Hat tip to Derek Melleby
Over on Derek's site, he has mentioned the stunning idea (from Terry Thomas, and who knows where he got it from!) that the book of James should be read as Wisdom literature. That got me thinking...
The gospel of John opens up with a great wisdom scene, reminiscent of Prov. 8 and a few other, non-canonical, first-century wisdom writings. Proverbs often speaks of "the way", "the truth", and "the life". It is full of dichotomies, such as wicked/righteous, light/dark, fruitful/barren. All of these themes (and many more if the price is right!) are found in John. Maybe we should be reading it as wisdom literature too?
I'm not sure exactly sure what this would do to our understanding. If I did, I'd already have written the blockbuster book.
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