_And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom._ The Apostle here descends from the general to the particular. In other words: I said in the preceding chapter that God in preaching the Gospel willed not to use the wisdom of the wise in this world, but rejected... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER II. SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER He proceeds to exalt the spiritual wisdom of Christ above all natural and animal wisdom. Therefore he says: I. That he knew and preached nothing but Christ crucified; and that not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of po... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified._ Mark the word _determined:_ it is as if he said, I did not think of, I did not value any knowledge save that which is of Jesus crucified, our Saviour, and, therefore, I so bore myself among you, as if I knew nothi... [ Continue Reading ]
_And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power_. Speech (_λόγος_) denotes his private and familiar conversation as contrasted with his public preaching. S. Thomas and the Glossa distinguished the two words in this way; so... [ Continue Reading ]
_That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God._ Our preaching is to be of the kind just mentioned, so that your faith, _i.e._, your conversion to the faith of Christ, may not be attributed to human wisdom and eloquence but to the power and working of God. Your faith... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect._ This wisdom that he speaks among the perfect, that is, the faithful, is Christian wisdom, and is concerned with the Cross of Christ, with grace, salvation, and the eternal glory won for us by Christ. And although the "faithful" are simple, yet i... [ Continue Reading ]
_But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery._ (1.) This is a Hebraism for "the wisdom of the mystery." that great secret of the Divine counsel, about the Incarnation of the Word, and the redemption of man by Christ, which cannot be attained to by man by any effort of reason no, nor yet by the angel... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which none of the princes of this world knew._ The pronoun is better referred to _glory_ than to wisdom, and the sense is: if this wisdom, or rather this glory and its being predestined in Christ, had been known by Pilate, Annas, Caiaphas, and the other princes of the world, they would never have c... [ Continue Reading ]
_But, as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him._ After "but" there is an ecthlipsis, and we must supply, "this wisdom and the glory which was its end were hidden from them," as it is writt... [ Continue Reading ]
_But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit._ S. Paul here anticipates an objection. It might be said, "If eye hath not seen, neither have entered into the heart of man, the wisdom and the glory that Christ has prepared for His friends, how is it that you boast yourself of its possession?" Pau... [ Continue Reading ]
_What man knoweth the things of a man?_ Those in the inner recesses if his being, which are buried in his heart and mind, as, _e.g_., his thoughts, resolutions, and intentions, and the foundation of the character itself. _Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God._ The Holy Sp... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth. I.e_., not in words taught by Cicero, Demosthenes, or Aristotle, such as human wisdom teaches, but in words inspired by the Holy Ghost. _Comparing spiritual things with spiritual._ In other... [ Continue Reading ]
_The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God._ Natural or animal is here applied to one who is concerned with this life only, and thinks after the way of this life, who follows the objects of his sensations and the thoughts of his heart. Such were the Apostles before they received... [ Continue Reading ]
_But he that is spiritual judgeth all things._ He is called spiritual, as we have seen, who follows faith and wisdom and the teaching of the Holy Spirit, who has the Holy Spirit as the ruler of his soul. So Chrysostom, Anselm, S. Thomas. _Judgeth all things._ 1. Hence Calvin and the Anabaptists mak... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who hath known the mind of the Lord?_ Since the spiritual man has been taught by God and follows His rules, so far as he is such, he can be judged by no one; for one who should judge him ought to be wiser or greater than the Spirit of God, so as to be able to penetrate and measure that Spirit. But... [ Continue Reading ]