The Story-Line of
Christian Wisdom Rhetorolect
LESSON 1: BEGINNINGS IN
CREATION
The story-line of Christian wisdom rhetorolect begins with
God’s creation of the world and Adam’s and Eve’s eating
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The
following slides show how Genesis 1-3 functions as a
resource for wisdom rhetorolect in the New Testament.
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for Christian wisdom rhetorolect.
A Hebrew Bible Resource
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GOD’S CREATION OF LIGHT MADE A WORLD THAT
WAS GOOD IN THE SIGHT OF GOD
Genesis 1:3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was
light.
1:4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God
divided the light from the darkness.
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event as a resource.
Christian Wisdom Rhetorolect
LIGHT MAKES A BELIEVER’S BODY A MICROCOSM OF
GOD’S WORLD THAT IS “GOOD”
Luke 11:34 “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore
when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of
light; but when it is evil, your body is also full of darkness.
11:35 Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t
darkness.
11:36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no
part dark, it will be wholly full of light.”
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GOD CREATED GOOD FRUIT BEARING PLANTS
Genesis 1:12 The earth brought forth grass, herbs
yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with
its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was
good.
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Christian Wisdom Rhetorolect:
GOOD HUMANS PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT OF
WISDOM FROM THEIR MOUTHS AND GOOD
ACTIONS WITH THEIR BODIES
Luke 6:43 “For there is no good tree that brings forth
rotten fruit; nor again a rotten tree that brings forth good
fruit.
6:44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people
don’t gather figs from thorns, not do they gather grapes
from a bramble bush.
6:45 The good man out of the good treasure of his hear
brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the
evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for
out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.”
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GOD CREATED LIGHTS TO MAKE THE WORLD BEAR
FRUIT BY SEASONS
Genesis 1:14 God said, “Let there be light in the expanse
of sky to divide the day form the night; and let them be
fore signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
1:15 and let them be fore lights in the expanse of sky to
give light on the earth;” and it was so.
1:16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to
rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also
made the stars.
1:18. . .and to rule over the day and over the night, and to
divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was
good.
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event as a resource.
Christian Wisdom Rhetorolect:
"THE FATHER OF LIGHTS" MADE HUMANS "FIRST
FRUITS"
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom
can be no variation, not turning shadow.
1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of
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creatures.
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Christian wisdom rhetorolect.
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GOD CREATED GOOD, FRUITFUL BIRDS
Genesis 1:21 God created the large sea creatures, and
every living creature that moves, with which the waters
swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its
kind. God saw that it was good.
1:22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply,
and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the
earth.”
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event as a resource.
Christian Wisdom Rhetorolect:
IF GOD VALUES AND FEEDS BIRDS, HOW MUCH
MORE HUMANS
Luke 12:24 “Consider the raves: they don’t sow, the don’t
reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God fees
them. How much more valuable are you than birds!
12:25 Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to
his height?
12:26 If then you aren’t able to do even the least things,
why are you anxious about the rest?”
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GOD CREATED AND PROVIDES FOR BOTH TAME
AND WILD ANIMALS
Genesis 1:24 God said, “Let the earth bring forth living
creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and
animals of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
1:25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind,
and the livestock after their kind, and everything that
creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was
good.
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event as a resource.
Christian Wisdom Rhetorolect:
EVEN WILD ANIMALS AND BIRDS HAVE MORE OF A
RESTING PLACE THAN JESUS, THE SON OF MAN
Luke 9:57 As they went on the way, a certain man said to
him, I want to follow you wherever you go, Lord.”
9:58 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the
birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no
place to lay his head.”
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GOD CREATED HUMANS AS PART OF THE GOOD,
FRUITFUL WORLD
Genesis 1:27 God created man in his own image. In God’s
image he created him; male and female he created them.
1:28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful,
multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over
the fist of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every
living thing the moves on the earth.”
Click on Genesis 1 and Open Hyperlink to read all of
Genesis 1.
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Christian Wisdom Rhetorolect:
JESUS TEACHES THAT THE TWO BECOME ONE FLESH
Matthew 19:3 Pharisees came to him, testing him, and
saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any
reason?”
19:4 He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made
them from the beginning made them male and female,
19:5 and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father
and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall
become one flesh?’
19:6 So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What
therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear
apart.”
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Christian wisdom rhetorolect.
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HUMANS BECAME WISE LIKE GOD
Genesis 2:16 Adonai God commanded the man, saying,
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you
shall no eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will
surely die.”
Click on Genesis 2 and Open Hyperlink to read all of
Genesis 2.
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HUMANS BECAME WISE LIKE GOD cont.
Genesis 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “you won’t surely
die,
3:5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to
be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate;
and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.
3:7 the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew
that they were naked. The sewed fig leaves together, and
made themselves aprons.
Click on Genesis 3 and Open Hyperlink to read all of Genesis
3.
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event as a resource.
Christian Wisdom Rhetorolect:
DESIRE, CHARACTERIZED BY THE TEMPTATION
TO EAT, LEADS TO SIN AND DEATH
James 1:14 But each one is tempted, when he is drawn
away by his own lust, and enticed.
1:15 Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and
the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.
1:16 Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers.
Click on James 1 and Open Hyperlink to read all of James
1.
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Christian wisdom rhetorolect.
Good Work!
You have seen in this lesson that the story-line of
Christian wisdom rhetorolect begins with God’s creation
of the world and Adam’s and Eve’s eating of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil. The wisdom story-line
continues with teachings of Moses and King Solomon.
Please continue to Wisdom Rhetorolect: Lesson 2 to
see how the story-line of Christian wisdom continues
beyond God’s creation of the world into the stories of
Moses and King Solomon.