What A Fool Believes

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
Psalm 14:1

Does anyone else remember the old Doobie Brothers song, “What a Fool Believes”? It’s about a man who meets up with an old flame hoping to rekindle it. For her it’s just an exercise in nostalgia. “But what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.” There’s no talking him out of his belief that there’s hope for the relationship.

The Bible has a lot to say about fools, especially in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. One thing you can say about a fool is that he will believe what he wants to believe.

It’s interesting that this is the exact charge the atheist will make against the Christian, or any person of any faith I suppose. We’re fools. We only believe in God because we want there to be a God. It gives us comfort. It gives us hope.

Now much of Western culture is currently in the process of destroying itself through the rejection of the Christian religion. With what have we replaced this “opiate of the masses”? With real opiates, as well as with pornography, casual sex, and endless entertainment. Without religion we find that everything is meaningless, so we give ourselves over to meaningless relationships and meaningless pursuits.

I would argue that many atheists, who would scorn as fools those of us who believe, have embraced many foolish beliefs themselves. There are atheists who believe we were put on earth by aliens. Most atheists believe, in contradiction of their own beloved god, Science, that life came from non-life through evolution. Atheists believe they will not be held accountable for their actions by any higher power. Is that, perhaps, what they want to be true?

In Romans 1:19-22 Paul says that the creation alone is enough to prove there’s a God.

“Because what may be known of God is manifest.. for God has shown it… For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that [the unrighteous] are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools…”

This scripture indicates that God has left proof enough of His existence, and that to deny Him or His authority is a form of being unthankful.

Furthermore, those who reject God think of themselves as wise but God says they are fools. Verse 28 says “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.” They didn’t want to acknowledge Him.

There are many things that people, including Christians, believe because they want those things to be true. And there are things we don’t accept regardless of the evidence because we don’t want to believe. In relationships, in politics, even in doctrine (maybe especially in doctrine), it can be very hard to loosen one’s grip on a cherished belief and simply seek the truth no matter what. Pilate avoided this difficulty by simply saying, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). In my mind, that doesn’t cut it; it’s a cop-out. Sometimes truth cannot be known absolutely. Even the existence of God can’t be proven empirically. But often truth can be known, and it can always be pursued. Pilate knew the truth of Jesus’s innocence but it seems he ignored it out of self-interest. How often do we do the same?

In the end, we all live by faith– belief without the proof of sight. Maybe it’s smarter to take Pascal’s wager and bet on God just to be safe. (More on that in a couple of weeks.) But let’s be brave enough to look at our own biases, strip away our pre-conceived notions from time to time, and just pursue truth with all intellectual honesty. Beliefs based on our own desires or psychological needs truly are nothing more than what a fool believes.

Heavenly Father, I pray for those who do not yet know You, that their hearts and minds will be opened to Your truth. Help me also to seek truth with an intellectually honest mind and heart. Show me where I have embraced illusions out of self-interest and help me to repent. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

by Christie Cole Atkins