Practical wisdom for turbulent times: exegesis beyond historical and canonical concerns

Purpose – In turbulent times like these, practical wisdom from the religious and spiritual traditions can provide new grounding. In the Christian tradition, practical wisdom can be derived from exegesis of New Testament texts. Text exegesis can be integrated in executive education/formation, even in secular settings. This paper aims to discuss the issues. Design/methodology/approach – A symbolic narrative method is applied to demonstrate how practical wisdom can be discerned from religious texts. Transposed to an interfaith or secular environment, the use of exegesis in executive formation is explained based on Winnicott's theory of transitional objects. Findings – Christian social ethics could be enriched by a renewed interest in wisdom that sources itself in biblical exegesis. This interdisciplinary paper explores the nature of practical wisdom as inspired by biblical exegesis applying a symbolic‐narrative method. This method is applied within the context of a humanistic Christology that reveals the wisdom of Jesus in his human capacity. This is illustrated by the exegesis of the New Testament text “The feeding of the five thousand”. In a conclusion and outlook the value of interfaith text exegesis in management education in a secular context is explored based on the personal experience of the author in executive formation. Originality/value – Interdisciplinarity combined with methodological rigor in a biblical approach to practical wisdom is highlighted in the paper.