The objection
In Proverbs 8,22, wisdom says that the LORD created her at the beginning of his way. Paul calls Christ God's wisdom. Consequently, Christ must be the first creature.
1. The argument needs two additional assumptions
The inference works only if, first, the speaker in Proverbs 8 is simply identical with the person of the Son and, second, every statement about this poetic figure literally describes his divine origin. Both must be proved. The title “God's wisdom” in 1. Corinthians 1,24 alone does not do this.
In 1. Corinthians 1,30, Paul also calls Christ righteousness, sanctification and redemption. This does not automatically make every Old Testament statement about these concepts a direct statement about Christ's divine being.
2. Proverbs presents wisdom as a woman
Wisdom calls in the streets, invites people to her house and prepares a meal; opposite her stands Lady Folly (Proverbs 8–9). This is the literary form of an instructional discourse. Her priority to creation establishes why people should listen to her: God's world was not built without wisdom.
Anyone reading her birth as the Son's literal coming into existence must explain why they take precisely this image literally, but the female figure, house and meal differently. Christological fulfillment or a typological relationship is possible; it does not eliminate the original imagery.
3. A word debate alone does not resolve the context
The Hebrew qanah in verse 22 can mean acquire or possess and is also understood as create in this context. The Greek translation does indeed have ektisen, “created.” This reading should not be dismissed through the false rule that only the Hebrew bara can express creation.[1]
Yet even the translation “created” does not answer the question of the literary level on which wisdom speaks. God's wisdom as a divine perfection cannot have begun at some point; otherwise God would previously have been without wisdom. The poetic language of origin portrays her priority and belonging to God. It is no account of how God first became wise.
4. The explicit statements about the Son determine the Christological application
John 1,3 says that everything that came into being came through the Word, and nothing without it. Colossians 1,16–17 places all created powers under Christ and says that he is before all things. If Proverbs 8 is applied to Christ, this application must agree with the explicit statements about his position as Creator.
Ancient interpretation therefore also related the language of origin to his eternal sonship or his work for creation. These interpretations are not identical. None, however, need posit a time when the Son did not yet exist. The decisive counterargument is: A poetic figure of wisdom must not be played off against the clear distinction between the eternal Word and everything that came into being.
Biblical texts in context
Sources and further study
- Wayne Grudem, Biblische DogmatikCh. 14, pp. 255–256: Proverbs 8 and the question of qanah's meaning. His particular interpretation as the beginning of creative activity is not presupposed here as the only possible explanation.
- Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian FaithPp. 299–305: the eternal Word and comprehensive mediation of creation in John 1.