The "Wisdom" of Mankind
As I have read and studied (in a limited way) some exceptionally educated and intellectually-gifted men and women, I end up often flabbergasted by their ignorance.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert. After they got their Tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep. Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, 'Kemo Sabe, look
Towards sky, what you see?
'The Lone Ranger replies, 'I see millions of stars.'
What that tell you?' asked Tonto.
The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, 'Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter Past three in the morning. Theologically, the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What's it telling you, Tonto?'
"Lone Ranger, you dumber than buffalo dung. It means someone
stole the tent."
But I shouldn’t be so astounded. The Bible addresses people who are intellectually blessed but fail to see what is right in front of them.
I Corinthians 1:19-21:
As the Scriptures say, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”[a] 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.
According to this passage, God has intentionally designed His salvation plan of the cross to be understood by the simplest minds (like mine) while the philosophers and scholars scoff at such “foolishness” (in their eyes) in order to search and discover some deep, unknown truth. This means to me that even the mentally handicapped in our society have the ability to know God.
Why? Why did God do this? The reason should be obvious if we have any notion of human nature. I Corinthians 1:29 (NLT) answers the question, “As a result no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” Since the Garden of Eden, humankind has constantly attempted to usurp God’s wisdom, power, and reign. We want to glory in “man” instead of “God.” So the intellectuals mock the cross of Christ, and instead present sophisticated theory after theory as to the creation of the world and the existence of mankind which nearly always omits God. Why? Man wants to be god.
How ironic that the almighty, all knowing God, full of all wisdom would take the despised, weak, insignificant, lowly, foolish (all these adjectives used in this passage) things of the world to bring about salvation to humankind. In this way and this way alone God receives all of the glory. We cannot say that we “discovered” God through our years of intense study or continuous meditation. We cannot boast that we found the secret to God and salvation through our philosophical musings or latest scientific discovery. We cannot pride ourselves on finding God through self-denial or pious works. Simply put, humankind cannot possibly save itself! NO ONE, even those with the highest IQ levels in history, has ever been able to obtain salvation by himself or herself.
As I have read and studied (in a limited way) some exceptionally educated and intellectually-gifted men and women, I end up often flabbergasted by their ignorance.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert. After they got their Tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep. Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, 'Kemo Sabe, look
Towards sky, what you see?
'The Lone Ranger replies, 'I see millions of stars.'
What that tell you?' asked Tonto.
The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, 'Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter Past three in the morning. Theologically, the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What's it telling you, Tonto?'
"Lone Ranger, you dumber than buffalo dung. It means someone
stole the tent."
But I shouldn’t be so astounded. The Bible addresses people who are intellectually blessed but fail to see what is right in front of them.
I Corinthians 1:19-21:
As the Scriptures say, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”[a] 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.
According to this passage, God has intentionally designed His salvation plan of the cross to be understood by the simplest minds (like mine) while the philosophers and scholars scoff at such “foolishness” (in their eyes) in order to search and discover some deep, unknown truth. This means to me that even the mentally handicapped in our society have the ability to know God.
Why? Why did God do this? The reason should be obvious if we have any notion of human nature. I Corinthians 1:29 (NLT) answers the question, “As a result no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” Since the Garden of Eden, humankind has constantly attempted to usurp God’s wisdom, power, and reign. We want to glory in “man” instead of “God.” So the intellectuals mock the cross of Christ, and instead present sophisticated theory after theory as to the creation of the world and the existence of mankind which nearly always omits God. Why? Man wants to be god.
How ironic that the almighty, all knowing God, full of all wisdom would take the despised, weak, insignificant, lowly, foolish (all these adjectives used in this passage) things of the world to bring about salvation to humankind. In this way and this way alone God receives all of the glory. We cannot say that we “discovered” God through our years of intense study or continuous meditation. We cannot boast that we found the secret to God and salvation through our philosophical musings or latest scientific discovery. We cannot pride ourselves on finding God through self-denial or pious works. Simply put, humankind cannot possibly save itself! NO ONE, even those with the highest IQ levels in history, has ever been able to obtain salvation by himself or herself.
