Christ as The Manifestation of Wisdom, Through The Gospel of John

Edmond Wollmann November 29, 1996

After having read quite a bit on the philosophical notion of wisdom, as well as the notion put forth in the old testament in Proverbs (where this discussion must begin), it is my firm opinion that the gospels were written with the escalation of consciousness and awareness in mind. I believe that these were meant to culminate as the ultimate expression of wisdom in the Gospel of John that spawns revelation.

According to most philosophical perspectives, wisdom is achieved through questioning--through critical thinking merged with inspired revelation-- is what is implied.(1) Wisdom then from this perspective is questioning everything, so that we are lead to wisdom through this questioning. It is this questioning or action of the seeking of wisdom which has been replaced, where once, as it is represented in the Judaic tradition, wisdom is seen as existing as an archetypal "thing". However, most students of philosophy would agree that the search for the wisdom is not the same as the practice of it. In other words, either way it is implied that wisdom is a state of being wherein perhaps questioning, perhaps coherency of thought, or an insight from the two has now lead to this state of being. It is this state of being, this evolutionary awareness of the whole, that is the Christ consciousness.

In Proverbs 8, the existence of wisdom as an archetype is laid down;

Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes a stand...

6 Hear for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right; 7 for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. 8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

It is important that we remember these passages well. Not only because they are reflective of the perspective of the times, but because they are powerfully reflected in manifestation in John's gospel. This section of the Bible goes on in the following passages to reiterate that wisdom was laid down and created at the beginning of creation. Curiously it is knowledge and discretion that are "attained" through wisdom! Although these aspects are attained, wisdom still seems to be already there, and that these other characteristics are then the product of this state of being in "wisdom".

Whether we view wisdom as the product of knowledge and discretion, or knowledge and discretion as being the product of wisdom, wisdom still exists as a state of being and receives or exists as the feminine archetypal reference. Meaning; that it is more of an archetypal reference that attracts the being to the state, whereas, the expression of spirit is the masculine force that expresses it. Spirit is the driving force or motivational force of God expressed as masculine that expresses the wisdom of God. This is expressed in Wisdom of Solomon clearly and is even addressed as a female in verse 6:12;

Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.

And again in Corinthians 1:24-30

24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God....30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

Here it is seen that Christ was embodying wisdom. In essence, that he was the most effective teacher at bringing wisdom -- the wisdom that exists eternally -- into the world. He, evidently, was the master at the explanation of and expression of this "idea" that exists called wisdom.(3)

That wisdom is the feminine expressed with power as the masculine expression, and is seen again in the Gospel of Matthew 13:54;

He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?"

This wisdom it seems has been expressed over and over as the power that emanates from another world. That it was the will of a creator from another world that was the true will of what "should" be.

yet not what I will but what you will.. Mark 14:36.

And is expressed in the synoptic gospels as the transfiguration Matthew 17:2-5;

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him...when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.(4)

It is this "otherworldliness" that characterized his mission as the Christ.(5) It is this otherworldly orientation that seems to allow him access to the archetype of wisdom as we shall see in John.

So before John, we have;

1) The establishment of wisdom as a feminine archetype, that is acted upon through the power of expression.

2) It is expressed as the word, the messenger, the messiah. These are the masculine expressions of the wisdom of God.

3) That from Mark through John we have increasingly mystical expressions or levels of the expression of this idea. In essence, the Christ becomes more and more metaphoric and esoteric as we move through the gospels to John and revelations.

I have been studying the significance of the 3's and 4's in all philosophic and actually biological structures as well, and I believe that these choices of 4 gospels and 12 disciples is anything but random.(6) The fact that John is last is no random choice (or manifestation we could say) either in my opinion. The gospel of John synthesizes and acts as the apex of expression of not only the previous gospels, but of the bible in general.

As the expression of wisdom the gospels are written at these different levels for several reasons which are levels in themselves. The first of these is to resonate with all "types" of individuals in these four categories. These four categories are reflected in Astrology represented by the four elements of Fire, Earth, Air and water.

It is apparent that the gospel of Matthew speaks of the birth of Christ with the Magi and the star as a way to establish the identity of Christ in the world (Fire).(7) In Mark, all references such as being in the desert with the wild beasts, establishes Christ and his awakening in the physical or Earthly domain (Earth). In Luke, it begins with the establishment of relationships connected to the Christ (John the Baptist and his birth etc.) and the concepts instilled by angelic beings (8) of what the idea of the Christ was to be (Air).

When we get to Gospel of John, however, we see that he begins with the idea that strongly parallels the wisdom and feminine function and its expression we have been discussing as beingness eternally. John 1;

In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What came into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Now it appears in John that the empathic knowingness of the "all" that has come before is blended in this gospel in a coherent manner (Water). What do I mean by coherent? It is explained rather well through coherence theory in philosophy and is stated thus that;

"An empirical belief is true if and only if it coheres with a system of other beliefs, which together form a comprehensive account of reality."(9)

Now of course it can be argued whether the overall thrust of Biblical reference could be considered a comprehensive account of reality, but if we look at the definition closely it is empirical belief that we are discussing. Every system of belief has its own reinforcing logic. Therefore, within each system of belief THE truth is the effect of this system of beliefs and their coherency. It is coherency that the Gospel of John seems to be about. The coherency of blending other world awareness, vision, wisdom and insight in application to this physical world.

And the word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory as of a fathers only son, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

That this gospel expresses the apex of expression with this empathic theme, is shown in the first sign in verse 2:10 in turning the water to wine;

"Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.

This not only reflects the emotional thematic blending, but, the placement and level of the gospel itself! John establishes his level of coherency in the presentation of the gospel and refers to himself throughout as "the disciple that Jesus loved" to accentuate this emotion. That Christ is married to wisdom is reflected in the statement during the Baptizing (another water reference) in 3:22-28 when in verse 29 he has John the baptist saying of Christ;

"He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom (meaning himself), who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice.

Other water references include; Christ baptizing "more" people than John the Baptist, the Samaritan woman drawing water from the well and his explanation of "living water" that he gives, the washing of the blind man's eyes in the pool, the royal official who heard of his changing the water into wine's son being healed as the second sign....so that the momentum of each event flows through John's gospel into the next with vision through foresight.

In John's gospel it is made clear that wisdom is made manifest through the life of Christ and that there was no indecision or procrastination in his discernment of it. He also makes clear that everything happens for a reason and the disciples see this--which is not so clearly expressed in the other gospels. He allows us to become aware of the fact that at least from his perspective, Christ knew exactly what he was doing all along and was quite aware of the significance of every event and its meaning, and that relaxing judgment and acknowledging the "real" world, which was actually the other world and this world was the illusion. Is this just great literary ability on the part of John in his expression of the gospel? Was he really there in this interaction and this is the most coherent of the gospels because of his own understanding and wisdom? Or is it as I believe all of the above and the primary reason why he was the "disciple that he loved"?

Although this gospel was written some 100 years after his death, the writing in itself is a superb expression of the wisdom of the probability of other world resource, and its most coherent explanation of a healthy application of those resources. The gospel validates the thrust of the message itself cleverly by using those very resources in the metaphoric as opposed to historic account of the "Good News" (gospel).

Footnotes

1) The Experience of Philosophy, 2nd edition, Daniel Kolack/Raymond Martin, 1993, Wadsworth publishing.

2) Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Oxford University Press, 1989

3) The New Testament Story, David L. Barr, Wadsworth Publishing 1995.

4) This experience parallels the modern psychological experience reported of abduction by "aliens."

5) Living Religions, 2nd edition, Mary Pat Fischer, Prentice- Hall, 1994.

6) Please see, "The Great Pyramids, DNA and The Elements" also by the author.

7) There are many more references I can make for these ideas within each gospel, but for the sake of the focus of this paper only one or two observations are included.

8) Again this experience reflects alien experiences or UFO experiences in the modern era.

9) Philosophy, The Power of Ideas, second edition, Moore and Bruder, Mayfield Publishing, 1993.

Kolak/Martin, The Experience of Philosophy.

Wadsworth Publishing, 1993

Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Edition.

Oxford University Press, 1989

Barr, David L., The New Testament Story.

Wadsworth Publishing, 1995

Fischer, Mary Pat, Living Religions.

Prentice/Hall, 1994

Bruder/Moore, Philosophy, The Power of Ideas.

Mayfield Publishing, 1993

"The kingdom of heaven will not come through expectation--it is spread across the land but men do not see it." The Gospel of Thomas

© 2001 Altair Publications, SAN 299-5603