Sm1 brot up diz verses last sunday and d pastorz wr nt abl 2 gv comprehensibl xplanatn 2 diz..i want sm1 2 plz xplain it cous its lik a contradictn....proverbs..26:4>answer not a fool according to his folly,lest he b wise in his own conceit...vers 5>ansa a fool acordin 2 iz folly,lest he b wise in his own conceit....
Plz xplain cous i dnt no wich 2 believe

Kendzyma: Sm1 brot up diz verses last sunday and d pastorz wr nt abl 2 gv comprehensibl xplanatn 2 diz..i want sm1 2 plz xplain it cous its lik a contradictn....proverbs..26:4>answer not a fool according to his folly,lest he b wise in his own conceit...vers 5>ansa a fool acordin 2 iz folly,lest he b wise in his own conceit....
Plz xplain cous i dnt no wich 2 believe

the verses aren't contradctory but u need wisdom to apply it.
If somebody is sincerely questiong u to learn u give a sincere explanation e.g nicodemus sincerely sought out answers from Jesus . Visited him at night and Jesus took time to tell him how to be a child of God. Jesus explained tht except a man b born again he cannot enter the kingdom then elaborated tht theyre two types of birth ,fleshly birth and spiritual birth because nico wondered if he an old man wud enter his mothers womb again.
Nico was a sincere seeker and got a answer and elaborations.
But some ppl ask not out of curiosity or sincerity but to trap the questioned and ridicule him. You can talk urself blue in d face and waste ur wrds it wud b no use on this kind. This is where d wisdom of this verse comes in.
1. You giv the fool an answer tht shows how glaringly foolish his question is. Instead of explaing ur energy away?
E.g wen d pharisees and so on wanted to stone a woman caught in adultery , they came to jesus with a question to trap him.
Stone her or let her go?
If jesus said stone her,he was right accordg to mosaic law but wud contradct his image as a merciful teacher he was known for. If he stood for mercy ,he'd b accused by d pharisees of havg contempt for mosaic law and dishonorg it. He'd also contradct his earlier statement tht he didnt come to abolish d law but fulfill it?
It was logically bullet-proof.
Jesus turned the tables on them wen he asked the one without sin in their midst to cast d first stone?
He answered them accordg to their folly.
Here anoda one.
A student was tired of learng all d boring subjects in school and asked his teacher why he had to learn all this useless things.
The teacher asked him how he wud like it ? Like wat? D student asked.
How he like his hamburger with onions or mustrd. The student got d gist. Stay in school and get a good job or dropout and wrk for minimum wage at a fastfood joint askg customers how they'd like their burger!

On the other hand sometimes u've got to answer a fool appropriately to disprove his foolishness else he'll convince others of his foolishness and gloat in his smartness.
In the parable of the good samaritan. Luke 10vs29: says the questioner wanting to justify himself threw a second question to Jesus . Jesus didnt didnt go into long talk but used a parable to show the foolishness of the questioner as well as answer his question indirectly.
After d parable Jesus then turned the question back on him vs 36 " ... Which of these three men do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers ... ".
The man who asked the foolish question answered it with his own mouth :vs 37