Praise Of Folly

Christ preferred the company of simple people, like fishermen, women, and children. He described himself as a shepherd of his flock, thus comparing his followers to sheep, widely known as a foolish animal. Chris himself is often called the Lamb of God. Folly explains that Jesus condemned those who trust in their own intelligence instead of in God.

Christ’s incarnation as an act to redeem humankind was an act of “foolishness,” and his acceptance of death on a cross was “folly” as well. Christ preached the use of simple images and metaphors from nature, not wise and learned arguments. In his parable about the lilies, Christ teaches that humans should live simple lives, free from care or worry. In Genesis, God forbids man to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, implying that knowledge is harmful. When people ask God for forgiveness, they often invoke folly to explain their actions. Likewise, when Christ was dying on the cross, he asked God forgiveness for his executors because they acted in ignorance. Thus, everything that Christ did contradicted worldly wisdom.

Christianity thus “has a kind of kinship with folly” (128). The most religious people tend to be children, the elderly, women, and “simpletons.” The happiness that Christians seek does not belong to this world but to heaven.