by Scott Price

Proverbs 15:14 “The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.”

Proverbs 16:22 “Understanding is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly.”

2Tim 2:23-26 “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender quarrels. And the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his own will.”

Fools oppose themselves. They may not know it, which makes it worse, but that’s what they do. Their natural inability, depravity, blindness, etc. keeps them deceived and drowning in the the mess that they produce and also the mess they choose to surround themselves with. I guess we could call it their foolish worldview, not in general, bit a specific or personal one.

The state of the fool is obviously bad, but what about the believer who may allow foolishness around them, foolish people, ideologies, teachers, philosophies, friends, theology that lends to the enemy’s foolishness that opposes them? This is done unwittingly for the most part, but sometimes we have to wonder with the volume of warning we try to issue out.

Let me get a little more on target of what I’ve seen that has been very detrimental to God’s people. Why would any teacher or pastor who claims to be Sovereign Grace, Calvinist or Reformed in their belief, teach people be fooled into thinking the following?

- they should prefer mystery over knowledge?

- that ignorance is humility?

- teach that doctrine is dead, cold and dry?

- that theology is bad thing?

- that paradox is something to consider profound?

- that feelings and experience are better than thoughts of the mind?

- that the heart and the mind oppose each other?

- that sincerity can be a substitute for truth?

- that the truth should never be explained, only proclaimed?

- to divorce Christ from doctrine and doctrine from Christ?

- to promote that God saves people apart from truth of the gospel?

- to teach that assurance is not connected to faith?

- to teach that Scripture does not need interpreted?

- to teach that God’s people should not defend the gospel?

- that the doubt of one’s salvation to be the best evidence of true faith?

- to teach that reasoning or debate are always evil?

- to claim that teaching and preaching about Christ is not teaching and preaching Christ?