Correcting a Fool

“Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest you also be
like him. Answer a fool according to his foolishness, so that he may
not be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:4-5 MKJV).

Victor wrote this letter to Anton Bosch after receiving a copy of his article Don’t Correct the Fool from “Bible Lover Bill”:

Anton,

I would like to address many of the things you say in this article, which was sent to me by Bill Stevenson, thinking it applies to me. It does not apply to me. It applies to him, but that is the way it is with those to whom we hold up the mirror.

We have spoken the truth, not scoffing, but they have scoffed at us. You, I expect, by the spirit, tenor and errors of your article, will scoff at us as well. We will see if I am wrong.

You say some things about fools. The problem with fools is that they can recognize nothing beyond their capabilities. Therefore, if you are a fool, and I speak truth to you or bear witness of the ways and will of God, you will not receive it. However, light does dispel darkness and will eventually do its work to perfection. We have that faith. So, for now, if I direct you to our site, see if you have the wherewithal to determine whether or not in our lives we have the marks of fools, which you say go through life never learning. Read Our Testimonies to start and then go to some of the Music and Poems.

“Bible lover Bill” sends me your article, thinking, I suppose, that the following words apply to me:

“Fools simply do not want to learn and so any attempt at correcting such is not only a waste of time, but is counter-productive and will only bring problems to the one who brings the correction.”

He does not seem aware that those words might apply to him. Jennings Campbell is with him. But if they are fools, how will they know? If I am a fool, how will I know? Now we have given them plenty to think about, referring to specifics in their thinking, backing it with Scripture, while all they can do is get defensive and throw out pontificating criticisms without any substance at all; they can only say that we are wrong, quoting general Scripture that almost any religious fool can quote. What does that say about who is what here?

We recognize that you did not send your article to us. Bill did. Therefore, we are not accusing you of accusing us. However, I will address several errors, which indicate that you need to hear some things, contrary to your opinion of yourself. If you are prepared to listen and consider, good; if you are prepared to humble yourself and turn to the Lord for righteousness’ sake, wonderful.

You write:

“A wise person, on the other hand, hardly needs to be corrected.”

Of what nature or degree of wisdom do you speak? I happen to know that a wise man is always corrected, that the Lord corrects him, and that is how he receives wisdom. Therefore, to be wiser, more correction is needed. Was any wiser than the Lord, of Whom it is said that He learned obedience by the things that He suffered? So if the Son suffered, even unto death, wherein He was perfected, how do you say that a “wise person hardly needs correction”?

Of a wise person, you say:

“Such a person will be evaluating their own progress all the time and will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to correct and lead them.”

Is a wise man his own judge? Was Paul not wise? Yet he needed a devil to keep him in place. Furthermore, he said:

“But it is a small thing to me that I am judged by you or by man's judging; I am not even a judge of myself” (1 Corinthians 4:3 BBE).

The word “judge,” means “scrutinize, determine, discern, examine, search, question, judge, investigate….” You say a wise man is sensitive to the Holy Spirit. It sounds to me like you are in all self-righteousness, Anton. Who needs a Savior with such virtue? How do you know that you are not the fool who thinks to be right and virtuous? The Bible says one cannot evaluate himself, but you say otherwise. Are those the words of a wise man or a fool? Here are your own words:

“The fool is self-confident and thinks that he is always right and never wrong. And here lies the heart of the issue, pride.”

Are you proud, Anton, or humble? You tell us, seeing you are able to judge yourself and others. And are we speaking to fools, those who are self-confident? I see you as quite self-confident, quite unprepared to be corrected by anyone. Bill, Jennings and Anne all glory in self-confidence and think that we are fools for not listening to them. Are we fools for not heeding fools if they are fools? Must we prove our wisdom by listening to those who speak foolishly? Why will you people not listen to us? Obviously, it works both ways, does it not?

You write:

“The difference between those who accept correction and those who turn on anyone who should dare bring correction to them is simply one of pride.”

Then, ironically, you write:

“The arrogant fool thinks he can do no wrong and has never come to terms with how weak and foolish we are at the best of times.”

If we are “weak and foolish at the best of times,” then what hope do we have in not being fools? Why denounce fools if they can only be “weak and foolish at the best of times”? How then can a man be wise if he is “ever weak and foolish at the best of times”? Do you not contradict yourself? Is your paper not a foolish tirade of fools?

You write:

“The wise man has come face-to-face with the weakness of his flesh and knows all too well how imperfect he really is and so his humility allows him to receive correction.”

Have you come to terms with yourself, Anton? It does not appear so. In essence, your paper is saying, “I am a humble, wise man, not like that publican over there. I pray, I fast, give alms, have come face-to-face with the weakness of my flesh, receive correction, discern my need….” Might you have a halo too, Anton? Is that a silly question…should I be able to see it from here? You are a noble, Christlike person in your own estimation.

Now let us take a closer look at some of the things more obvious that show where you stand. I can say you are a fool and you can say I am a fool. Some of what we have spoken can appear to be subjective, and can appear to leave us in a deadlock, not that we are. But here are some statements you make that are foolish and unlearned according to Scripture.

You say:

“Even Paul after all his powerful revelations, miracles and education lived with the possibility that he could have made a mistake.”

“Powerful revelations”? What revelations of God are not powerful? “Education”? Did you not read what Paul had to say about his “education”? Here is the record:

“Circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; with respect to the law, a Pharisee; with respect to zeal, persecuting the church; with respect to righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But such things as were gain to me, these I have considered loss for the sake of Christ. More than that I also consider all things to be loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have sustained the loss of all things, and I consider them to be rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:5-8 EMTV).

Moses also had a great education, and, as with Paul, it was the kind that tends to puff up. Moses forsook it for the better. So why do you bring up Paul’s education as something positive? It is evident that you have your confidence in the flesh. That is the mark of a fool, Anton. Normally I would not address a fool who does not say he is godly and wise, but you are something else.

You write:

“Paul said that even though he had received his doctrine directly from the Lord (he was the last and one of the few that had this privilege), he still went to Jerusalem to meet with the Twelve to check whether his doctrine was right ‘lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain’ (Galatians 2:2).”

Those are foolish, unlearned words indeed, unlearned because you have not learned anything of the Lord in truth, and foolish because you speak as though you have. Paul declared:

“Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father Who raised Him from the dead)” (Galatians 1:1 EMTV).

Do you really think that Paul had spent years learning directly from Jesus Christ, as he declared, only to have to get approval or confirmation from men? Anton, you do not know what you are talking about. You certainly do not know how revelation from God works. You call his revelations “powerful,” yet deny their power; you also deny the power of Jesus Christ - “having a form of godliness and denying the power thereof.”

In this same letter, Paul also revealed this:

“But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was to be blamed” (Galatians 2:11 EMTV).

Obviously, Paul’s motive for going to Jerusalem was other than what you surmise.

Apparently, you are also a Bibliolater, at least a stranger to revelation, a stranger to Christ the Revelator within, because you say of Paul having revelations:

“He was the last and one of the few that had this privilege.”

Those matured and learned in Christ have everything Paul had. If the God of Heaven takes up residence within a vessel, why would that vessel not have all that He is? Did not John declare?:

“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things” (1 John 2:20 EMTV).

“And as for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him” (1 John 2:27 EMTV).

You have never had that privilege, which, according to John, is every true believer’s heritage. You may point to “believers” who do not know or have those revelations, but are they true believers? Argue and you argue not with me but with the Word of God by John.

You write:

“Could it be that we have not learnt the lesson Paul had that in spite of all his abilities, he at one time was so wrong that he actually persecuted the church?”

You expose yourself. Paul had no abilities of his own, and those he had, as we have already shown, he counted as dung, as loss. You are based in the man of sin, in self-righteousness, in other words, in a house built on sand, on the foundation of a fool, Anton, and there you are teaching, as though you know something. I see in your “statement of faith” that you say:

“It is impossible for man to justify himself before a perfect God.”

Do you believe it?

Paul’s persecution of the church happened before he was born again, by the power of the flesh. What relevance does that have to the new man? None whatsoever. But you could only say the things you say because you have never known the difference between an old and a new life. You are still in the old. You need repentance, a death at the cross, and a resurrection. You have only heard of the Lord, but you have never seen Him. Who are you to teach of Him, not having known Him, much less having been sent by Him to teach?

You ask and reply:

“Can it be that someone can be so full of himself that the possibility that he could be wrong never crosses his mind? Very definitely!”

How about it, Anton? Might that be you? You write:

“The list of arrogant fools is endless and will continue to be added to until the Lord comes.”

Are you not in that list?

You “humbly and with broken spirit” write:

“What is the solution and what will prevent us from falling into the same sad situation? The solution is in two words, humility and brokenness.”

Have you indeed been prevented from “falling into the same sad situation”?

You write:

“This honesty generates a great fear of his own abilities and a great dependence on the Lord and others who are able to provide wise advice and council.”

Are you honest, Anton, as well as humble, wise and broken? Are you able to discern wise advice and counsel? Does it not take wisdom by the grace of God to do so? If grace, then it is not your doing, is it? If it is not your doing, then you have nothing to crow about, do you? Is this not arrogance and foolishness on your part?

Now for your title and general subject matter, Solomon declares:

“Don't make a fool of yourself by answering a fool. But if you answer any fools, show how foolish they are, so they won't feel smart” (Proverbs 26:4-5 CEV).

One who has most certainly been the greatest of fools, but is delivered and now speaks by His Savior and the Savior of all men, that fools may learn as this one-time fool has, by the sheer grace and mercy of the One Who laid His life down for fools and took it up again, bringing them with Him, whole,

Victor Hafichuk

Anton did not reply.