The word of God provides much food for the hungry while at the same time supplying ammunition for the arsenal of fools. Who is a fool? Well, that would be better for you to decide, but there is a rather instructive portion of scripture which presents the all-encompassing wisdom of God in answering or not answering when met with parlor tricks, circus antics, or just plain foolishness by people who mock the Creator and His word.
All scripture is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, so let’s have a look-see at a few proverbs and uncover the beauty of the mind of God in His all-knowing ways.
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
These two proverbs are of course back to back, and have been untouched, unchanged, and have withstood the petty gripes of men who complain of inconsistencies of scripture, as if there is a defect in God Himself, and by pretending to fault scripture with so-called ‘contradictions,’ have berated people of faith for not agreeing as to the ahem, ‘weakness of the text.’
Please. These two lines of thought in the twenty-sixth of Proverbs sing nothing but the unequalled praise of He who created the human brain, and He is way ahead of man’s lame complaints. These scriptures stand alone and together, as a braided cord of truth, revealing the bone and marrow of inspiration, that yes, these truths are forever settled in heaven.
The sobriety and fidelity of God’s caretakers of scripture were called to translate, not interpret, do we understand this? They were to be faithful scribes and trusted with another’s message. It was not their business to alter one word. There is no mistake in these scriptures, there is no contradiction, there is no weakness, but ah, there is wisdom for the ages.
So we have this: answer, don’t answer. But look at the rest of the text: so you do not become foolish such as he; or so he does not think himself wise.
First, the obvious. A man may be clever in the ways of the world; he may have found a way to have grasped fame and fortune, but in the ways of God, without recognizing the Creator, he is but a glorified fool. Hey, not my words, the fool says in his heart, there is no God.
So now the not so obvious. When someone presents to you a riddle as it were, and tries to put scripture on the horns of a dilemma, you always have the option of opting out, and this infuriates the one holding the false dilemma, that their interest in starting a forest fire has been snuffed out by a more clever answer.
Where there is no wood the fire goeth out….
It is perfectly reasonable, yeah rather more appropriate to entertain absurdity with a great big SILENCE as a wonderful and reasonable answer to questions that will never be acceptable.
Did you ever visit a blog for instance and note the junkyard quality of comments by they who mock God, fault His word, and observe how a couple hundred replies are so far removed from the initial inquiry that any hope of context is gone? This is an example of foolishness, and I have said on many occasions, that ANY answer given to an unbeliever who sits in judgment of God will be unacceptable.
There will be an endless stream of excuses and irrelevant words to justify further irrelevant words and more endless streams of excuses. Sooooooo.
Silence is apparently golden, and at times highly recommended. And the wisdom of Solomon can be called upon when engaging the scorner, and he would simply suggest:
Be careful how you answer. When met with the choice and how to respond, silence and humor are certainly options, and are fine answers when wrapped in wisdom.
Example? Glad you asked. If someone asked you: where did Cain get his wife?’ and this person rejects a Creator, ANY answer will be ridiculed, mocked, and laughed to scorn. The questioner will wear the answer with a dose of pride, since he will reject any reply, thus the need to be prudent. If you were to say: ‘Wal-mart,’ you would rob him of his chance to be proud, because he will recognize that a man who purchases a baby in aisle 3 is absurd………..
By the way, Solomon gave the finest answer ever of answering a fool. When the false mother boasted that she did not care if the baby died, he said ‘cut the baby in half!’ a statement so obvious in its absurdity that the truth was immediately revealed, and he handed the baby to its rightful mother. Perfect wisdom.
‘Answer a fool according to her folly…………..’ yep, foolishness met with foolishness, leaving no chance for the imposter mother. There is much wisdom by recognizing foolishness, and all it takes is a little discretion as to whether to answer, and how to answer.
Years ago, a poll was taken regarding some spiritual issue, and a man wrote on a piece of paper 6 7/8, and this was just so darn great because it was just as irrelevant as the poll itself, and his point was made. (no, it wasn’t me) Spiritual matters are not decided by polls.
When met with plain foolishness, it is always an option to supply a bit of something better: sanctified foolishness. When asked to ‘give us some oil,’ and the Lord said ‘buy your own,’ there is much wisdom in this seeming aloof answer if we would but pay attention.
The wisdom of God has felled all man’s gripes: then, now, and forever more. But to answer or not? It’s your call, just be wise be about it.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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Tkx vin
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My pleasure Brother!
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I rather like that image of the Word of God being both sustenance for those who believe in it and merely a source of ammunition for those who don’t. It’s a food fight!
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Hmmm. But at least our scraps are even valuable eh Louis… 😉
And it’s a ‘good fight’ at that. Tkx for the color Louis.
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Amen to that. 😀 And hopefully by throwing said scraps we share them with the souls of others rather than just making a mess. XD
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And yet arch here you are, drinking from the water that you say doesn’t satisfy………
but my guess is you know it satisfies……..for God’s word is excellent in all ways.
Grace
Mercy
Peace. Yep, it’s all in there, free for the taking, but pride is most uncomfortable.
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You must feel so secure in that little bubble you inhabit, all isolated from the world, reality, intellect and reason.
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In the spirit of ‘foolishness,’ I actually feel sorry for anybody who has no room for a Creator in their mind, heart, and life.
And don’t ask for evidence, for if you can’t see what is plain, then nothing else will help you.
May I borrow my own quote: It is much easier to believe ‘in the beginning God………’ and that ‘by Him all things consist……….’ than it is for a man to believe he will live to see tomorrow.
And one more: The fool says in his heart…………..there is no God………….’
Easy solution. Don’t be a fool.
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Is it foolish to test the claims of various holy books to seek to ascertain whether they seem to offer divine or human insight?
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Since you do not believe there is a God…..how in God’s good name can you ascertain in the first place?
A man in his heart knows the difference between the word of God and everything else.
God has no competitors………..And for what it’s worth, I am well aware of your sideshow antics that you engage at the expense of this site, as I said, ALL men know the difference.
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You are saying we should rely on what our heart tells us.
What do you say to a billion plus Muslims who would say their hearts tells them the Koran is a divine book?
But perhaps you should go an look at your own book:
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Keeping things in context, I know it’s difficult when you have an axe to grind.
First, your heart KNOWS there is a God with whom you have to do.
As far as your billion man march……well, I am not fighting their battle for you. Some people do not know the difference between light and darkness.
As to the Jeremiah quote, yep, it is certainly true. The heart of ANY man apart from the Creator, bent on doing its own thing, whether it be Jew, Greek, Mus-lim, Asian, whoever, wherever………is deceitful and desperately wicked………..and in this wickedness, THIS heart knows: there is a God.
Nice try though trying to present God’s word as foolishness, but unfortunately, it is impossible to do.
Now try not to run to your friends houses with a report how I am impossible to talk to. 😉 😉
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OH so well said ColorStorm! And yes, as the comments sections on Atheists sties tend to devolve fast in to crude and petty insults. So many words with such little meaning.
Not responding to obvious bate holds so much power. Thanks for the reminder. 😉
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‘Devolve.’ Ha, that is true enough.
But life is not all lilies and roses, yet we do not have to live in the gutter as we shine the light, but geez, some of that stench wafts a good distance.
‘Devolve’ though is being far too kind trish.
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Well, you know what I mean anyway. 😉 Sermon in church today was about trusting God in times of exile in today’s secular world; keeping the light visible and the salt flavorful. I think that kinda of relates here too.
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Pingback: Links To Motivation And Leadership Articles (3-15-2016) – My Daily Musing
Bruce Lee was an atheist. Just FYI.
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Yep, believers do not have sole copyrights on wise sayings.
It’s just who and where in the end does the source of wisdom reside 😉
Tkx for the visit too.
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Bruce maintained that it originated within. I’m an instructor in his martial art of Jeet Kune Do. The difference between Bruce and normal theists was a rejection of dogma and a strict adherence to demonstrable empirical fact. You’d be hard pressed to find a viewpoint more antithetical to your article than Bruce’s.
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No, it’s much easier that that. Bruce would be wrong……….unless he designed the human brain.
Until Mr Lee could make a tree using nothing, his opinion is at the mercy of
One greater.
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He could likely have admitted to being wrong. Can you?
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Ha. I am no greater than him. But don’t confuse arrogance with confidence in the living God and His word.
The structure and revelation of scripture imparts assurance and truth. God made great whales………..I’m not wrong about that………. 😉
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Well sure you are. And it sounds like the answer to my question is actually a ‘no’. It’s hard to grow with a mindset like yours.
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The essay is about foolish questions and answers. Saying ‘there is no God’ is quite foolish.
Grow? Hmm. In a downward spiral rejecting what is obvious? No tkx Matt.
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The precept that a fool disbelieves in gods– who wrote that?
And what evidence can you offer that he had a divine uplink?
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Ah matt, pay attention to detail.
A man would actually be wise to disbelieve in ‘gods,’ as I have said many times, as all the collected ‘gods’ cannot bench press a pea………..while the true God owns all the seeds and of course all the dirt.
Do not confuse the ‘gods’ of imagination with the true God of heaven and earth.
And as far as ‘evidence’ you may ask for, please spend time reading my posts, as all your concerns have no doubt been addressed and slayed.
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No dodging. Straight questions. Two of them. You cannot answer either. The best scholars of Christianity, Judaism and Islam cannot answer either.
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Interesting matt, that you have arbitrarily decided the ‘best’ scholars cannot answer your ‘questions.’ Ha, really?
You have made yourself the ‘god’ you despise, by disavowing One greater.
Sorry to say, you are in no position to adjudicate the merits of your own queries, which as I have said, have been answered.
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Look dude, you’re well out of your depth, and you’re covering with bluster. If you have answers to those two simple questions – on which your assertions rest – then answer. You seem to have an allergy to questions, preferring assertions instead. I’m not presuming to answer the questions for you – I’m giving you the invitation to answer them. There is a difference between a fact and an assertion. I’m wondering if you can adjudicate on such distinctions.
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The essay is about foolishness and how to answer.
Seriously matt? Read your ‘questions.’ Your entire premise is wrong. Period. I’m trying to help you not tighten the noose of your carelessness.
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I’m chuckling arch, you have read ‘all my posts…………………’ yet you are the greatest of fault finders. Yikes. You travel far and wide on the pages of someone whose views you find extremely distasteful.
Ha, I think you find them rather true.
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Quite the contrary, I find them full of nonsense, gibberish, and ignorance. I read newspaper comic strips for much the same kind of amusement.
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Quite seriously. Still waiting for you to tell me who wrote those words of “scripture” and how you know they had a divine uplink.
Upon inspection, it would seem that “the fool hath said in his heart, there is no god,” is an unsupportable and unverifiable assertion. That, in and of itself, is an ironic sort of foolishness.
So, let’s have the answers: (1) Who wrote those words? (2) Upon what evidence do you know they had a divine uplink?
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Matt please. I do not want to embarrass you.
Show me where I have said ‘the fool said in his heart, there is no god.’
I have said this: ‘the fool says in his heart, there is no God.’
Just a minor detail for you. Words mean things, and God is not careless with His.
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Colourstorm, just answer the man.
You’re looking quite foolish
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Perhaps you should read the post, the implications, and the examples john. My returning comments were spot on in every regard. But tkx for your interest in his ‘answers.’
Pay attention to the context, similar to the sleight of hand that you employ. But answers were clearly given, but may I remind you of ‘foolishness.’
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Sigh jz.
Tkx for your concern, but you have the same evidence I do as far as God………..and as far as answering…….I have met and exceeded any query. 😉
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Everyone gets the benefit of the doubt. Unless you want me to start taking up with bowing to authorities. 🙂
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Hi ark-
Silence is ‘one’ option, not the only one thank you very much.
And you do not give me enough credit for the manner and content of HOW I respond to you and kin, both here, and at your place.
Discernment is a valuable tool. And your semi-lecture on how to answer ‘inquiries’ is almost laughable.
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