The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old … - Proverbs 8:22

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 27, 2019): Proverbs 8

The Libyan church leader Arius stormed onto the Christian scene late in the third century with his ideas designed to change how the fledgling church viewed its Savior. Basically, Arius argued for the unquestioned superiority of the Father in the Godhead; arguing that Jesus was a subordinate of God. But he also believed that Jesus was not eternal, but instead was a created being, just as we are created. And it was really that second belief that earned the Libyan leader the condemnation of the First Nicaean Council in 325 C.E., where Arius and his created Jesus were declared heretical. Arius died eleven years after the council condemned him, and many in the early church believed that Arius’s death was miraculous; God killed him because of his heresy. More contemporary historians wonder if maybe the Libyan was poisoned. Arius was eighty when he died.

Part of the story of Arius is a cautionary tale about the way that we interpret the Bible. Sometimes our tendency to interpret the Bible only in a literal way just produces some humorous or ridiculous results. Sometimes a literal interpretation strains our sense of rational thought. But sometimes a literal interpretation of the Bible carries us into heresy, as it did for Arius.

While it is unfair to blame a single verse on Arius’s heresy, this verse did play a part in what Arius believed. Christians have long interpreted Jesus to be the personification of Wisdom. Here, Solomon writes from the point of view of Wisdom, as if Wisdom were a person. Wisdom talks about his (or maybe her) origins. And here, Wisdom declares that his creation came before the seven days of creation that is recorded in Genesis 1. “The Lord brought me forth (or created me) as the first of his works.” But it seems clear that Solomon is arguing that Wisdom was indeed a creation of God.

And if Jesus is the personification of Wisdom, then it follows that Jesus must have been created. Arius places these words in the mouth of Jesus. “The Lord brought me (Jesus) forth as the first of his works.” In the mind of Arius, it was evident that Jesus was indeed created by God and not co-eternal with God.

But the problem originates with a literal interpretation of Solomon words, taking them to mean a literal order of creation rather than understanding them as they were likely intended, as a poetic expression that God created everything with a heavenly wisdom and intelligence. And if that were not enough, it would also be possible to translate Solomon’s words as “The Lord possessed me before his deeds of old. Or maybe “in the beginning, Wisdom was with God.” And that would be an echo of John’s words – “In the beginning was the Word (or Wisdom), and the Word (Wisdom) was with God, and the Word (Wisdom) was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 9