Romans 1:22 “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”
In a world in which every average person with an opinion (including Simmons’ Opinions) has a blog, YouTube channel, or podcast, this is one of those verses that really hits home for me.
During my time as a graduate student, I was inundated by fellow students and professors who believe themselves to be more intelligent than the average person because of their “advanced” degrees – though I did have one professor who acknowledged that intelligence has different forms.
The same can be said for the “scholars” who write books and journal articles. They are smug and believe that they have discovered something that no one before them has (though every article features some sort of literature review in which they cite a number of sources that they essentially borrow their research from).
We see this with celebrities and media who lecture the public on social issues as if they have the answers that we are too ignorant to understand.
We also see this throughout Christianity. There are certain groups who seem to love being the ones with some sort of advanced revelation or doctrine that is beyond that which is often taught. They reject all arguments, including biblical ones, that contradict their interpretations of scripture.
This is why there are so many denominations and sects of Christianity – many of which are named after a man (Lutheran, Calvinism) or can trace their doctrine to a man’s interpretation of the Bible (Wesley, Baxter, Smith etc).
All of these men (not gender specific) and those who follow them are fools who profess themselves to be wise. The moment we stray from the Scripture is the moment in which foolishness sets in.
I pray that I do not consider myself wise – though I daily seek wisdom. I pray that I stick with the word of God over men and that by studying my Bible, I will better be able to rightly divide the word of Truth.
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