Simply Simple Minded

(Proverbs 1:22 KJV)  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

Have you ever felt that someone thinks you are ignorant because you are a believer?  I don’t just mean you didn’t read the paper today.  I mean the kind of ignorance that doesn’t know that libraries exist.  They may not say it, but you can see it in their eyes.  It never occurs to them that they could be the ones lacking in knowledge.

This is a place where the latest translation gets to the nuance best.  The KJV has “simple” (6612) and “simplicity” (6612).  Notice they are the same words.  The original NASB has “naive” and “simplicity.”  The updated NASB has “naive” and “simple minded.”  We need to set aside our tolerant vanilla culture and look at what is being said.

The first use of the word does not refer to the naivety of young children or the pure.  The second word does not refer to those who are mentally retarded.  Both words refer to a person who is locked into a world view that refuses to consider honest facts.  It is one of those situations where they call out, “Are you going to believe me or your own lying eyes?”

So?  Never be afraid of honest science and real facts.  God made the universe.  He wrote the Bible.  Be patient with those who have closed their minds in the name of diversity.