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2. THE WISDOM OF GOD.
The wisdom of God may be regarded as a particular aspect of His
knowledge. It is quite evident that knowledge and wisdom are not the same, though they are
closely related. They do not always accompany each other. An uneducated man may be
superior to a scholar in wisdom. Knowledge is acquired by study, but wisdom results from an
intuitive insight into things. The former is theoretical, while the latter is practical, making
knowledge subservient to some specific purpose. Both are imperfect in man, but in God they
are characterized by absolute perfection. God’s wisdom is His intelligence as manifested in the
adaptation of means to ends. It points to the fact that He always strives for the best possible
ends, and chooses the best means for the realization of His purposes. H. B. Smith defines the
divine wisdom as “that attribute of God whereby He produces the best possible results with the
best possible means.” We may be a little more specific and call it that perfection of God
whereby He applies His knowledge to the attainment of His ends in a way which glorifies Him
most. It implies a final end to which all secondary ends are subordinate; and according to
Scripture this final end is the glory of God, Rom. 11:33; 14:7,8; Eph. 1:11,12; Col. 1:16. Scripture
refers to the wisdom of God in many passages, and even represents it as personified in
Proverbs 8. This wisdom of God is seen particularly in creation, Ps. 19:1-7; 104:1-34; in
providence, Ps. 33:10, 11; Rom. 8:28; and in redemption, Rom. 11:33; I Cor. 2:7; Eph. 3:10.
3. THE VERACITY OF GOD.
Scripture uses several words to express the veracity of God: in the
Old Testament ’emeth, ’amunah, and ’amen, and in the New Testament alethes (aletheia),
alethinos, and pistis. This already points to the fact that it includes several ideas, such as truth,
truthfulness, and faithfulness. When God is called the truth, this is to be understood in its most
comprehensive sense. He is the truth first of all in a metaphysical sense, that is, in Him the idea
of the Godhead is perfectly realized; He is all that He as God should be, and as such is
distinguished from all so-called gods, which are called vanity and lies, Ps. 96:5; 97:7; 115:4-8;
Isa. 44:9,10. He is also the truth in an ethical sense, and as such reveals Himself as He really is,
so that His revelation is absolutely reliable, Num. 23:19; Rom. 3:4; Heb. 6:18. Finally, He is also
the truth in a logical sense, and in virtue of this He knows things as they really are, and has so
constituted the mind of man that the latter can know, not merely the appearance, but also the
reality, of things. Thus the truth of God is the foundation of all knowledge. It should be borne in
mind, moreover, that these three are but different aspects of the truth, which is one in God. In
view of the preceding we may define the veracity or truth of God as that perfection of His Being
by virtue of which He fully answers to the idea of the Godhead, is perfectly reliable in His
revelation, and sees things as they really are. It is because of this perfection that He is the
source of all truth, not only in the sphere of morals and religion, but also in every field of
scientific endeavor. Scripture is very emphatic in its references to God as the truth, Ex. 34:6;
Num. 23:19; Deut. 32:4; Ps. 25:10; 31:6; Isa. 65:16; Jer. 10:8, 10, 11; John 14:6; 17:3; Tit. 1:2;
Heb. 6:18; I John 5:20, 21. There is still another aspect of this divine perfection, and one that is