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Wisdom is Foolishness

O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God. (2 Ne 9:28-29)

What causes a person to supplant his/her faith in God with secular knowledge? Why do some individuals not reconcile the two?

I consider myself to be a relatively intelligent person, yet I do not consider myself one to not hearken to the counsels of God. I am sure there are others like me. So why can we do it and many others not?

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Kim Siever

Queer Mormon poet with radical political views. I have been married 27 years, and we have 6 children. Sunday school president. Served in the Utah Provo Mission.

3 thoughts on “Wisdom is Foolishness”

  1. This was one of the scriptures that I memorized in the MTC (or was it in Seminary?)

    Anyway I think a person is liable to supplant his or her faith when they feel dissonance between what they are learning in school or elsewhere and what the church is teaching.

    Examples: The Theory of Evolution and the church’s lack of a stance on the subject; DNA and the disputed origins of Native Americans; the list goes on and on, but in general a lack of evidence to support their beliefs. Some people are better at dealing with dissonance than others.

  2. I didn’t know you had been in the MTC, Jeff.

    You know it is interesting what you said about supplanting faith when dissonance emerges. The exact opposite happens with others. Some supplant their faith and other supplant the “evidence”.

    So, on the one hand we have people who think science (or whatever) is too absolute for their to be a God. On the other hand, we have people who think God is too miraculous for science to be the source of truth.

    It’s too bad those of in the middle (having no problems with God, our religion, science or whatever) are in a minority.

  3. I found this BY quote that applies to this post:

    “…we differ from the Christian world, for our religion will not clash with or contradict the facts of science in any particular.” (JD, 14:115-117)

    Unfortunately, many former and current members miss this part of our beliefs.

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