ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 1 v20 - 25

OVERVIEW:

Since God’s way of reasoning is in accord with things of the spirit, it confounds the reasoning of this world (AMBROSIASTER). The cross is a stumbling block to those who are unbelievers, but to believers it is salvation and eternal life (IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH). Both Greek wisdom and Jewish law are humbled before it (AMBROSIASTER, SEVERIAN OF GABALA, PELAGIUS). Both the wise and the prudent are foolish insofar as they reject the wisdom of God (HILARY OF POITIERS). The simplicity of God’s wisdom makes those who have it appear foolish in the eyes of the world (ORIGEN). The philosophers could not achieve what a few unlearned men accomplished, namely, the conversion of the whole world (CHRYSOSTOM, AUGUSTINE). True philosophy is conveyed through the Son (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA). The apostles won their case, not without a sign but by something that appeared to go against all the known signs—the cross (CHRYSOSTOM). God’s power is intricately interwoven with God’s wisdom (GREGORY OF NYSSA).

1:20a | The Wise Man, the Scribe and the Debater

THE CROSS A STUMBLING BLOCK. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH: My spirit has become an offscouring of the cross, which is a stumbling block to those who are unbelievers, but to us it is salvation and life eternal. Where is the wise man? Where is the debater? Where is the boasting of those who are called prudent? EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 18.1

THE HUMBLING OF GREEK WISDOM AND JEWISH LAW. AMBROSIASTER: Here Paul attacks the Jews as much as the Gentiles, because their scribes and doctors of the law think that it is foolish to believe that God has a Son. Gentiles also laugh at this, but the Jews’ unbelief is based on the fact that the matter is not openly stated in the law, whereas the Gentiles think it is silly because the reasoning of the world does not accept it, claiming that nothing can be made without sexual union. The debater of this age is a man who thinks that the world is governed by the conjunction of the stars and that births and deaths are brought about by the twelve signs of the zodiac. Is there anything more foolish than the belief that the Creator does not care about the world he has made? What would be the point of making it in that case? It is because they see some people enjoying life and others not, because they see the righteous suffering while the wicked boast, that they have come to believe that God does not care. But to say this is to say that God is malevolent and unjust. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.2

THE WISE AND THE PRUDENT. HILARY OF POITIERS: In this matter the wise and the prudent are silent, for they have rejected the wisdom of God. ON THE TRINITY 2.12.

SEVERIAN OF GABALA: The wise man is the Greek, the scribe is the Jew. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.4

1:20b | Making the World’s Wisdom Foolish

THE TRUE WISDOM. ORIGEN: The wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God are not the same thing. God’s wisdom is the true one, without any additives to corrupt it. The world’s wisdom is foolish, even though the simplicity of God’s wisdom makes those who have it appear foolish in the eyes of the world. Believers have received this divine wisdom and thus in this world appear to be fools. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 1.7.1-7.5

1:21a | The World Did Not Know God Through Wisdom

GOD’S WISDOM CONVEYED THROUGH HIS SON. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Paul says that the wisdom of God is teaching in conformity with the Lord, which will show that true philosophy is conveyed through the Son. STROMATEIS 1.90.1.6

GOD’S WISDOM HAS BECOME INCARNATE. ATHANASIUS: Given that men had rejected the contemplation of God and were looking for him in nature and in the material world, making gods for themselves out of mortal men and demons, the loving and general Savior of all, the Word of God, took to himself a body and walked about like a man, in order to meet the senses halfway, so that those who think that God is corporeal might perceive the truth by observing what the Lord accomplishes in his body, and through him recognize the Father. ON THE INCARNATION 15.

1:21b | Saving Those Who Believe

PREACHING THAT SEEMS FOOLISH. AMBROSIASTER: The world has not recognized God but has attributed divine majesty to his creatures and to the elemental powers of the universe, thinking that visible things ought to be worshiped.8 God has therefore chosen a form of preaching which will seem foolish to such people. Those who reject what the apostles preach will be condemned, while believers are being saved. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.9

HUMAN WISDOM DOES NOT CONVERT. CHRYSOSTOM: To believe in the one who was crucified and buried and to be fully convinced that he rose again does not need more reasoning but faith alone. The apostles themselves were converted not by wisdom but by faith. Once they had that, they surpassed the heathen wise men in both wisdom and intellectual depth. … Plato was cast out not by another philosopher of more skill but by unlearned fishers. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.4.10

THE FOLLY OF THE CROSS DISTINGUISHED FROM TWO OTHER KINDS OF WISDOM. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul enumerates two or even three different kinds of wisdom here. First there is what the world calls folly, wisdom greater than the others. Then there is the wisdom given to human beings by which we reason and act, by which we develop and invent things and by which we can know God. Finally, there is a third kind of wisdom, which is found in the contemplation of the creation. The wisdom which is folly to the world is given to us by the Savior, so that people who know God by natural wisdom and who are led to him by contemplating the created order may attain the salvation which neither of these kinds of wisdom can provide and be delivered from error. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 171.

1:22 | Demanding Signs, Seeking Wisdom

JEWS DEMAND SIGNS, GREEKS SEEK ARGUMENTS. AMBROSIASTER: The Jews seek signs because they do not reject the possibility that things like this can happen. What they want to know is whether it has actually occurred, like Aaron’s rod, which sprouted and bore fruit,12 and Jonah who spent three days and nights in the belly of the whale before being spewed out alive.13 But the Greeks seek wisdom, refusing to believe anything which does not accord with human reason. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.14

BOTH EVIDENCE DISBELIEF. PELAGIUS: The Jews want signs, because that is what the prophets gave them, but even then they do not believe. The Greeks, on the other hand, want clever academic arguments. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1.

1:23 | Preaching Christ Crucified

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH THE CRUCIFIED. ORIGEN: What has empowered us is belief in Christ crucified. To the extent that we are lacking something in our faith, then we are missing out on what the power of God has to offer us. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 1.8.1-4.16

A STUMBLING BLOCK AND FOLLY. AMBROSIASTER: It is a stumbling block to the Jews when they hear Christ calling himself the Son of God yet not observing the sabbath. It is foolishness to the Gentiles because they hear things like the virgin birth and the resurrection being preached but regard them as irrational. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.17

1:24a | Jews and Greeks Are Called

THE WISDOM OF THE FATHER KNOWN THROUGH THE SON. AMBROSIASTER: When Jews believe in Christ, they understand that he is the power of God. When Greeks believe in him, they understand that he is the wisdom of God. He is God’s power because the Father does everything through him. He is God’s wisdom because God is known through him. It would not be possible for God to be known through anyone who was not from him in the first place. No one has seen the Father except the Son and whomever the Son has chosen to reveal him to. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.18

THE OFFENSE AND THE CALL. CHRYSOSTOM: The gospel produces the exact opposite of what people want and expect, but it is that very fact which persuades them to accept it in the end. The apostles won their case, not simply without a sign, but by something which appeared to go against all the known signs. The cross seems to be a cause of offense, but far from simply offending, it attracts and calls believers to itself. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.5.

1:24b | Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

GOD’S POWER IS SUFFICIENT. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: The Savior’s teaching is sufficient without additional help, for it is the power and wisdom of God. STROMATEIS 1.100.1.20

GOD’S WISDOM IS INTERWOVEN WITH GOD’S POWER. GREGORY OF NYSSA: Through this description of Christ we derive notions of the divine which make the name an object of reverence for us. Since all creation, both perceptible and imperceptible, came into being through him and is united with him, wisdom is necessarily interwoven with power in connection with the very definition of Christ, the maker of all things. ON PERFECTION.21

THE CROSS AS PATTERN. PELAGIUS: Note that Paul does not say that the divinity of Christ is God’s power and wisdom, but rather the pattern of the cross. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1.22

PREACHING THE CROSS. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The power and wisdom of God is not the divinity of Christ as such but the preaching of the cross. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

1:25 | The Seeming Foolishness of God

GOD’S WISDOM CONFOUNDS HUMAN REASONING. AMBROSIASTER: When Paul speaks of the “foolishness of God,” he is not implying that God is foolish. Rather he is saying that since God’s way of reasoning is in accord with things of the spirit, it confounds the reasoning of this world. It is wiser than human reasoning, because spiritual things are wiser than carnal ones. Spiritual things do not exist through carnal ones, but the other way around. Therefore carnal things are understandable in relation to spiritual ones. Similarly, what belongs to heaven is stronger than what belongs to earth. So what seems like the weakness of God is not really weak at all. Christ appeared to be defeated when he was killed, but he emerged as the victor and turned the reproof back on his persecutors. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.24

CHRIST’S WORLD MISSION CARRIED OUT BY THE UNLEARNED TO EVIDENCE GOD’S POWER. CHRYSOSTOM: The folly and the wisdom spoken of here are more apparent than real. For the philosophers could not achieve what a few unlearned men accomplished, namely, the conversion of the whole world. The philosophers spoke about trivialities and convinced only a few. The apostles spoke about God, righteousness and judgment and converted a great many. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.6.25

THE GOSPEL TRUTH. AUGUSTINE: There is no way that this gospel truth could have been made acceptable to some philosophers and debaters. They follow a way of life that does not stand in the truth but is only an imitation of it. They deceived themselves and others. LETTER 120, TO CONSENTIUS.26