Brutish Fools

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

"O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this." (Psalm 92:5-6)

In God’s sight, brutish men are not those who act like animals, but those whose understanding of God is like that of animals. And those who are fools are not those who seem stupid about the ways of this world, but those who refuse to understand the ways of God.

The various applications of the adjective "brutish" in the Bible are significant. For example, "he that hateth reproof is brutish" (Proverbs 12:1). Speaking of those whose god is not the true God of creation, but who are satisfied with their self-centered faith, the prophet says: "Every man is brutish by his knowledge" (Jeremiah 51:17).

Our text stresses the sad truth that "brutish" men do not appreciate either God's great works or His deep thoughts. They refuse to see either the tremendous evidences of intelligent design in the works of God or the profound depths in the plan of God.

The wonderful psalms of David twice stress that "the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalms 14:1; 53:1). And the great apostle Paul, speaking of such people, said that "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools," for they have "changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator" (Romans 1:22, 25).

Such attitudes, unfortunately, seem to be those of the dominant scientists and educators of our day. They insist that young people be taught naturalism only, ignoring the fact that there is no evidence whatever for a naturalistic origin of life or man. Belief in evolution requires more blind faith than belief in God and creation. We should not be impressed and influenced by brutish and foolish philosophies. HMM

This article was originally published August, 2011. "Brutish Fools", Institute for Creation Research, https://www.icr.org/article/brutish-fools (accessed December 22, 2024).