The Greek word 'phronesis' is a word for a type of wisdom or intelligence. It is more specifically a type of wisdom relevant to practical action, implying both good judgement and excellence of character and habits, or practical virtue.
The Greek word 'sophia' is a word which means "knowledge of the divine plan, the wisdom of God as evinced in forming and executing His counsels". (Thayer's Greek Lexicon)
Sophia is the "thousand foot high view", so to speak,while 'phronesis' is about solving a practical problem what now. 'Sophia' answers questions like "Why do things like this happen?" and phronesis answers questions like "What do we do right now?".
Now we will examine the book of James and learn about both of these concepts.
James 1:2-5 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face temptations, tests and trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." [I have added "tests and trials" to "temptations" because the Greek word is the same for all three.]
I assumed, at one time, that the word for wisdom here must be 'phronesis'. It seemed to me that James was telling us to pray that God would give us practical steps to get out of the trial we are in. But the word is actually 'sophia'. We need to read what follows in the first chapter of James to see what he means.
James 1:13-17 "When tempted, tested or tried, no one should say, “God is tempting, testing or trying me.” For God cannot be tempted, tested or tried by evil, nor does he tempt. tested or try anyone … Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."
James is not just interested in practical wisdom - how to handle the situation we are in - he is interested in us knowing what is going on in a larger sense. The first thing he wants us to 'get' is that God is not behind our problems or temptations. Only good things come from Him. In fact, it is hard to receive practical wisdom sometimes unless you understand what is 'going on'.
If we think that our trial comes from God, we will give in to them and not seek His aid. Let's take sickness, for example. If you think that God has caused your sickness, or is allowing it so that you He can teach you something, or get you closer to Himself, or make you holier, then it will hinder your faith for healing.
When it comes to healing God is your answer, not your problem. Peter made this very clear when he talked about Jesus' ministry. "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, healing all who were oppressed by the devil." (Acts 10:38) "Many followed Him and He healed them all." (Matthew 12:15) All whom Jesus healed were oppressed by Satan and He healed all who came to Him for healing. That means that sickness is not from God but from the devil. The NT is consistent on this fact.
But James is not just interested in having us understanding where our problems originates. He wants to know how to respond to the trial as well. At the end of his epistle, James does give us practical wisdom (phronesis) regarding sickness and other things. "Is anyone among you sick? Then call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him." (James 5:14-15)
James wants us to have wisdom, both 'sophia' and 'phronesis'. He wants us to understand what in the world is going on and that God only brings good and not evil into our lives. And He also wants us to have practical wisdom to get out of our evil circumstances and back into the good that He wants us to have. So do I.
[Note: When I suggest that James wants us to pray for 'sophia'-wisdom in chapter one, I do not want to leave the impression that you cannot pray for phronesis-wisdom as well. We often need God's wisdom to know what to do and to be led by His Spirit for He always makes a way of escape.]
[Addendum: Above I mentioned the spiritual gift of the 'word of wisdom' as a revealing of God's purpose and plan. To further explicate this, I want to add that the word for wisdom here is 'Sophia' not 'phronesis'. Many have been teaching that the spiritual gift of the word of wisdom is about giving practical advice to those who need it. This is not the case. Sophia reveals God's purpose and plan in the mind and will of God about the future. We should not confuse the spiritual gift if the word of wisdom with the practical advice we might be able to give to one another.]
(The comment section is not working. Sorry.)
