VIRTUOUS LIVING - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

All three traditions practise rituals for purification as a means of dealing with moralinequities and issues of transformation in life. The practice of rituals demonstratesawareness of wrongdoing and the need to remedy the situation. It is an anticipation ofthe goodwill of the gods (Greeks) and forgiveness of sin/the wrong done (Jews) andapproval of the ancestors as intermediaries between the living and God (Africans).In the following section I shall deal with the Christian wisdom tradition as committedto writing in the New Testament. We know that historically the Christianunderstanding of wisdom can only be properly understood from its Jewish sources,and was expressed in Greek cultural forms. The association with Africa in its modernsense, developed only much later and is overtly discussed in the last chapter.In Jesus Christ, the fulfilment of the purpose of wisdom is found for people of allcultures. Moreover, Christ, God’s power and wisdom which makes moraltransformation possible, is equally expressed and transmitted. Included in this sectionis the argumentation of how Christ relates well to the conception of Ubuntu in theAfrican agent-centred ethics. He imbues the individual and binds him with thecommunity of character, the church, which is the body of Christ. This concept comesout more clearly in the consideration of the moral implications in the Christology,Pneumatology, and Ecclesiology discussed below.3.3.1.5 The wisdom tradition in the New TestamentBefore launching into the wisdom of the Christian era, a simple question needs to beposed and replied to: Do we actually find “wisdom literature” in the New Testament?After pointing to elements of wisdom in the New Testament corpus, I proceed toshow how wisdom is intrinsic to an understanding of Christ, the Spirit and the churchrespectively.3.3.1.5.1 The genre of wisdom tradition in the New TestamentGenerally considered, the whole Bible constitutes Christian wisdom insofar asChrist’s divinity is eternal. However, in terms of proper reference, that is, to isolatethe Jewish tradition of wisdom from that of the Christian era, the study will focus onNew Testament literature as the source of Christian wisdom. New Testament scholars277