IN his epistle to "the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," James has much sage advice to give on such themes as patience, prayer, faith, and works; and among the many wise sayings with which his brief letter abounds, perhaps none can surpass those which deal with divine wisdom. Almost at the beginning the apostle writes, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him;" and farther on, he characterizes that divine wisdom which he entreats his fellow-Christians to ask of God, in the following terms: "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."
It is deeply interesting that the apostle should thus make his appeal to the Christians scattered abroad to gain the wisdom of God. In doing so he brings to their recollection the fact of God's impartiality, and actually indicates the nature of divine wisdom in terms of purity, peaceableness, gentleness, approachableness, mercifulness,—all mental qualities productive of good results. James went back scientifically to God as the source of wisdom; Christian Science always does the same. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 275) Mrs. Eddy writes: "All substance, intelligence, wisdom, being, immortality, cause, and effect belong to God. These are His attributes, the eternal manifestations of the infinite divine Principle, Love. No wisdom is wise but His wisdom; no truth is true, no love is lovely, no life is Life but the divine; no good is, but the good God bestows." As these words indicate, Christian Science attributes all to God, as the one divine and infinite Principle of being. Wisdom is thus an attribute of God; and "no wisdom is wise but His wisdom." That is to say, unless thought is governed by the understanding of divine Principle—endued with Principle's ideas—it cannot be in accord with divine intelligence,—divine intelligence which itself is the very essence of wisdom.
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." In every age wisdom has been appraised in a similar way to that. It may be profitable, therefore, to consider the meaning of the word "wisdom." Dictionary definitions are often of little value, simply because, as a rule, they do not seek to go deeper than the human point of view. But what the student of divine Science, more than anything else, requires is the spiritual meaning of those terms which relate to God and His qualities. Indeed, if he have not that, a definition may be of little or no value to him. The endeavor must be to gain an understanding of divine Mind and its attributes; and this understanding will not fail to enlighten us on the nature of divine wisdom. On page 587 of Science and Health, our Leader gives the following definition of God: "God. The great I am; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence." Could anything possibly present more vividly the fact that God is all-wise than that profound statement as to His nature? The Being who knows all, sees all, loves all, and is eternally active, must surely be infinitely wise.
