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Faith

Foolishness and wisdom

The meaning of “foolishness” and “wisdom” depends on your frame of reference. In the clothing trade, the “wisdom” of this year’s fashions quickly becomes the “foolishness” of next year’s. In science, the accepted “wisdom” about how things work is frequently turned into “foolishness” by new and more accurate observations. Thus human wisdom is by no means a static pool of knowledge.

In chapter 1 of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul says: “Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world? God in his wisdom determined that the world would not know God through human wisdom. God decided to save those who believe through the foolishness of our message.” To many people, the message of Jesus does not look like a cool form of wisdom.

Why would wise people give money away instead of keeping it for themselves? Why would wise people seek to help the poor and outcast when they know that the favour will never be returned? Why would wise people prefer to become servants rather than rulers? Why would a wise saviour deliberately allow himself to be tortured and executed, instead of zapping the bad guys? God’s wisdom is definitely different from worldly wisdom.