Challenging Contradictions | bibleinoneyear.org

Challenging Contradictions | bibleinoneyear.org: To answer or not to answer? Proverbs 26:3-12 The words ‘fool’, ‘foolish’, ‘folly’ occur ninety-six times in the book of Proverbs. The fool is the opposite of the wise person commended by the writer of Proverbs. He says, ·       ‘Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you will be like them yourself’ (v.4). ·       ‘Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes’ (v.5). This couldn’t be a clearer apparent contradiction. If the two verses appeared in different sections of the Bible, it would be hailed as an obvious contradiction. However, the fact that they appear right after each other suggests that in the author’s eyes there is no actual contradiction. Criticism can often be extremely helpful and we can learn from it. However, sometimes criticism comes from ignorance (from ‘fools’). How do we respond? There is a tension: on the one hand, we do not want to reply because, in a sense, it is descending to the level of the critic (the fool, v.4). On the other hand, we want to reply because otherwise the critic may feel they are right and they ‘will be wise in their own eyes’ (v.5). It may well be that the writer of the Proverbs is using the