Remember when we considered that Prudence is not the result of knowledge, but rather a prerequisite to it? Well, Cicero observed that “[k]nowledge which is divorced from justice may be called cunning rather than wisdom.”
1 Kings tells the story of two women, who both lived in the same house and had just given birth, each to a son. “17 The one woman said [to King Solomon], * * * “this [other] woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while [I] slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22 But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then the king said, * * * “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was [really] alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other [woman] said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.”
Solomon knew less than either of the women about what had actually happened at the house. But the knowledge he did have, unlike that of the lying woman, was knowledge in pursuit of justice. The lying woman was cunning; but Solomon was wise. And the wisdom of God in him to do justice prevailed. Your teachers are imparting to you every day a storehouse of knowledge. It will be up to you whether you use it to be cunning, or to be wise for the cause of justice.
Have a wonderful day.