Topical Bible: Anger: May be Averted by Wisdom

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Topical Encyclopedia

Anger, a powerful emotion often leading to destructive outcomes, is addressed extensively in the Bible. Scripture provides guidance on how wisdom can avert anger, emphasizing the importance of understanding, patience, and self-control.

Proverbs and Wisdom Literature

The Book of Proverbs, a key source of biblical wisdom, frequently contrasts the outcomes of anger with those of wisdom. Proverbs 14:29 states, "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly." This verse highlights the value of patience and understanding as tools to prevent the escalation of anger. Similarly, Proverbs 15:1 teaches, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Here, the wise use of gentle words is presented as a means to defuse potential conflict.

Proverbs 19:11 further underscores the role of wisdom in managing anger: "A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense." This passage suggests that insight and the ability to overlook minor offenses are virtues that can prevent anger from taking root.

Examples from Biblical Narratives

The narrative of Abigail and David in 1 Samuel 25 provides a practical example of wisdom averting anger. When David, angered by Nabal's insult, prepares to take vengeance, Abigail intervenes with wisdom and humility. Her actions and words, marked by discernment and respect, successfully calm David's anger, preventing bloodshed.

In the New Testament, James 1:19-20 advises believers, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires." This instruction emphasizes the importance of listening and restraint, qualities that reflect wisdom and help avert anger.

Teachings of Jesus

Jesus' teachings further illuminate the path of wisdom in dealing with anger. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the heart's condition, equating unjust anger with the seriousness of murder (Matthew 5:21-22). He encourages reconciliation and peacemaking, urging His followers to seek resolution before anger leads to sin.

Apostolic Guidance

The Apostle Paul, in his epistles, also provides guidance on managing anger through wisdom. Ephesians 4:26-27 advises, "Be angry, yet do not sin. Do not let the sun set upon your anger, and do not give the devil a foothold." Paul acknowledges that anger itself is not inherently sinful but warns against allowing it to persist and lead to sin. He advocates for timely resolution and self-control, hallmarks of wisdom.

Colossians 3:8 instructs believers to "rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips." This directive aligns with the call to live wisely, avoiding the destructive patterns that unchecked anger can produce.

Conclusion

The Bible consistently presents wisdom as a means to avert anger, promoting patience, understanding, and self-control. Through the teachings of Proverbs, the examples of biblical narratives, and the instructions of Jesus and the apostles, believers are encouraged to seek wisdom in managing their emotions, thereby fostering peace and righteousness.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Proverbs 29:8
Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

We must Guard against Anger, Before it Arises; if it Has Already ...
... [135] If it cannot, however, be averted, let it be kept within bounds. ... 93. Let us
then avoid or at any rate check anger, so that we may not lose our share ...
/.../ambrose/works and letters of st ambrose/chapter xxi we must guard.htm

Of the Mortification of Anger by Patience. ...
... work from which their nature is averted, then the ... Such an one, therefore, may judge
of his impatience ... thereupon observing whether, or how far, anger is stirred ...
/.../chapter vii of the mortification.htm

The Thunderbolt Averted
... BOOK I. ANTIOCH CHAPTER VIII THE THUNDERBOLT AVERTED. ... than our conflagrations, has
been our crime and thy anger. ... me, that my war with Maximus may be successful ...
/.../chapter viii the thunderbolt averted.htm

An Explanation of Three Things which Most of all Might be Likely ...
... angry countenance, how very intolerable Thy ungentle averted looks ... the angry countenance
of Thy Fatherly anger to that ... love, in order that awe may restrain them ...
/.../suso/a little book of eternal wisdom/chapter viii an explanation of.htm

Love is the Root of all Other Passions. ...
... in our hearts, by which we should be averted from the ... and employs, when need is,
all other passions: anger against our ... 4. Now to the end we may have a distinct ...
/.../chapter ii love is the.htm

Against those who Think that what is Just is not Good.
... and rejoicing; but where it is averted, there is ... is manifested;" [1206] and again,
that you may better conceive ... Besides, the feeling of anger (if it is proper ...
/.../clement/the instructor paedagogus/chapter viii against those who think.htm

To those who had not Attended the Assembly.
... in fact the very facility for slaughter averted him from ... and fasting if only we blot
out anger from our ... May the God of peace and love, having banished from our ...
//christianbookshelf.org/chrysostom/on the priesthood/to those who had not.htm

"Nineveh, that Great City"
... Their doom was averted, the God of Israel was exalted and ... he was very angry." "Was
not this may saying," he ... a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 22 nineveh that great.htm

"Because the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God, for it is not ...
... find their faces turned backward and averted from God ... shall undoubtedly fall into
it, you may hear such ... the heart deserves eternal misery, that anger is murder ...
/.../binning/the works of the rev hugh binning/sermon xx because the carnal.htm

The Last Pleading of Love
... not one faint passing flush of anger tinges it. ... and respectable Christianity passes
by with averted head and ... pleading and remonstrance, that it may enter their ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture b/the last pleading of love.htm