The Fool
The dictionary defines “fool” as a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person; a person who lacks good sense or judgment. The word “fool” in Psalm 14:1 comes from a Hebrew root word which means a person who has no perception of ethical and spiritual truth. This person is senseless, empty-headed, and foolish. It doesn’t mean “unintelligent” in the academic sense. Atheists are often very intelligent and bright people – from a scholastic point of view.
The reality is that an overwhelming majority of people believe in God, or in some form of “higher power” or “intelligent designer.” A 2017 study by the Pew Research Center confirmed that 84 percent of the global population believes in God or “a god.” This same study confirmed that only 7 percent of the world’s population openly claims to be atheistic.*
Why do so many of us believe in God or higher powers? Because God has placed that belief into the heart of every human being. Our DNA is “hard-wired” with the instinctive sense that there is a Supreme Being. Recent University studies in the fields of developmental psychology and cognitive science propose that our “foundational belief in theism is ingrained in our DNA.”* Thus, atheism is an acquired position taken only by a very small percent of people. They take this position by choice as we are told in Romans 1:28, that “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.”
It is a sad reality that some people choose darkness over light and knowingly reject their inborn awareness of God. David calls these people “fools” because, by rejecting the knowledge of God, they are in-fact acting against their own best interest. They may have great intellect, but they lack good sense and judgment when it comes to the things of eternity. Tragically, those who make the choice to deny the truth about God will be given up to their foolish beliefs. As Romans 1 goes on to tell us, "and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting... who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death..." (Romans 1:28 & 32)
As we consider the Christ-follower’s approach to an unbelieving world around us, we should keep a couple of things in mind. First, that a majority of people we meet recognize deep within their soul that there is “a god” of some sort. We must be always ready to guide these people to a saving faith in the one true God and salvation through His Only Son, Jesus Christ. Second, although there is a small minority who have convinced themselves to reject God’s truth, we have no way of knowing who they are. Thus we must always be prepared “to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)
*Person of Interest; © 2021 by
No comments:
Post a Comment