I'm always looking for books on how to raise boys in a way that will make them strong, Christian men and wonderful husbands and this seemed right up that alley. Admittedly, that is the focus of this book but some of the philosophy and methodology left me feeling a bit cold. There were some moments of brightness but in some areas I found myself thinking "Oh come on! Really?" Alas, I will try to tease out the parts that will be useful both to me and those reading this.
At the start, the author explains "faith is central in bringing up boys, but it is important to remember that the object of faith is not the boy. It is faith in God, faith in His promises, faith in His wisdom. Faith concerns the boy, and the boy can see that it concerns him. Parents are to believe God for their sons, which is a very different thing than believing their sons" (p. 11). There is a major focus on Proverbs throughout the book as the guiding instruction for how boys should be and what we, as parents, should expect of their behaviour. Also, Jesus is to be the "ultimate pattern for friendship, for courage, for faithfulness, and integrity" (p. 12). As He should be!
The chapters at the beginning of the book deal with masculinity and what that means from a Biblical perspective. Wilson says that the roles involved in Biblical masculinity are:
- lords: boys should be in training to become men who exercise dominion and they should learn to be adventurous and visionary (p. 15)
- husbandmen: once the boys have fulfilled their job as lords and have conquered, they should settle down. To do this well they need to learn to be patient, careful and hard-working (p. 15)
- saviors: boys need to learn to be strong, sacrificial, courageous and good. "Men who follow Jesus Christ, the dragon-slayer, must themselves become lesser dragon-slayers" (p. 16)
- sage: boys must learn wisdom through studying, learning and intellectual discussion. They are to be teachable, studious and thoughtful (p. 16-17)
- glory-bearers: boys must learn to be representative, responsible and holy as they grow into men who are the glory of God (1 Cor. 11:7) (p. 17-18)
In a discussion about finding a healthy balance for boys that is somewhere between effeminacy and macho-man he says that we must do exactly what God requires of us with our boys and that can only come from knowing the Word ourselves.
In a call for fathers, Wilson says that our boys are threatened from two directions, their inner sin and a culture that is hostile toward Biblical masculinity and is trying to exterminate it (p. 27). One of the ways we are to counteract this is through discipline. "Refusal to discipline amounts to hatred and is simply a slow, cruel way for a man to disown his son, clearly marking him out as illegitimate" (p. 28). I found this a bit of a harsh statement but when put into the context of the importance of disciplining boys in a way that lays a foundation of respect I could understand a bit better what the author was trying to say. "The point of discipline is to gain an audience, and there is no sense in gaining an audience if you then do not say anything. Fathers are to teach, and they are to teach receptive sons...A godly home should contain discipline, not retribution" (p. 29). His point here is that future men are future husbands and "knowledge of what a godly husband is should surround him from the time he is a small boy...love [is] the central duty of husbands...a good husband knows how to give love and he knows how to receive respect [from his wife]. Jut as he ought to love his wife, so he needs to love his wife" (p 32).
Mr. Wilson believes, and I would agree, that there is no age that is too early to begin teaching our boys proper doctrine. One of the most important doctrinal concepts is the sovereignty of God. "The Bible teaches that God controls everything, and nothing builds a young man's spine more thoroughly than this doctrine" (p. 47). "Our boys need to learn humility, and they also need to learn boldness and courage. The only way to accomplish this in balance is through a grasp of who God is" (p. 49). The other piece of doctrine the author focuses on is what he calls 'optimism' or a Godward meekness. "The virtue or grace spoken of is a spiritual meekness, humility, and lowliness...Our Lord himself is our example. He is gentle. But such meekness or gentleness is not inconsistent with strength...meekness means we must have a teachable spirit...we must be ready to submit to the providential will of God as revealed in events, and we must be ready to submit to the revealed will of God as displayed in His Word" (p. 49-50). I know that I would love my boys to be people who lived this way and I would be very excited to give them to their wives knowing that they will run their homes based on these doctrines.
In a short chapter called 'Secret Sin, Tolerated Sin', we are told "Godly parents do not have the luxury of wanting to "not know" about sin their sons may have drifted into...one of their regular prayers should be that god would give them any information they need to know in order to be good parents...Boys should grow up knowing that sin cannot ever be truly covered up" (p. 53). Using Scriptures like Num. 32:23, Heb. 4:13, Luke 12:1-3 the author shows that sin may temporarily be secret but God will ensure that it is publicized at some point. He believes that we tolerate open sins in most homes in the form of verbal sin. We often speak unkindly, hastily, spitefully or rudely to those with whom we live in close quarters and it is brushed off as someone just having a bad moment but this should not be allowed.
The next portion of the book deals with specific areas of our boys' lives and how we are to direct them in each area. In speaking on 'Laziness and Hard Labor' Wilson pulls many points from Proverbs (6:6-11, 10:26, 13:4) to show that boys need to be taught how to do hard physical work. "Work is a public activity and should be publicly evaluated. A boy steeped in laziness will be evaluated roughly, and should be" (p. 61). He says that laziness left alone will lead to disgrace and deceit. In order for boys to not fall into a pattern of laziness they must be taught how to properly prepare to work as well. "Laziness is not rest; it does not prepare for work. It only prepares for more laziness" (p. 64). A chapter entitled 'Money Paths and Traps' teaches the reader that we show our boys the importance of honouring God with every cent they have, from saving to spending. Integrity with their money should be the focus. In order to instruct our boys in how to be honest with money we should have work for them in the home that is considered chores but then things that they get paid to do (p. 72). This gives us as parents a chance to ensure "he grows up to be a worshipper with his money first and a consumer last" (p. 72).
In a great chapter about Christian liberty, Mr. Wilson explains how we much have a strong understanding of what this means because "teenaged boys like liberty because they like something to swing around on the end of a rope" (p. 75). He explains that "liberty in Christ means freedom from guilt, God's judgment, and the condemnation of moral law" (p. 76) and is not something that we can use to reinstate practices that were at one time rejected. "The point is not to drink or smoke or dance according to our own whims, in the light of our own wisdom, but to do whatever we do before the Lord, with the increase of joy and holiness obvious to all. Our guide on how this is to be done is the Bible, and not our pet evangelical traditions" (p. 77). Parents are given to sons in order to guide them in making judgment calls and learning to be slaves to nothing or no one other than God.
One of my favourite parts of Future Men was in a chapter entitled 'Giants, Dragons, and Books'. The author believes that exposing our boys to Middle Earth and Narnia and such allows them to see the Bible as the fantastic book that it truly is with many great stories and adventures. "[I]f our sons are to be prepared for the world God made, then their imaginations must be fed and nourished with tales about the Red Cross Knight, Jim in the apple barrel, Sam Gamgee carrying Frodo up the mountain, Beowulf tearing off Grendel's arm, and Trumpkin fighting for Aslan while still not believing in him. This type of story is not allowed by Scripture; this type of story is required by Scripture. The Bible cannot be read rightly without creating a deep impulse to tell stories which carry the scriptural truth about the kind of war we are in down through the ages" (p. 102).
I also appreciated a chapter on friends and friendship and how to watch for signs of healthy or unhealthy relationships. "In order for the friendship to be healthy, the focal point of the friendship, the point of common interest, needs to be healthy as well" (p. 119). He says that not all friends need to be Christians but the standard situation and majority should be. We should not want friends for our boys who seem emotionally needy or manipulative or who are flatterers but rather good friends will be encouraging, will push and challenge and will show our sons the kind of friend that they themselves strive to be. "Training a son in his friendships is another important way to prepare him for marriage. He will learn the meaning of true companionship" (p. 122). Finally the author makes no bones about the fact that "if an existing friendship proves spiritually harmful, parents should be willing to bring a friendship to an end" (p. 124).
In discussing fighting, sports and competition, Mr. Wilson says "every aspect of manhood should start in boyhood. This means that boys should learn when, where, and how to fight" (p. 125). Scripture will guide us in any of these situations. "There can be no mistake about the personal demeanor required of Christians. If someone is an enemy, then we must love them. If someone curses us, then we must bless them. If someone hates us, then we must do good to them. If someone spitefully uses us and persecutes us, we must pray for them. These are the things which a soldier can do toward the enemy he fights, and a policeman can do to the criminal he restrains. A boy needs to learn how to make the distinction" (p. 129). I liked what the author said regarding allowing boys to play at war because we are often training them to do what men may be called to do. "This means that a boy who is is playing with a toy gun should be trained to never use it more freely simply because it is not real. A small boy who is playing war with his brothers should be pointing and blasting away with the best of them. But if a lady from church comes over to visit the young boy's mother, and is standing in the foyer, and the boy comes up and tries to blow her away, the young warrior's mother should haul him off to the bedroom to be tried for war crimes. The visitor was a civilian and noncombatant, and Mother should be schooled in the principles of just war theory, and she should enforce the rules" (p. 131). This made me smile but it was also helpful for me to have some guidelines for this kind of play as previous to reading this book I didn't know how I should feel or what my standards should be in this area.
Two chapters on 'Girls and Sex' and 'Courtship and Betrothal' were well written and I underlined a lot in them that I have no doubt I will return to when we get to that stage of life with our boys. For now, I can take the author's suggestions and continue in prayer for the purity of my sons and for their future wives.
The final major heading of the book is 'Contempt for Cool'. I was sorry that this was the final section I read as it was one of the only portions of the book where I found myself disagreeing with the author a lot. In discussing the commercialization of our culture and how we should not allow our children to wear anything with logos or brand names displayed he asks the reader to imagine Jonathan Edwards wearing a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. Well this just seemed like a ridiculous notion to me because that was not an option for Jonathan Edwards and when one sees pictures of Edwards he is wearing the clothing of the era in which he lives. Who is to say that if he did live in this day and age he would not dress like all the other men his age (or like the other teenagers when he was one)? Does the author think that Edwards would wear his Puritan collars and powdered wig if he lived in 2012? I am in agreement with the concept that our clothing is part of how we honour and glorify God but we don't want to push it right into the middle of the ring of legalism. "Everything we do, all day long, is aiding or hindering us in our maturity in Christ. Nothing is neutral" (p. 159). For sure. But putting such hard lines on the issue of appearance (Mr. Wilson says that if a teenage boy dies his hair purple he must confess that he is in direct rebellion against God (p. 161)) can set our children up to be people who judge harshly on first physical impressions of people rather than seeing all people around them as someone who may be a believer in Christ, either now or in the future. Sorry, this is more personal opinion than I usually offer up but the author spent an entire chapter saying that everything in this generation, from music to clothing to movies is of no value and full of folly. In the sovereignty of God, this generation will have and has reflections of Him and I believe we need to steer our children to see those and know how to find them and bring God glory through those things. To write is all off is truly throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
So this was definitely not one of my favourite parenting books but it had some high points. If you have time, give it a read and maybe you will find some things that will be helpful to you in your journey with the boys in your life.
For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God - 1 Corinthians 11:7
A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother - Proverbs 10:1
My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right. Let not your heart envy sinners but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day - Proverbs 23:15-16
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another - Galatians 5:13
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things - Philippians 4:8
Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright - Proverbs 20:11
As someone who has always had a stronger bent toward the intellectual things of God rather than a seeker of the less concrete and visible aspects of faith, I am naturally attracted to a book that "is a book to help Christians to think about thinking" (back cover). Something that has come to me in a powerful way (especially over this past year) is as my mind comes to understand God and His Word more, my experiences of those less concrete and visible aspects of my faith have become more tangible and more powerful in shaping my relationship with God. The connection between knowing and feeling is so intricate and I am positive that I have only scratched the surface of this in my journey. So, I welcome any insight on how to grow this marriage of two seemingly opposite aspects of faith. That the book on this subject was written by John Piper (who I'm sure, 200 years from now, will be considered one of the greatest theologians of this generation) is just an added bonus.
Piper starts out the book explaining "the ultimate goal of life is that God be displayed as glorious because of all he is and all that he has made and done - especially the grace he has shown in the work of Christ. The way we glorify him is by knowing him truly, by treasuring him above all things, and by living in a way that shows he is our supreme treasure...The more we see of his surpassing greatness and knowledge and wisdom and power and justice and wrath and mercy and patience and goodness and grace and love, the more we will treasure him" (p. 15). This is John Piper in a nutshell - it's like he wrote three sentences to sum up all the books I've ever read by him. Brilliant. But in this case, it's just the start of something new. It's very important to him from the start that his readers know where he is coming from and in this book it is finding the balance between anti-intellectualism and over-intellectualism which can both be a problem. "It's not about going to school or getting degrees or having prestige. It's not about the superiority of intellectuals. It's about using the means God has given us to know him, love him, and serve people. Thinking is one of those means. I would like to encourage you to think, but not to be too impressed with yourself when you do" (p. 17).
The beginning of the book is so fun to read as Piper shares his journey from being an academic to accepting the call on his life to be a pastor. He is, by gifting, a thinker and believes "[t]hinking is indispensable on the path to passion for God. Thinking is not an end in itself. Nothing but God himself is finally an end in itself. Thinking is not the goal of life...thinking under the mighty hand of God, thinking soaked in prayer, thinking carried by the Holy Spirit, thinking tethered to the Bible, thinking in pursuit of more reasons to praise and proclaim the glories of God, thinking in the service of love - such thinking is indispensable in a life of fullest praise to God" (p. 27). The two Scriptures that he intends to make the main point of the book and support his thoughts are 2 Timothy 2:7 and Proverbs 2:1-6. "Thinking is essential on the path to understanding. But understanding is a gift of God. That's the point of this book" (p. 30). He then goes on to tell of the impact that Jonathan Edwards has had on his own thought about the connection between thinking and feeling. "The apex of glorifying God is enjoying him with the heart. But this is an empty emotionalism where that joy is not awakened and sustained by true views of God for who he really is. That is mainly what the mind is for" (p. 37).
The next section deals with what Piper means by thinking and how he wants the reader to apply it to studying what we read, especially the Bible. "The Bible is the main place that we come to know God, and the Bible is a book, and a book requires thinking" (p. 41). When he says 'thinking' and 'understanding' he means "working hard with our minds to figure out meaning from texts" (p. 45). He knows that this requires being intentional and that taking on this intention can be difficult but "[t]he person who will not embrace the pain and frustration will remain at lower levels of achievement and joy...If you cannot embrace the pain of learning and must have instant gratification, you forfeit the greatest rewards of life" (p. 47). I appreciated how he said this because it will be an encouragement to me when I would rather sit and read a magazine or watch TV with my spare time. Any bit of time I spend trying to think about the Word and understand Scriptures is an investment in my own joy, whether immediate or future. "There comes a point when we choose to be intentional about our thinking, so that we grow in what we see and understand. If we don't choose to think harder, we will settle for an adolescent level of understanding the rest of our lives" (p. 48). My thought after I read this was 'Umm, no thank you very much!' We also have to have the right attitude in our hearts when we are asking questions. "There is a humble and submissive kind of question that is eager to understand and believe and obey the truth. And there is academic gamesmenship and unbelieving cynicism and indifferent dismissal...[when he talks about questioning he means] humble questioning that expresses eagerness to grow and to uncover truth" (p. 50). Piper then goes into a very interesting lesson on the word 'therefore' and that alone proves a big point about the never-ending depth of the Bible and how much there is to learn and think about. What he wants to get across is "[w]e observe carefully. We ask questions. And we work hard with our minds to try to answer questions" (p. 55).
The following portion of the book discusses how thinking can bring about faith and someone becoming a believer. So much of how we choose to see and and process information around us about God and Jesus is about our thinking. "[E]vil hearts disorder...rational powers and make [people] morally incapable of reasoning rightly about Jesus...our self-centered hearts distort our reason to the point where we cannot use it to draw true inferences from what is really there. If our disapproval of God's existence is strong enough, our sensory faculties and our rational faculties will not be able to infer that he is there...The corruption of our hearts is the deepest root of our irrationality (italics mine)" (p. 63). Piper uses Ephesians 3:4 as support for the concept that "engaging the mind in the mental task of reading is a pathway into the mysteries of God" (p. 64) and 2 Timothy 2:7 to plead that we will "embrace both human thinking and divine illumination" (p. 64). He then goes on to an examination of faith and how "[t]he only kind of faith that matters in the end is saving faith" (p. 69). But what is saving faith? Piper explains that a faith is a saving one when a person receives Jesus "for who he really is and what he really is, namely, more glorious, more wonderful, more satisfying, and therefore, more valuable than anything in the universe" (p. 72). In order to get to this, human reason and the use of one's mind must play a role when the gospel is presented. Using 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, Piper forms some excellent conclusions. "The revelation of the glory of Christ is not a mystical experience cut loose from our thinking about Christ in the gospel...Saving faith is 'reasonable' in the sense that there are real reasons to support it. It is not based on a figment of imagination. Its basis is the glory of Christ in the gospel. It is a real gospel and a real glory...the sight of the self-authenticating glory of Christ is not separate from the rational presentation and demonstration and reception of the truth of the gospel...Because our hearts not see Christ as infinitely valuable, our resistance to the truth is overcome. Our thinking is no longer the slave of deceitful desires, because our desires have changed. Christ is now the supreme treasure. So our thinking is made docile to the truth of the gospel" (p. 75-77). This section concludes with a beautiful sentence - "Treasuring God is the essence of loving him, and the mind serves this love by comprehending (imperfectly and partially, but truly) the truth and beauty and worth of the Treasure" (p. 80).
This past year I've had some truly wonderful lessons about love and the difference between what the world calls love and how God calls us to love. So when I saw that Piper was aligning loving God and treasuring God with my mind I was very excited to learn about this. The basis of his thought process is in Matthew 22:36-39 where we are told to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind above all other things. In other words, to be loving God to the best of our ability, all three components must be fully engaged (p. 85). I cannot do Piper's discourse here justice without typing out the entire chapter so I will just share some of the points he made that really resonated with me. "What happens in the heart is essential. The external behaviors will be pleasing to God when they flow from a heart that freely treasures God above all things" (p. 88). "The fires of love for God need fuel. And the fires of love for God drive the engines of thought and deed. There is a circle. Thinking feeds the fire, and the fire fuels more thinking and doing. I love God because I know him. And I want to know him more because I love him." (p. 89). I found this so wonderful and brilliant that I must have read it about twenty times the first time I came across it. "If we do not know anything about God, there is nothing in our mind to awaken love. If love does not come from knowing God, there is no point calling it love for God. There may be some vague attraction in our heart or some unfocused gratitude in our soul, but if they do not arise from knowing God, they are not love for God...If we did not use our minds to know and think about the fullest revelation of god in the person and work of Jesus, we would not know about God. And if we did not know him, we would not love him. And if we did not love him, we would not express his worth in all the other uses of our mind" (p. 90-91).
The next section of the book deals with relativism, how even Jesus had to deal with it before it had a name and how it is so dangerous in our current culture. This relates to the topic of the book in that "God is the ultimate Truth...[and the author's] goal is to encourage you to embrace the work of thinking as a means of knowing this truth" (p. 96). I really enjoyed reading how Piper saw Jesus' conversations with the chief priests and elders in the temple as exposure of the first seeds of relativism. "People don't embrace relativism because it is philosophically satisfying. They embrace it because it is physically and emotionally gratifying. It provides the cover they need at key moments in their lives to do what they want without intrusion from absolutes" (p. 102). In a wonderfully full portion of this discussion, Piper provides strong arguments against relativism and shows how it is harmful and immoral. I would love to commit some of this section to memory so I have his brilliant logic available when I do get in to those discussions with people who believe there is no concrete truth in our world. The reality of relativism is this: "in claiming to be too lowly to know the truth, they exalt themselves as supreme arbiter of what they can think and do. This is not humility. This is rooted in deep desire not to be subordinate to the claims of truth. The name for this is pride" (p. 112). I must share a quote that Piper has in here from Michael Novak: "The most perilous threat to the free society today is, therefore, neither political nor economic. It is the poisonous, corrupting culture of relativism...During the next hundred years, the question for those who love liberty is whether we can survive the most insidious and duplicitous attacks from within, from those who undermine the virtues of our people, doing in advance the work of the Father of Lies. 'There is no such thing as truth,' they teach even the little ones. 'Truth is bondage. Believe what seems right to you. There are as many truths as there are individuals. Follow your feelings. Do as you please. Get in touch with yourself. Do what feels comfortable.' Those who speak this way prepare the jails of the twenty-first century. They do the work of tyrants" (p. 114).
Next Piper provides us with reading that, if applied, will aide us in facing anti-intellectualism. He starts out with a brief discussion of subjectivism and pragmatism and explains how this line of thinking lead to an undervaluing of thinking itself. "If we abandon thinking, we abandon the Bible, and if we abandon the Bible we abandon God...It is therefore futile counsel to tell the church that thinking is worthless. There is no reading without thinking. And there is no reading carefully and faithfully and coherently without thinking carefully and faithfully and coherently. The remedy for barren intellectualism is not anti-intellectualism, but humble, faithful, prayerful, Spirit-dependent, rigorous thinking" (p. 123). He brings up many times in Scripture when we are told that 'knowing' God and Truth will lead to holy behaviour - "Knowing the truth with our minds and holding fast to it as a treasure in our hearts is the key to holiness" (p. 127). Luke 10:21 and 1 Corinthians 1:20 are verses used often in support of anti-intellectualism and Piper very wisely takes two chapters to refute their position. This is a great read from both a philosophical and Biblical point of view. One of the key explanations he gives is that in Luke 10:21 when Jesus speak of 'children' he is speaking of "the kind of person who is deeply dependent and humble enough to receive the help he really needs from God" (p. 141). Reading the discussion on 'wisdom' was so helpful and informative to me. "...a fundamental difference between divine wisdom and human wisdom is that God's wisdom exalts what the cross stands for and human wisdom is offended by what the cross stands for" (p. 146). "God's wisdom makes the glory of God's grace our supreme treasure. But man's wisdom delights in seeing himself as resourceful, self-sufficient, self-determining, and not utterly dependent on God's free grace" (p. 149). Please read this section of the book with an open heart and mind, both of mine were full and rejoicing by the time I got to the end.
One thing that is emphasized over and over again in this book is the importance of humility being present when we are thinking and learning. The author takes the last major potion of this book to flesh out this idea and explain how to apply it well in our lives. He explains that during the time when Corinthians was being written by Paul "knowledge was producing pride, and pride was destroying love" (p. 158) and this can still happen today. In order to know as we ought to know we must understand that "any knowledge that does not stand in the service of love is not real knowing...Knowing and thinking exist for the sake of love - for the sake of building people up in faith. Thinking that produces pride instead of love is not true thinking" (p. 159-160, italics mine). This, to me, seemed like the crux of the entire discussion. I feel like I can study and learn all day long but if it doesn't deepen my love for God, my siblings in Christ and those who are lost then all that time is for naught. For the Corinthians, "[t]he solution to their problem was not to stop thinking. The solution was the heartfelt discovery of God's grace in Jesus Christ. The Corinthians needed to see that everything they knew was a free gift of electing grace and was designed by God to feed the fires of humble love for God and man" (p. 164). In a final discussion about scholarship, Piper makes some illuminating statements:
- the least we can say is that this means all thinking - all scholarship - of every kind exists ultimately to discover and display the glory of God, that is, the glory of Jesus Christ, in his Word and in his world...If all the universe and everything in it exist by the design of an infinite, personal God, to make his manifold glory known and loved, then to treat any subject without reference to God's glory is not scholarship but insurrection (p. 168).
- the magnifying of God's glory is in and through the seeing and savoring of the scholar's mind and heart (p. 170).
- since loving man means ultimately helping him see and savor God in Christ forever, it is profoundly right to say all thinking, all learning, all eduction and all research is for the sake of knowing God, loving God and showing God (p. 175).
In the conclusion of the book, Piper speaks to both thinkers and non-thinkers directly. No matter where you fall on this spectrum, please read both statements. They are enlightened and enlightening. And don't stop there. Appendix 1 has some extremely valuable information and Appendix 2 has a story that I guarantee you will love and never forget.
I don't generally make resolutions and I'm not going to make one here but I will say that in the new year and with this perspective on thinking fresh in my mind, I will be striving to think through the lens of love and, conversely, love through the lens of thinking.
...yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God - Proverbs 2:3-5
For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow - Ecclesiastes 1:18
Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything - 2 Timothy 2:7
When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit - Ephesians 3:4-5
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord - Philippians 3:8
In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ - 2 Corinthians 4:4-6
"I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to the little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will" - Luke 10:21
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world - 1 Corinthians 1:20
