Wisdom plays a key role in the Hebrew Bible, not least in the books traditionally regarded as wisdom literature, among them Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and some of the psalms. But in the church’s use of the Hebrew Bible, wisdom is something of a poor relation compared to the law, the prophets and the psalms, especially given the importance it has for the New Testament’s understanding of Christ as the word and wisdom of God.

Wisdom and Ministry seeks to address this oversight. Michael Sadgrove examines the two types of wisdom literature in the Old Testament. The sharply-drawn character studies of the wisdom stories offer both good and flawed examples of leadership in practice. From the ‘didactic’ wisdom texts, a wealth of teaching is distilled about how leaders can become ‘reflective practitioners’. And, because the aim is to explore not simply leadership in general but Christian leadership in particular, all this is gathered up in the light of the New Testament understanding of Christ as the ultimate embodiment of God’s wisdom.

The call to ministry, the author believes, is the call to be, or become, wise ourselves, and to help others on their own journey of discovery as to what this means.