Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.

what

Judges 6:13 And Gedeon said to him: I beseech thee, my lord, if the Lord be with us, why have these evils fallen upon us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers have told us of, saying: The Lord brought us out of Egypt but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hand of Madian.

Jeremiah 44:17-19 But we will certainly do every word that shall proceed out of our own mouth, to sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we and our fathers have done, our kings, and our princes in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and we were filled with bread, and it was well with us, and we saw no evil. . . .

wisely or out of wisdom

Genesis 6:11,12 And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity. . . .

Psalm 14:2,3 The Lord hath looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God. . . .

Isaiah 50:1 Thus saith the Lord: What is this bill of the divorce of your mother, with which I have put her away? or who is my creditor, to whom I sold you: behold you are sold for your iniquities, and for your wicked deeds have I put your mother away.

Romans 1:22-32 For, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. . . .

Romans 3:9-19 What then? Do we excel them? No, not so. For we have charged both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin. . . .