From all that I have attempted to say it should be clear now that sincenty and
conscientiousness are not enough History has proven that these noble wrtues can
be relegated to tragc vlces There is nothing more dangerous in all the world than
sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidy As Shakespeare said
“For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds,
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds ”22
As the chief moral guardian of the community, the church must implore men to
be good and well-intenhoned It must extol1 the vlrtues of kmd-heartedness and
conscienhousness But somewhere along the way it must remind men that goodness
and conscienhousness wthout intelligence may be the brutal forces that wll lead to
shameful crucificions The church must never bre of reminding men that they have
a moral responsibility to be intelligent
We must admit that the Church has often overlooked this moral demand for
enlightenment. At bmes it has talked as if ignorance is a vlrtue and intelligence a
cnme Through its obscuranhsm, closed mindedness, and obstinancy to new truth,
the church has often unconsciously encouraged its worshippers to look askance
upon intelligence
But if we are to call ourselves Chnshans, we had better avoid intellectual and
moral blindness. Throughout the New Testament we are reminded of the need for
enlightenment