Christians, may you clear this one contradiction?

Question

Okay, so I found these two verses....


"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."

- Matthew 5:22

"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

1 Corinthian 1:1:25


So....First you cannot say fool, then you call God a fool, what gives?

Answer 1

Its simpe..
First passage is attributed to Jesus
and
Second Passage is attribute to paul (st. paul) who have his own teaching different from Jesus. So, its obvious contradiction.

Answer 2

No contradiction at all. Actually, I would say that those two verses compliment each other. Mathew 5:22 doesn't say that anyone who calls anyone else a "fool" is going to hell. It just says he is in "danger of going to hell". What comes out of your mouth is an indication od what is in your heart. If you are calling someone a 'fool' in anger, it is an indication that you lack the love that is to characterize the true believer in God. Therefore, you are in danger of going to hell. You can call a person a 'fool', not out of anger, but because you feel he is living in a foolish way or doing foolish things that he will have to pay for later in his life on this earth and maybe eternally. Paul said "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men". That's because in his day you had non-believers calling christians 'fools'(much like what I hear coming out of the mouths of atheists on yahoo answers). Pauls point was simply that even if christians were fools, God could use fools and 'weak' people to accomplish much more than men without God could do. Actually, those 'fools'(the christians of the 1st 3 centuries) took over the Roman empire and they did it without any armies or weapons. All they had was missionaries. Even Mohammad couldn't do that.

Answer 3

Adia: What is happening is, that (in I Corinthians 1: ), you have the author of that Book from the Bible - Paul the Apostle, telling the church members at Corinth, that God's power -even His weakest ["foolishness"] is far superior or wiser than the wisest men on earth. It is not in reference to calling God a "fool". In the scripture above (Matthew 5:22), Jesus Christ is talking to His disciples [ students or learners], about having an attitude of hate or contempt for people - the kind of attitude that will lead a person into trouble. Christians are supposed to lead a life of love towards God and neighbour [people]. I hope, this clears up any confusion for you.

Answer 4

Context, sweetie.
Check the context of the passage.

Matthew is talking about an attitude check for churchgoers
" I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults a brother will be brought before the council, and whoever says 'Fool' will be sent to fiery hell."
-He expands on "Do Not Murder" clause in the Commandments .... because it's a heart issue... holding a grudge and passing judgment will be held against us same as murder so He counsels folks to go reconcile with whoever you have a beef against and you won't be judged with the severe consequences that go with "Do Not Murder"


In 1 Corinthians... it's a comparison thing.
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."
-Not calling God a fool but talking about our what we think is "wise" or "strong" is nothing in comparison to what He's got to offer...

Context is very important... that's where misconceptions come from... not a thorough read

Answer 5

A brother is a fellow believer in Christ. If we call them a fool for believing in Christ or following Gods word and laws then we are in danger of hell fire. It doesn't say that we will go to hell for calling someone a fool. The foolishness of god, means that no matter what, God is always smarter than man.

Answer 6

(Matthew 5:22) However, I say to YOU that everyone who continues wrathful with his brother will be accountable to the court of justice; but whoever addresses his brother with an unspeakable word of contempt will be accountable to the Supreme Court; whereas whoever says, ‘You despicable fool!’ will be liable to the fiery Ge·hen′na.

Different words but same meaning...with one exception.
FIERY GEHENNA does not equate with HELLFIRE.
GEHENNA IS THE SECOND DEATH.
whereas Hell/Hades will be done away with.
(Revelation 20:14-15) And death and Ha′des were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. 15 Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire.

Gehenna is the lake of fire. Total destruction.
Hell/Hades, always associated with death. is temporary.
So it cannot be a permanent place but is simply man's grave.

The second part about foolishness, has nothing to do with calling God a fool. It just emphasises that God's qualities are so far above us, that IF [ and He will not] God did do something foolish, it would still be better than OUR very best.

Answer 7

I understand this to mean that if you say Thou fool, you are in danger of the very worst judgement.

The second verse is simply saying how even on God's worst day (foolishness), He's still wiser than men.... and likewise with His strength.

Answer 8

The first verse in mathew, basically speaks of forgiveness. it also teaches us of not judging people as God is the only one who can judge us.and also, we are not really allowed to insult Gods creation even by calling anyone a fool.

The second verse in corinthians did not say you could call God a fool, but what this is trying to state is that God is the creator of all things and if he is wise enough to create the earth and anythin that is in it then even when we think that God is being foolish, we are not anywhere as wise as he is. He is wiser than us as he created us.

Answer 9

There is no contradiction. Calling someone "a fool" is not the same thing as talking about foolishness in a general sense. The New Testament talks about the "foolishness of preaching" but it is the Power of God unto salvation. These Scriptures are not calling God a fool it is talking about perceptions of God by those who do not know Him. HUGE difference.

Answer 10

Foolishness is a noun, meaning the act of fooling around and acting unwise.

A fool is a noun, meaning a witless idiot.

When God appears to be messing around, "acting" unwise, even that ACT is wiser than man's wisdom.

We all ACT foolish - or participate in foolishness, at times. Yet we are not all fools.

Another way to look at it: Are you more willing to work with a teacher who says, "Your child is a fool!"
Or one who says, "Your child makes to much foolishness."

BIG DIFFERENCE.

Answer 11

Men think they are intelligent, but they are so low on the intelligence scale that God calls them foolish, this is so that hopefully men will wake up and abandon foolishness and search for greater wisdom. 500 years ago men thought they were intelligent. 400 hundred years ago men thought they were intelligent. 300 years ago men thought they were intelligent. 200 years ago men thought they were intelligent. 100 years ago men thought they were intelligent. Is there a pattern here? Perhaps God is like a college student and we are like first graders. Since we can't make sense of Him, we make up theories to satisfy our first grade minds. The beginning of wisdom may be to accept the fact that you are stupid. To accept the fact that you are stupid would require humility (a good quality) and a true love for the truth (another good quality).