1 - Cosmology and Eschatology

Summary

The sapiential worldview is typically characterized as concerned with teaching about how to conduct oneself based upon lessons derived from observations on how the world works. This perspective is rooted in the created order and this-worldly cause and effect. Associated ideas include creation, individual responsibility, universalism, and empiricism. Moreover, one feature of the literature that espouses this worldview is that it does not look to the past or to the future. Wisdom literature found in the Hebrew scriptures is not interested in Israel’s relationship with God, but rather its focus is typically – Job is a clear exception – on the individual and how to live a life of happiness and prosperity in general terms.