Which books or passages of the Bible would you consider to be great wisdom literature?
By "wisdom literature" I mean literature that provides wise advice for negotiating life. That is, that is applicable to actual day to day practice. Idle insights need not apply, no matter how profound.
You should use your own judgment as to what constitutes "great" when answering the question, but -- if you're in a position to do so -- please feel free to compare the Bible to other great wisdom literature, such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Teh Ching, or the Dhammapada.
As to my own view, it's open to modification, but I currently am largely unimpressed with the Bible as wisdom literature. There are passages I admire, of course, but they seem to me isolated. Overall, I'd say I am far more impressed with many other religious and secular works than with the Bible.
Sunstone,
You have got to be jesting!!! I have read other religious writings, and compared with the Bible, they are childish, and constantly say things that are untrue, even contradictory.
There are so many Scriptures in The Almighty God's words that it is impossible to list Scriptures that help us life a long, righteous life. The Bible is sententious, meaning that it is filled with wisdom, and knowledge, and in many places in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Bible has recorded information that NO human living at that time knew.
The most important thing about the Bible is; it was inspired by the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. and all the things in it. The Only True God, John 17:3, is the source of ALL life, Psalms 36:9, and He has all our lives in His hands, Acts 17:23-28. No other religion has a god that even claims to have created all things. The God of the Bible is the only one who tells us how we have come to be in the terrible condition we find ourselves in, and the only one who tells us that He will soon correct conditions, and bring this world into the perfect condition it was when Adam and Eve lived.
The Almighty says that He will destroy all so-called gods, and all who worship these non-existence, only imaginations, Jeremiah 10:10-16. Very important also is verse 25. Meditate on what is written at Psalms 115:1-8, 135:1-6, 13-18.
Why would you want to put your life in great predicament, by listening to non-existent gods???
Remember, the God that made the world and everything in it, also loved the world so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son's fleshly body, as a Ransom Savrifice for all who would believe on Him and His son. What great love this God has for His creation!!! What false god would do that?!?
Remember also, this God is a jealous God, because only He deserves worship, for all that He has done, and also promises to do in the very near future, Exodus 34:14, Revelation 21:3-5.
Agape!!!