The fool is not merely someone who doubts God's existence — he is the man or woman who deliberately says no to what God has said.
Les Feldick defines a fool as "the man or the woman who says no to what God says for us" (Clip 5). In Romans 1, Paul describes those who "rejected what God has said" and consequently "became fools, saying no to God" (Clip 1). This is a moral refusal, not an honest intellectual question. As with Pharaoh, each repeated "no" hardens the heart until the person chooses against God again and again (Clips 0, 7).
Psalm 14:1 — This is the verse in question — it places the fool's "no God" declaration in his heart and links it to corruption and abominable works.
Romans 1:22 — Paul uses the same fool language for those who have rejected what God has said, which frames Les's interpretation of the fool.
Psalm 14:1 declares, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God; they are corrupt, they have done abominable works: there is none that doeth good." Scripture's diagnosis is that the corrupt heart produces the denial. The fool's words come from the heart, not from a reasoned examination of evidence. Romans 1 reveals the chain beneath that denial: "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things" (Romans 1:21-23). The biblical fool, then, is the one who knew God, refused to honor Him, and descended into a darkened heart and idolatry.
Les teaches that a fool is simply "the man or the woman who says no to what God says for us" (Clip 5). He points to Romans 1, where Paul describes mankind that "rejected what God has said" and consequently "act and respond as a fool" — "becoming fools, saying no to God" (Clip 1). The fool, then, is not an atheist making a philosophical claim but a person refusing God's Word. Les connects this "no" to a process of hardening. As God put Pharaoh on the spot through Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh chose not to let Israel go; he lived with that choice, and when the next demand came, he chose wrong again. "He had made a choice, he'd lived with it, and now when he comes to a next one, he's going to do the same thing," Les explains, "and in the process he's becoming hardened" (Clip 0). The darkened foolish heart comes when people refuse to glorify God and become vain in their imaginations instead (Clip 3). At the root, says Les, is unbelief: "It just irks God to the core that man refuses to believe what He has said" (Clip 4). Esau is the example — "No faith. He couldn't believe a thing God said" (Clip 4). Pharaoh likewise rejected God's offer "of his own volition" (Clip 7). The wisdom of this world — all its great philosophy and art — is "foolishness with God" (Clips 2, 6).
No. Les's point is that the fool's problem is a moral refusal, not an intellectual conclusion. He defines the fool as "the man or the woman who says no to what God says for us" (Clip 5). Paul describes the same people: they "rejected what God has said" and thus "became fools, saying no to God" (Clip 1). The Bible places the fool's declaration in his heart (Psalm 14:1), and Romans 1 says their foolish heart became darkened because "when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful" (Romans 1:21).
Les shows that hardening is a process of repeated choices. God put Pharaoh on the spot through Moses and Aaron, and Pharaoh chose not to let Israel go. After the first plague passed, he hardened his position further. As Les says, "he had made a choice, he'd lived with it, and now when he comes to a next one, he's going to do the same thing, he's going to decide wrong again, and in the process he's becoming hardened" (Clip 0). Rather than glorifying God, men became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened (Clip 3). Pharaoh, Les insists, rejected God's offer "of his own volition" — he had no one to blame but himself (Clip 7).
Because, as Les says, they "rejected what God has said," and consequently they act and respond as fools — even brilliant men produce decisions "as idiotic as a first grader" (Clip 1). Paul describes them as "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1:22). Les also quotes 1 Corinthians 3:19-20: "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness" and "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain" (Clip 2). The world, he says, is operating in "a vacuum of no faith" (Clip 4), and "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God" (Clip 6).
Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God; they are corrupt, they have done abominable works: there is none that doeth good." The Bible's diagnosis is that the corrupt heart produces the denial. Romans 1 then reveals the chain: knowing God, refusing to glorify Him as God, being unthankful, vain imaginations, a darkened foolish heart, and finally the exchange of God's glory for idols (Romans 1:21-23). The fool's problem is located in the heart, not merely in the head.
Pharaoh's Hardening Choice
Les shows that the fool's 'no' is not God zapping a heart like a laser beam; it is a series of choices — Pharaoh chose wrong, lived with it, and chose wrong again until his heart became hardened.
Rejecting What God Has Said
Les reads Paul's words 'becoming fools, saying no to God' as describing those who have rejected what God has said, which anchors the definition of the fool as one who says no to God.
God Takes the Wise in Their Craftiness
Les quotes 1 Corinthians 3:19-20 to show that the thoughts of the world's wise are vain and that God takes them in their own craftiness.
The Darkened Foolish Heart
Les traces the descent: knowing God, refusing to glorify Him, unthankfulness, vain imaginations, and a darkened foolish heart — the root from which the fool's 'no' grows.
Unbelief and No Faith
Esau's problem, Les says, was no faith — he could not believe what God said; God hates unbelief because it refuses to trust what He has spoken.
The Fool Says No to God
Les gives his clearest definition: a fool is 'the man or the woman who says no to what God says for us' — the direct answer to the question.
The Wisdom of the World Is Foolishness
The world's great philosophy, literature, and art are foolishness with God; the power of God comes through what the world considers foolish — the gospel.
Free Will in Rejection
Pharaoh rejected God's offer of his own volition, so he had no right to blame God for his condition; the fool's 'no' is a freely chosen refusal.
Psalm 14:1: The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God; they are corrupt, they have done abominable works: there is none that doeth good.
This is the verse in question, placing the fool's declaration in his heart and linking it to corrupt deeds.
Romans 1:21: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Shows the progression from refusing to glorify God to having a darkened foolish heart.
Romans 1:22: Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
God's verdict on those who rejected Him — the professed wise became fools.
Romans 1:23: And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
The outcome of the fool's 'no' — exchanging God's glory for idols, as Les notes in Clip 1.
1 Corinthians 1:18: For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
The gospel is foolishness to the world, yet it is the power of God for those who believe — Les's point in Clip 6.
1 Corinthians 3:19: For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
God calls the world's wisdom foolishness and catches the wise in their own craftiness.
1 Corinthians 3:20: And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
The thoughts of the worldly wise are vain, as Les quotes in Clip 2.
It means the fool has made a declaration against God. Les defines a fool as "the man or the woman who says no to what God says for us" (Clip 5). The fool's problem is not honest doubt; it is a deliberate refusal to believe and obey what God has spoken (Clip 1).
The Hebrew behind Psalm 14:1 reads literally "no God," and the KJV supplies the italicized words "there is." Les's point is that the emphasis falls on the fool saying no to God — refusing what God has said — rather than merely making a statement about God's existence (Clips 1, 5).
Les explains that a person makes a choice, lives with it, and then when the next test comes decides wrong again — and in the process becomes hardened (Clip 0). Those who knew God but did not glorify Him became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened (Clip 3).
Les says God hates unbelief above immorality, drunkenness, and thievery — "It just irks God to the core that man refuses to believe what He has said" (Clip 4). The fool's "no" is unbelief in action.
Watch the Teaching: Why God Holds Everyone Without Excuse — Romans 1:18-21