Avoiding Speculation
There is such a thing as a dumb question. 2 Timothy
2:23 says, “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that
they do engender strifes” (KJV). Thus, if we are to “rightly
divide the word of truth” we need to learn to avoid foolish
questions and speculative teaching (2 Timothy 2:15).
It is easy for Christians to get off-track. Many Bible teachers and
preachers lament over wasted Bible classes ruined by speculative
questions and teaching. What exactly is “speculation?” Quite simply, it
is spending our time focusing on unverifiable opinions rather than
facts.
Consider a few examples (but not for too long):
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Did Adam have a belly button?
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Do angels have wings?
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What was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh?”
Pages and pages of such questions could be compiled,
but these should suffice. Some questions are impossible to answer,
because God has not revealed the answers. If God has not revealed the
answers, then He must not have wanted you to know!
Friends, there is enough to study and learn in what God has revealed (2
Timothy 3:16-17). Let’s not get side-tracked by fruitless, time-wasting
speculation.
Deuteronomy 29:29 is a useful reminder, “The secret things belong to
the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and
to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
October 2006