In Washington, D.C., where the city thrives on politics, there is something called "conventional wisdom." It is what people perceive as the present judgment of the community on the present status of people: who is in and who is out, who has a future and who does not, what is stylish or socially acceptable, and what is not, who has the clout and who is ineffectual.

The Bible also has wisdom, which is concentrated in the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Psalms. To some extent, the wisdom is that of everyday experience and observation, such as: "Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife" (Proverbs 17:1). The presupposition underlying this wisdom, however, is the belief that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). This is…