousness, but as addressing him from another subject, such as Wisdom, which must not be taken as a personification, but as the pure word in God (see 1 Cor. i. 30), that to him coincides with the image of the Messiah. This does not imply that for this reason the solution of all problems, as for instance the problem of the incongruity in the suffering servant of God, stands clear and plain before his eyes. On the contrary, there are conflicts, which cannot be explained on chokmatic ground, but the impression of the Chokmah is, nevertheless, so overwhelming that the interrogation mark after these problems bears in itself Hence the the prophecy that it shall sometime disappear. "wise man " stands over against the " scorner," the " fool," and the " ungodly," who think after their fashion to have found a solution in cynicism, but have abandoned God and faith in To the wise man, on the other hand, the fear his wisdom. God must not be of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

wiped out

for the reason that

we

are not able to indicate

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