Job's question (28.12) has piqued the interest of a bevy of neuroscientists, who are persuaded that the nature and nurture of wisdom is above all a function of understanding the human brain.

Stephen S. Hall reports on the scientific search for wisdom in his excellent book, Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience. Hall assumes, as do most scientists, that the proper arena for achieving an understanding of wisdom, and for promoting its nurture and acquisition, is that of secular science. While philosophy and religion may have made a start on understanding wisdom, science has to finish the job for us.

But the upshot of Hall's study is that science can't close the deal. Starting with the conviction that the study of wisdom begins with the study of man - and, in our reductionist era, that means the study of the brain - neuroscience does a competent job of identifying certain aspects of wisdom and observing how the different sectors of the brain interact when these aspects are in evidence. However, for all it has learned about the brain, neuroscience, as Hall reports, can only conclude that wisdom is a mystery, one that we're not likely to penetrate any time soon.

That's because instead of looking to man in order to understand wisdom, and ending up only in mystery, we should begin the pursuit of wisdom in mystery - specifically, the fear of God (Ps. 111.10). Start there, and we'll reach a better understanding of ourselves and what it means to live wisely in the world.

It's interesting to see how many of the findings of neuroscience regarding the nature of wisdom reflect the teaching of Scripture. Hall identifies "eight neural pillars" of wisdom, and every one of them is anticipated in Scripture: emotional regulation (Prov. 4.23); values and conscience (Rom. 2.14, 15); right judgment (Jn. 7.24); compassion (Mk. 6.34; Phil. 2.3, 4); humility (Phil. 2.5-11; Jn. 20.21); altruism (Matt. 16.24, 25); patience (1 Cor. 13.4; Gal. 5.22); and dealing with uncertainty (2 Cor. 5.7).

Mr. Hall's summary of the behaviors associated with wisdom also sounds distinctly Biblical: "immense patience, the fearless aggregation of knowledge, a principled compassion not only for humans but for animals, a moral judgment and sense of fairness that must have been cast in a foundry, and an other-centeredness..." He notes that wisdom issues in goodness, empowering others, and the ability to be at one and the same time "selfless and self-improved." These are all virtues prescribed in Scripture and practiced by saints for centuries.

So explain to me again how science is to hold the place as final arbiter of all things reliable and true, when not only can it not penetrate the "mystery" of wisdom, it's firmest conclusions about the subject have all been recognized and practiced within the Christian community for two thousand years.

Perhaps Mr. Hall's subtitle should have been "From Philosophy to Neuroscience to Faith." That, at least, would leave the door open for a broader and more robust discussion of his topic, one that includes individuals from a venerable tradition of wisdom who just might have something substantive to offer.

Additional Related Texts: John 17.17; Psalm 36.9; James 3.13-18

A conversation starter: "Everyone has some sense of wisdom - what it is, why it matters, how we get it. What about you? What do you understand about wisdom and how we might acquire more of it?"

T. M. Moore