God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight.. . . From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. (1 Kings 4:29, 34)
Expanded Passage: 1 Kings 4:29-34
Do faith and politics mix? What about faith and philosophy, the arts, and science? God gave Solomon such wisdom in these fields that it impressed even nonbelievers in neighboring nations. Here’s a sampler of Christians from various theological persuasions who’ve followed in Solomon’s footsteps:
Politics. Member of Parliament William Wilberforce legislated an end to slavery in the British Empire. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt orchestrated the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Archbishops Óscar Romero and Desmond Tutu led peaceful opposition to government injustice in El Salvador and South Africa, respectively.
Philosophy. Early church father St. Augustine and medieval friar Thomas Aquinas contributed immensely to Western philosophy. More recently, Elizabeth Anscombe and Alvin Plantinga reclaimed philosophy as a Christian discipline.
The Arts. Solomon was a musician (v. 32). From Bach to Bono and Handel to Mahalia Jackson, Christians have shaped the world’s musical heritage. And where would visual art and literature be without Michelangelo and Rembrandt, Shakespeare and Shusako Endo, Dante and Dostoevsky, Tolkien and Toni Morrison?
Science. Let’s focus on life science, like Solomon studied (v. 33). Friar Gregor Mendel founded modern genetics. Nun Miriam Stimson was one of DNA’s codebreakers. Evangelical Francis Collins oversaw the Human Genome Project.
Christians needn’t fear these fields or any other. We just need to apply the same winsome wisdom that Solomon had as the world watches us.
Confidently apply divine wisdom to your occupation or sphere of influence.
Jerome Van Kuiken is a professor of Christian thought at Oklahoma Wesleyan University and the author of The Judas We Never Knew (Seedbed, 2023).
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
