The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one. Psalms 14:1-3
In our culture, wisdom and knowledge are highly valued, and I would argue they ought to be. With the right knowledge and understanding, people can reach amazing heights. So much good has been accomplished through the expansion of humanity’s knowledge base. Perhaps no area of life better exhibits this truth than the world of modern medicine. Many things once considered a death sentence are now able to be either cured or treated, thus allowing people to enjoy more years of life with their loved ones on the earth. Many of the struggles people have endured throughout the centuries have been alleviated by technological advances (one of my personal favorites is the invention of air conditioning). On a much more important note, far less people face food shortages because of mass production via technology. So, there is much to commend concerning the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge.
However, this increased intellect in humanity has not come without a price. As humanity has grown ever more intelligent, many have abandoned faith in God and placed their faith in the power of science to answer life’s greatest questions. This is especially seen in the increase of atheism and agnosticism in our culture. Pseudo-scientists following in Darwin’s footsteps claim to have proven that human beings are nothing more than the latest iteration of evolution’s mindless natural processes. Such a belief, coupled with the relative ease in which people live today, has led many to the conclusion that God does not exist, or they do not need Him if He does. As Paul said nearly two-thousand years ago, “…there foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man— and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things…who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (Romans 1:21-23, 25, 28).
In short, though these people have a great deal of knowledge, they are lacking in heavenly wisdom. Paul spoke of the wisdom of man in 1 Corinthians 1, and James called it wisdom which does not come from above as he drew a stark contrast between earthly and heavenly wisdom in James 3:13-18. One might say knowledge is the possession of facts while wisdom is the ability to properly apply the facts one possesses into a well-ordered life. As David said, “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God” (Psalms 14:1).
Therefore, we echo Solomon in saying, “Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom, and in all your getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7). Jesus declared the knowledge of God is eternal life (John 17:2-3). If we seek earthly wisdom in the absence of heavenly wisdom, we become educated fools. As Dr. Ben Carson once poignantly said, “I know a lot of fools with PhDs.” We must be sure we are filled with the right kind of wisdom; our souls depend on it.