God's Twilight Zone

Book excerpt: Wisdom Literature is that divine revelation which occurs neither in a straightforward divine/human confrontation where God appears and just spells it out, nor in a human conjuring of knowledge, experience, or reasoning. Rather, the revelation of God found in Wisdom Literature occurs in ways that make the revelation trickier, in dreams, visions, but also narratives and the like which are a kind of murky, gray area similar to the light of early sunrise or late after sunset when things are not entirely clear-the ?twilight zone.' T. A. Perry, author of "The Honeymoon is Over, has once again brought both the creative impulse and a critical mind to the study of some of the most enigmatic passages of the Hebrew Bible. What is the source of Wisdom? What, in fact, is the Biblical understanding of Wisdom? And how is wisdom revealed and understood? Wisdom is not limited to the so-called Wisdom Literature of the Bible. It is found throughout, but too often in poorly understood passages that seem out-of-place within the wider context in which they are found. Perry provides fresh insight into stories often avoided for their difficulty.