An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

But even if you do eat an apple a day, that doesn’t mean that you won’t need a doctor. So, what does the proverb mean? An apple a day is healthy. Most proverbs are a quick and comical way of making a certain point.

For me, I think of proverbs as considerations rather than strict rules or facts. When Nietzsche said “God is Dead”, is might sound like he wanted God to be dead. But maybe he was just pointing out that the entire value system in Europe, which had been based on belief in God had collapsed, and people needed to think it all through afresh. But even Jesus focused on the fact that we need a spiritual rebirth from within. Following the crowd was never what Christianity was about.

Belief in God is still widespread around the world, but people are more inclined to explore things for themselves rather than have everything imposed on them.

Likewise in the book of Proverbs, you could find many sayings that you might dispute if you took them strictly literally. One example is how to deal with an annoying, foolish person.

Proverbs 26:3-5
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes.

So should you, or should you not answer a fool according to his folly? Depending on the circumstances, you could take either approach. It’s the same with “turn the other cheek”. It’s something to consider. For example, a person might quote the Old Testament “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” because they’re constantly monitoring for injustices in personal relationships. But a marriage counsellor would surely say that if your first response is “turning the other cheek”, you’ll have a more successful marriage. But you wouldn’t want to be too passive. There were many disputes in the early church. Turning the other cheek wasn’t always the recommended response. Even Jesus didn’t regard that as the default response in every circumstance:

Matthew 18:15-17
¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 

Some modernists clergy don’t see the Bible as the word of God, so they’d largely disregard it, though they might sometimes refer to it. But those of us who do see it as verbally inspired need to see that it’s a complex book. We should not assume that our simple interpretation is correct until we consider what the rest of Scripture says. And it’s also good to listen to other perspectives.

For example, let’s suppose that someone crashes into your car in the church car park and does €1,000 euro worth of damage. You are about to contact your insurance company, and the person asks you not to do so and promises to pay you the money next week. Then, they don’t pay up. You ask them why, and they tell you that it wasn’t their fault. The devil distracted them. So, you go and bring others or tell it to the church. They tell you to “turn the other cheek”. Otherwise, you’re not a true Christian 😀. Would you like to be in a church like that? That’s a purely hypothetical illustration. Thankfully, it’s never happened to me. But I wouldn’t like to be in a church that applies some kind of Sharia law in relation to such matters. I’d certainly listen to other opinions, but I wouldn’t listen to those who took a simplistic outlook on such matters.

And one of the reasons that Jesus criticized people who thought in terms of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” was that they misunderstood what the Old Testament verse was saying. The intention was that the justice system should be fair. And even devout Jews didn’t always firmly apply the law when they were wronged. A good example is Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. When Mary was found to be pregnant, and before he discovered that it was the Holy Spirit rather than another man, he could have publicly disgraced her. In fact, you could even have made a case from the Old Testament for executing her.

Matthew 1:19-20 
¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

I find it interesting that if refers to Joseph as a “just man” rather than a “merciful” man. He wanted to do the right thing. And even apart from Joseph, the legal process for adultery was complex and seldom enforced. Even in recent times, countries such as Ireland and the UK had strict laws that weren’t necessarily enforced. In the UK, the death penalty for treason was only finally abolished in 1998. The last person executed for treason in the UK was William Joyce (“Lord Haw-Haw”) in 1946, hanged for assisting Nazi Germany through his radio broadcasts.

So it’s all a question of balance. I wouldn’t want to disregard Scripture and see the Bible as a mere human book or one that’s very loosely inspired. But I’m happy to accept that our understanding of Scripture and everything else is less than perfect. So, whenever we think through issues, we should be willing to listen to a range of opinions and understanding of what Scripture is saying. It doesn’t mean that we won’t come to decisions, but it’s wise to think and pray rather than jump to conclusions.

And here are some songs and hymns that are based on proverbs or proverb-like material: