It takes great wisdom to know how and when to respond to fools. Though a Christian should never entertain foolish behavior, such as exchanging slander for slander (1 Peter 3:9), he should speak up early and often to foolish arguments so as to protect the truth.

Answering 439 Bible Contradictions

Answer

Sometimes a wise man should respond to a fool in order to protect the truth, while at other times he should ignore foolish arguments to avoid similar idiotic behavior.

Problem

Proverbs 26:4 forbids answering a fool, while the next verse insists we respond to him.

Explanation

When responding to an idiot, there are two key principles to follow.

First, you should never respond to a fool if it means lowering yourself to his biblically immoral and foolish behavior. Even if you win the argument, if you’ll end up looking like him, don’t do it.

When a driver with road rage rolls down his window and shout insults, don’t respond in kind. If your neighbor squeals his tires while passing your house each morning, don’t gather your buddies to go drag racing by his home. Don’t lie about atheism because he lied about Christianity. You’ll look like a bonehead just like him.

There’s a sense in which Christlike actions will always appear foolish to the world (1Cor. 1:27), but this passage speaks about avoiding morally, idiotic behavior.

There are other reasons to avoid interactions with foolish arguments which this passage doesn’t address. We should not respond to a fool if it wastes unnecessary time and energy. A steel nail takes several strikes with the hammer to enter hard wood. Trying to force it into iron will only damage the nail and the hammer.

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