Q: In Matthew 5:22, Jesus says, "Whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." But elsewhere, Biblical authors refer to some people as fools, and even Jesus calls some people fools and blind (in Matthew 23:17-19, in Luke 11:40, and in Luke 24:25). Paul refers to some people as foolish and says Thou fool in First Corinthians 15:36. Isnt this a contradiction?
A: No. Just look at what Matthew 5:22 says, and what it doesnt say. It does not say It is always wrong to call people fools. It says that whoever says Thou fool will be in danger of hellfire. Saying Thou fool can get you arrested and charged and put on trial in a court where the penalty is hellfire. But that doesnt mean you will be convicted. If you were speaking the truth, you will be exonerated. But one should be very, very careful that one is indeed speaking the truth, and since calling someone a fool tends to involve a judgment of his moral and intellectual faculties, the best course of action -- unless one has some special insight, as Jesus did -- is to decline to take such a risk.
Calling someone foolish is not what Jesus is describing in Matthew 5:22 ~ exclaiming You fool! is confrontational; informing a person that he is acting like a fool, or that he is foolishly laboring under false perceptions, in the process of illuminating and instructing him, is not the same thing. Theres also a difference between calling someone You fool! and referring to a group of people, distanced by time and space, as foolish.
Also, in First Corinthians 15:36, an examination of 15:35 will show that the person to whom Paul says Thou fool is a rhetorical construct, not a real individual. This is essentially the same as saying, It would be foolish to uphold this position which I have just described.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: No. Just look at what Matthew 5:22 says, and what it doesnt say. It does not say It is always wrong to call people fools. It says that whoever says Thou fool will be in danger of hellfire. Saying Thou fool can get you arrested and charged and put on trial in a court where the penalty is hellfire. But that doesnt mean you will be convicted. If you were speaking the truth, you will be exonerated. But one should be very, very careful that one is indeed speaking the truth, and since calling someone a fool tends to involve a judgment of his moral and intellectual faculties, the best course of action -- unless one has some special insight, as Jesus did -- is to decline to take such a risk.
Calling someone foolish is not what Jesus is describing in Matthew 5:22 ~ exclaiming You fool! is confrontational; informing a person that he is acting like a fool, or that he is foolishly laboring under false perceptions, in the process of illuminating and instructing him, is not the same thing. Theres also a difference between calling someone You fool! and referring to a group of people, distanced by time and space, as foolish.
Also, in First Corinthians 15:36, an examination of 15:35 will show that the person to whom Paul says Thou fool is a rhetorical construct, not a real individual. This is essentially the same as saying, It would be foolish to uphold this position which I have just described.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
