The BEMA Podcast 485: Vice & Virtue — Prudence
Nov 13, 2025
Dive into the intriguing exploration of prudence, or wisdom, as the hosts dissect its meaning through history and its biblical context. Listen to reflections on Annie Dillard's thoughts on reverence in worship. They discuss how wisdom informs other virtues and the importance of situational judgment. The conversation highlights barriers to wisdom, like echo chambers, while emphasizing humility and teachability as key components of acquiring wisdom. Find out how wisdom plays out in everyday life and its culmination in the concept of Christ crucified.
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Recovering Awe In Religious Life
- Annie Dillard warns that many Christians treat God casually and lack awe.
- Reed uses this to frame wisdom as attentiveness to the power we invoke.
Wisdom As The Bridge To Action
- Prudence (phronesis) bridges knowing and doing by keeping ends in view.
- Reed emphasizes deliberation and situational action toward human flourishing.
Scripture Balances Trust And Uncertainty
- Biblical wisdom balances trust in God with the limits of human foresight.
- Proverbs urges trust while Ecclesiastes warns we cannot predict outcomes.
