Men have looked upon God’s plan for making men righteous through the death of Jesus as “foolishness” but the things men call foolishness actually reflect God’s profound wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). I suppose that in some way “real foolishness” is superfluous, for all “foolishness” is “real foolishness” but I am borrowing from Paul’s use of the phrase “foolishness of God” – there are some things that men perceive as being “nonsense,” that are beyond their comprehension. The wisdom by which men think they can give answers to life apart from God’s revelation is the “real foolishness.” All such answers are subjective evaluations from the limited experiences of the human race. There is nothing new under the sun – no new, profound human philosophy. All human philosophy originating from man’s thinking is the same as ancient philosophers long past and none of them give answers that satisfy man’s purpose in life, whether it is extremes of Stoicism or Hedonism or any mixture of the two philosophies. So, who is the “real” fool?
“The fool has said in his heart there is no God,“ (Psalms 14:1; 53:1). Why is he a fool? While atheists refer to religious people as “ignorant,“ “superstitious” and “foolish,” they are the ones who are foolish, because they deny reasonable evidence. They are like the ancient Gentile atheists -- “…professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed…” (Romans 1:18-32). And, frequently, people deny the evidence, because they want to deny accountability (Acts 17:30-31). The atheist/agnostic is a fool because he hates true knowledge (Proverbs 1:22; 18:22). All atheists must trust in their own hearts (Proverbs 28:26) but answers to life are not found by personal discovery (12:15). Atheists are fools because they deny the inevitable, eternal consequences of a sinful life (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10). And they act foolishly, because they spend their lives in pursuit of things that are temporal and cannot be kept while neglecting things that are eternal (cf. Luke 12:13-21; 2 Corinthians 4:12-5:5; Matthew 6:19-21).
The man who thinks he can take fire in his bosom and not be burned is a fool (Proverbs 6:20-35). Solomon is saying in this context that man cannot sin without being affected by it. It is the foolish mindset that acknowledges that all others are affected but thinks of self as the exception – like the state of denial by the dope addict who thought he would never become addicted. There is first the burning of the conscience because of guilt, as long as conscience is soft. Then there are natural consequences to sin – venereal diseases, heart attacks, strokes, and cancer. There is also the effect sin has on others (Proverbs 6:32-35; cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:6).
And the man who hears what Christ says and doesn’t do it is also called a fool. He is like a man who builds his house on the sand – his life has no real foundation (Matthew 7:24-27). These verses follow Jesus’ statement in vv. 21-23 – “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven…” Just hearing what Jesus says is no benefit and he is a fool who thinks hearing alone without doing is sufficient.
Paul’s conclusion is appropriate here -- “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore, be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is,” (Ephesians 5:15-17). – Jim R. Everett
Men have looked upon God’s plan for making men righteous through the death of Jesus as “foolishness” but the things men call foolishness actually reflect God’s profound wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). I suppose that in some way “real foolishness” is superfluous, for all “foolishness” is “real foolishness” but I am borrowing from Paul’s use of the phrase “foolishness of God” – there are some things that men perceive as being “nonsense,” that are beyond their comprehension. The wisdom by which men think they can give answers to life apart from God’s revelation is the “real foolishness.” All such answers are subjective evaluations from the limited experiences of the human race. There is nothing new under the sun – no new, profound human philosophy. All human philosophy originating from man’s thinking is the same as ancient philosophers long past and none of them give answers that satisfy man’s purpose in life, whether it is extremes of Stoicism or Hedonism or any mixture of the two philosophies. So, who is the “real” fool?
“The fool has said in his heart there is no God,“ (Psalms 14:1; 53:1). Why is he a fool? While atheists refer to religious people as “ignorant,“ “superstitious” and “foolish,” they are the ones who are foolish, because they deny reasonable evidence. They are like the ancient Gentile atheists -- “…professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed…” (Romans 1:18-32). And, frequently, people deny the evidence, because they want to deny accountability (Acts 17:30-31). The atheist/agnostic is a fool because he hates true knowledge (Proverbs 1:22; 18:22). All atheists must trust in their own hearts (Proverbs 28:26) but answers to life are not found by personal discovery (12:15). Atheists are fools because they deny the inevitable, eternal consequences of a sinful life (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10). And they act foolishly, because they spend their lives in pursuit of things that are temporal and cannot be kept while neglecting things that are eternal (cf. Luke 12:13-21; 2 Corinthians 4:12-5:5; Matthew 6:19-21).
