1. Why Do Fools Argue? Understanding Their Motives

I John 3:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

Proverbs 26:4-5 says, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.”

According to his folly...

What is folly?

Folly is a “lack of good sense.”

Oh, so what does this passage—Proverbs 26:4-5—mean? Should we never answer a fool? Should we become fools in order to answer fools? I mean, if you can’t beat them, join them.

Good questions.

Proverbs 26:4: “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.”

What this passage, I believe, is saying is first, it is unwise to argue or debate with a fool on his own terms (that is, according to his folly—his lack of good sense). The fool will not listen to wisdom, reason, logic, facts, truth, or differing perceptions. The fool will hold firm to their opinion, their perception, their comfortable lie; even when conforming to evil, the truth is revealed, and even at the cost of their life, of their soul.

The fool will turn a blind eye if that blind eye disrupts their foolishness.

The fool will also use deception; they will distort, manipulate, conceal, misrepresent, and edit the truth to purposefully mislead others. The fool will cut from one moment to another, not in chronological order to show the whole truth, but for fractions of moments that, when pieced together, manipulate the truth and mislead others to their perception, their hate, their agenda, their foolishness; they willfully mislead others to a lie.

The fool will become very angry and verbal and abusive and reject reason when confronted with their foolishness. Since the fool has no desire for wisdom, correction, or understanding, they will attempt to pull others down to their level, like crabs in a barrel. The fool will not apologize—not sincerely. The fool will not accept accountability or responsibility.

The fool will respond with defensive remarks, and, in an attempt to cover up their wrongdoing, their hate, their insinuations, and their foolishness, the fool will demand of you to answer their challenge; this challenge will be bait; they will try to lure you into their world and down to their level of foolishness.

Ridicule is the first and last argument of a fool.

Charles Simmons

By their own words and actions, a fool will prove themselves foolish to those who seek truth.

The fool will, by their own folly, prove their foolishness and prove their misinformation for what it is—if the other will be willing to listen carefully and seek the truth.

The fool will not care who they hurt; the fool will not care what they destroy; the fool will not care about lives ruined and dreams destroyed, so long as the fool can justify their wrongs enough to fool themselves into the belief that the negative, hurtful, and wrongdoing gains are necessary to attain their desired end.

The fool will not be willing to listen; the fool will not be willing to understand; the fool will only believe in their perception and their self-ascribed truth.

If we attempt to argue with a fool on their terms, we will be brought down to their level and be seen just like them.

“Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.”

(Proverbs 26:4)