Stupid Answers

A person can be "stupid" for one of two reasons. They may overlap. First,without the correct knowledge or understanding, a person can be thoughtless, insensitive or make bad decisions. This may or may not be the person's own fault. Second, a person may be highly intelligent, but closed to the possibility of being wrong. My mathematical equation for this second person is:

Ignorance plus Arrogance
Equals Stupid

StupidStopSign

Paul faced three kinds of people in Athens in Acts 17:32-34. After delivering a short explanation of the gospel, he received three responses.

"Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, 'We shall hear you 1again concerning this.' In this way, Paul went out of their midst. But some men joined him and believed."

1. Some sneered. Why? Since a child can understand the concept of resurrection, a person dies and then comes back to life, these highly intelligent and well educated people chose not to believe what Paul said.

2. Some wanted to hear more.

3. Some believed his message.

Who were these people? "And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, 'May we know what this new teaching is which you are speaking? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. So we want to know what these things mean.' (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.)" --Acts 17:19-21

They must have been wealthy enough to avoid the daily grind of work, since they "used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer." This might imply that they weren't looking for any final answers, or they hadn't found those answers yet.

However, the question wasn't about finding the answers, but wanting the true answers. If yes, those people joined groups 2 and 3. If not, they sneered.

StupidEmotionalAngry

How do people who sneer handle the Truth? They do three things.

1) They reject the possibility that such Absolute Truth exists.

2) They reject the possibility they could be wrong.

Therefore, they have to reject the arguments and evidence of what they disagree with.

3) They intentionally misunderstand it and attempt to disprove it.

Stupid = intentional ignorance
and arrogance

Paul responded to this group by walking away. He recognized the final verdict on these people.

The wicked fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” --Psalm 14:1. Note that the verb "says" is in the active voice. These people had to intentionally teach themselves that God does not exist. 

“Arrogant,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his names, who acts with arrogant fury.     --Proverbs 21:24

A senseless ("stupid) man does not know,
And a fool does not understand this:
    That when the wicked flourished like grass
    And all the workers of iniquity blossomed,
    It was only that they might be destroyed forevermore. --Psalms 92:6-7 (7-8 in Hebrew)

However, the second group, the people who wanted to know more, went with him.

This blog is for the second group. I'll keep putting them up until I run out. If you come up with some more, send me an email and I'll try and give my answer. floydschneider@protonmail.com

Stupid Answers

The Stupid Answer

God creates light before the sun and stars

God spends a day making light before making trillions of stars. “He made the stars also.”, and almost as an afterthought, he makes the trillions of stars.  Genesis 1:14-19

The Intelligent Answer

If God is all-knowing and all-powerful, He can create things. Humans can't create things. We can only build on what God has already created.

This stupid answer assumes that Stars have to contain light to be stars, but they are just lumps of matter. A star with no light is still a lump of matter. Light, being a physical entity ( photons, tiny packets of energy that behave as both waves and particles), can be inserted into the stars after they were created.

And God can create the light shafts that reach from the stars to the earth in the same instance that He created the stars. Not a problem for God. Only a problem for those who choose not to recognize what God is like: all-knowing and all-powerful.

The Stupid Answer should have asked the question, Is there a difference between the light that exists IN God and the light that He created outside of Himself? Did He create humans with a built-in light source, or do we need an external light source to "see" things? A physics question: Can we "see" light?

The Stupid Answer

God got tired and rested. Even God gets tired sometimes.

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made” Genesis 2:2

The Intelligent Answer

The Hebrew word "rested," shavat, means to stop. The stupid answer should have asked the questions, Did God have an order for creating the earth and everything on it? Why did He create the things He created on each day? Do the things on each following day depend on what He created the day before? Why did He take six days to do that? Is He going to use this order to teach humanity something about their future?

The Stupid Answer

Adam names every animal on earth. God makes the animals and parades them before Adam to see if any would strike his fancy. But none seem to have what it takes to please him. (Although he was tempted to go for the sheep.) After making the animals, God has Adam name them all. The naming of several million species must have kept Adam busy for a while.

“and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field.” Genesis 2:18-20

The Intelligent Answer

This one will be fun. I love the ignorance.

The Stupid Answer

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The Intelligent Answer

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The Stupid Answer

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The Intelligent Answer

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