Today’s question is, What does the Bible mean when it says, “The fool says in his
heart, ‘There is no God’”?
In this video I’ll answer that question from a biblical perspective.
Then afterwards, as always, I’ll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end.
Both Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 read, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”
Some take these verses to mean that atheists are stupid, that is, lacking intelligence.
However, that is not the only meaning of the Hebrew word translated “fool.”
In this text, the Hebrew word is nabal, which often refers to an impious person who has
no perception of ethical or religious truth.
The meaning of the text is not “unintelligent people do not believe in God.”
Rather, the meaning of the text is “sinful people do not believe in God.”
In other words, it is a wicked thing to deny God, and a denial of God is often accompanied
by a wicked lifestyle.
The verse goes on to list some other characteristics of the irreligious: “They are corrupt; their
deeds are vile; / there is no one who does good.”
Psalm 14 is a study on the universal depravity of mankind.
Many atheists are very intelligent.
It is not intelligence, or a lack thereof, that leads a person to reject belief in God.
It is a lack of righteousness that leads a person to reject belief in God.
Many people do not object to the idea of a Creator, as long as that Creator minds His
own business and leaves them alone.
What people reject is the idea of a Creator who demands morality from His creation.
Rather than struggle against a guilty conscience, some people reject the idea of God altogether.
Psalm 14:1 calls this type of person a “fool.”
Psalm 14:1 says that denying God’s existence is commonly based on a desire to lead a wicked
life.
Several prominent atheists have admitted the truth of this.
Some, such as author Aldous Huxley, have openly admitted that a desire to avoid moral restraints
was a motivation for their disbelief:
“I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; and consequently assumed
that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for
this assumption.
The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a
problem in pure metaphysics.
He is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not
do as he wants to do./ For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of
meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality.
We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.”
The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning - the Christian meaning,
they insisted - of the world.
There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our
erotic revolt: we would deny that the world had any meaning whatever.”
― Aldous Huxley, Ends and Means
Belief in a divine Being is accompanied by a sense of accountability to that Being.
So, to escape the condemnation of conscience, which itself was created by God, some simply
deny the existence of God.
They tell themselves, “There is no overseer of the world.
There is no Judgment Day.
I can live as I please.”
The moral pull of the conscience is thus more easily ignored.
Trying to convince oneself there is no God is unwise.
The point of “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” is that it is an
impious, sinful heart that will deny God.
The atheist’s denial flies in the face of much evidence to the contrary, including his
own conscience and the universe he lives in.
A lack of evidence of God’s existence is not the true reason atheists reject a belief
in God.
Their rejection is due to a desire to live free of the moral constraints God requires
and to escape the guilt that accompanies the violation of those constraints.
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness
of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about
God is plain to them . . . so that people are without excuse… Their thinking became
futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools…Therefore God gave them over in the
sinful desires of their hearts…They exchanged the truth about God for a lie” (Romans 1:18–25).
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