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Word of wisdom

Spiritual gift in Christianity

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ8034360
Source-derived summary

In Christianity, the word of wisdom is a spiritual gift listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8. The function that this gift is given varies. Some Christians see in this gift a prophetic-like function. Others see in the word of wisdom a teaching function. This gift is closely related with the gift of the word of knowledge.

Description

Commentators have often placed this gift within the larger context of the biblical wisdom tradition, especially references to God’s secret wisdom in 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 and elsewhere in the letter. The secret wisdom pertains to the Gospel that Paul preached. This wisdom relates to that which God had previously hidden and destined for the glory of believers. It is a wisdom that speaks of those things that God has prepared for those who love him. These emphases from the broader context of the Corinthian letter could imply that the word of wisdom involves insight into God's plan of salvation and the proclamation of Christ crucified.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Word of wisdom” is spiritual gift in Christianity. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Word, wisdom and Spiritual, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current 161-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Word, wisdom and Spiritual is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “spiritual gift in Christianity” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8034360. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Word of wisdom”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Word of wisdom primary sources, Word of wisdom archive and Word research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Word of wisdom”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Word of wisdom” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.