Stephen Pickard | Michael Welker | John Witte (Eds.): The Impact of Education (Leseprobe)

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30 Anne W. Stewart Throughout the first nine chapters of the book, Proverbs presents acontest between the voices of two women who equally seek to shape the characterofthe student. One of these women is Wisdom personified, who seeks to shape character by offering the student various things hedesires, like health, wealth, and security. In Proverbs 8, woman Wisdom proclaims: “Ilove those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring prosperity. My fruit is better than gold, evenfine gold, and my yield than choice silver. Iwalk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, endowing with wealth those who love me, and filling their treasuries” (Prov. 8:17–21). Wisdom’s love promises delight and prosperity. But Wisdomhas anegative counterpart, who is equally, if not more, attractive and appealing. She is foolishness personified, and she, too, seeks toshape the character of the youth by appealing to the things he desires. The direct appeal of this “strange woman” holds similar themes to woman Wisdom’s own call. The strange woman is described with alluring language, enticing the youth and calling out to him directly: “She seizes him and kisses him, and with impudent face she says to him, …‘Now Ihave come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you! … Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with love’” (Prov. 7:10–13, 18). As the voices of woman Wisdom and the strange woman reverberate throughout the book,competing for the student’sattention, they appeal not just to reason but also to emotion, desire, and the breadth of the student’s senses. 10 They present the student with two contrasting models, which require discernment to choose the wiser course. At times, the competing voices the student encounters are remarkably similar, even identical. In Proverbs 9, for example, two nearly indistinguishable entreaties—with diametrically opposed outcomes—are presented. First, woman Wisdom addresses the simpleton and promises anourishing meal, leading toward insight and abundant life: “[Wisdom] calls from the highest places in the town, ‘You that are simple, turn in here!’ To those without sense she says, ‘Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine Ihave mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight’” (Prov. 9:3b–6). Woman Wisdom calls from aplace of prominenceand offers good things. Yet immediately we hear another voice, also calling from the high places: “[The foolish woman sits] on aseat at the high places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, ‘You who are simple,turn in here!’ And to those without sense she says, ‘Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant’ (Prov. 9:14b–17). This woman mirrors the language of woman Wisdom exactly, “You that are simple, turn in here!” She, too, promises afine meal, yet the premise of her invitation is based in secrecy 10 See Christine Roy Yoder, “The Shaping of Erotic Desire in Proverbs 1–9,” in Saving Desire: The Seduction of Christian Theology, ed. J. Henriksen and L. Shults (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans), 2011, 148–62.
What Has Solomon to Do with Google? 31 and deceit. The chapter ends with aproclamation of the consequence ofdining with the foolish woman: “[T]hey do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol” (Prov. 9:18). According to the book of Proverbs, what is at stake in the formation of character is the ability to discern between and properly order the competing voices, appeals, and desires that one encountersinthe world. This ability is complicated by the fact that these voices can often sound remarkably similar, yet discerning between them is amatter of life and death. Search Results and the Search for Wisdom In contemporary society,weoften rely upon technology to order and present the competing voices in our world. Google’s algorithms, for example, determine the search results that one receives to any query. The order by which those options are presented is determined not only by their perceived relevance to the search but also by the financial incentive of paid advertisingand avast trove of personal information about individual users that the company has collected and stored. The results of my Google search will be based, in part, on what Google knows that Idesire, based on my past shopping and searching history. And it will be informed by the things that Google’s advertisers want me to desire—and to purchase. The book of Proverbs might draw our attention to the fact that character is being shaped and formed by the very presentation of these voices. They appeal to the consumer’sdelights and desires—whether for materialgoods, social standing, or the endorphin rush of click bait. In so doing, they seek to shape emotion and behavior. Moreover, discerning among these voices requires mature and wise character, the ability to read situations rightly and to perceive the implications of various appeals, for theremay be wholesome or nefarious purposes beneath the surface. Thus, the teacher of Proverbs admonishes the student that although some appeals seem sweet and smooth, they are in fact bitter and sharp: My child, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, so that you may hold on to prudence, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of astrange woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as atwo-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol. She does not keep straight to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. (Prov. 5:1–6) Google and its counterparts are not exactly analogous tothe conception of the “strange woman” in Proverbs. Yet the teacher of Proverbs points to adynamic that is equally vibrant incontemporary society and exacerbated bythe forces of
Page 1: Stephen Pickard Michael Welker John
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Page 7 and 8: Preface to the Series Five hundred
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Page 11 and 12: Introduction Stephen Pickard This b
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Page 19 and 20: Introduction 21 of society. This tu
Page 21: Part One: Society, Values, and Char
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Stephen Pickard | Michael Welker | John Witte (Eds.): The Impact of Education (Leseprobe)

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