Chapter Two

The character of the Apostle Paul’s preaching in Corinth (1–5). On the higher wisdom contained in the Gospel (6–16)

1 Cor 2:1-5. During the founding of the Church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul strictly adhered to the principle he mentioned in the first chapter: not to resort to the aid of human wisdom in the work of establishing the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 2:1. And I, when I came to you, brothers, came not with excellence of speech or wisdom proclaiming to you the testimony of God, 1 Corinthians 2:2. for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. “When I came to you.” This was after the Apostle Paul’s departure from Athens (see Acts 18). — “Not with excellence of speech,” that is, without concern that his word, his speech, be built according to all the rules of oratory. — “Or wisdom.” He also had no concern that his preaching should be distinguished by philosophical profundity. — “For I decided.” The apostle acted this way in Corinth by a decision made in advance. — “And him crucified.” The apostle decided, of all Christ’s life, to direct the Corinthians’ attention chiefly to his crucifixion, which, though it speaks little to human wisdom, is nonetheless the true means of redemption for humanity. He did not want Christianity to have acted upon the Corinthians only by satisfying their intellectual or aesthetic demands. In that case the Corinthians could easily have equated it with those philosophical-religious teachings that were appearing in great numbers at that time. It was necessary to show the Corinthians directly that Christianity was a wholly special, new religion, having nothing in common with the above-mentioned teachings — and this was possible only through the direction that the apostle gave to his preaching.

1 Corinthians 2:3. and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. The apostle was well aware that coming before Corinth with only the proclamation of Christ crucified was on his part a great risk. The feeling of weakness in him passed into direct fear for the outcome of his undertaking and was even accompanied by a kind of physical agitation (“trembling”). And indeed, the apostle had come specifically to preach to pagans, to whom he could not appeal by pointing out that the Old Testament prophecies had been fulfilled in Christ, as he did when addressing Jews. And he did not wish to resort to pagan wisdom either. Hence his anxiety was understandable.

1 Corinthians 2:4. And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, 1 Corinthians 2:5. so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom but on the power of God. Nevertheless, his “word,” that is, the Gospel that formed the content of his preaching, and his “preaching,” that is, his speeches about Christ (from the external side), remained free from the influences of human wisdom. — “Not in persuasive words of human wisdom.” The apostle did not place the power of his preaching in giving it the external appearance of a rigorously elaborated oratorical system. — “But in demonstration of the Spirit and power.” By “demonstration” (ἀποδείξει) one should understand the clarity attained in the mind of the listener to the apostle’s preaching (cf. 1 Cor 14:24-25). The apostle, in preaching to the Corinthians, sought only to make fully clear what constituted the essence of the Gospel. — “Of the Spirit and power.” “Spirit” is a genitive of cause. Only from the divine Spirit does such a perfectly clear awareness come to the listeners of the apostolic preaching (cf. Eph 1:17-18). “Power” is a genitive indicating the manner of the Spirit’s action. The Spirit acts powerfully in this case; the inner power of the truth proclaimed by the Holy Spirit’s aid draws the mind, will, and heart of a person toward obedience to this truth. — The apostle here could hardly have had in mind the miracles he performed even in Corinth (the view of John Chrysostom), because in ch. I he himself expressed disapproval of the Jews who sought a support for their faith in Christ only in miraculous signs (v. 22). The apostle acted this way because he understood well how easily a faith grounded on logical arguments can be shaken by new arguments of the same kind. He therefore wished, through his simple testimony about Christ, only to open a path for the action of the power of God’s Spirit upon the hearts of the Corinthians. — In this way, the apostle here returns again to the theme he expressed in ch. I, v. 18: the Gospel is not wisdom at all, but power — not philosophy, but the work of salvation. The Corinthians divided into parties precisely because they refused to acknowledge this truth. They turned the Gospel into a system, transformed the Church into a philosophical school, and its ministers into teachers and rhetoricians. 1 Cor 2:6-16. The apostle has already said (1 Cor 1:23-24) that the crucified Christ is not only the power of God, but also the wisdom of God. He now develops this latter thesis. He depicts the wisdom contained in the Gospel by its supernatural origin and by its inaccessibility to ordinary human understanding (6–9), and points to the only way by which it can be known and communicated to others (10–13). In doing so, the apostle unfolds the concept of Christian “perfection,” which makes people capable of understanding divine wisdom (14–16).

1 Corinthians 2:6. Yet among the perfect we do speak wisdom, but it is a wisdom not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away, This contains the theme of the section that follows, ending with verse 4 of chapter III. Although the cross is not wisdom, yet for one who has already experienced in himself the grace of the redemption granted by the Cross of Christ, the Cross is the source of all enlightenment and the highest wisdom. — The “wisdom” of which the apostle speaks here is not the simple preaching of Christ, but religious-philosophical reflections on the nature and foundations of Christianity, on the plans of divine providence. Such reflections the apostle presents, for example, in the Epistle to the Romans (chs. IX–XI), in the Epistle to the Ephesians (ch. I), and to the Colossians (ch. I), or in ch. XV of our epistle. To set forth such teachings is the work not of a missionary but of a teacher. A missionary addresses himself properly to the heart of the sinner and points to the cross as the means of salvation from sins, while a teacher develops the knowledge of believers and thereby promotes the intensification of the feeling of Christian love in them. — So to understand the expression “wisdom” is suggested by the accompanying expression: “among the perfect.” The word “perfect” (τέλειος) here obviously has a special meaning, not identical with “believer” (πιστός). In 1 Cor 3:1 instead of this word the word “spiritual” (πνευματικός) is already used, opposite to “infant” (cf. 1 Cor 14:20; Eph 4:13-14). By “infant” here and in the cited parallel passages is meant a “believer” who has only just entered the Church and still needs spiritual strengthening. Thus by “perfect” one must understand a Christian who has already attained full manhood, as opposed to the Christian-child, who has been established in Christian faith and life to a sufficient (though not full — cf. Phil 3:12-17) degree. When the apostle finds himself among such believers who are established in Christ, he considers himself entitled to open before them the treasures of wisdom contained in the Gospel (cf. Col 2:3). In doing so, the apostle acts no longer as a preacher but as a teacher (instead of “we speak” one should put: “we converse, we deliberate” — in Greek: λαλοῦμεν). “Wisdom not of this age.” The Corinthians supposed that the teaching of Christianity was only an improved teaching of Greek philosophy. The apostle on the contrary says that the wisdom he proclaims is not at all a product of the human mind (“of this age” — see 1 Cor 1:20). — “Nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away.” Some commentators understand this as referring to “demons,” on the basis of John 12:31 and Eph 6:12. But according to the apostle, these “rulers of the age” crucified Christ (v. 8) — which means they are not demons. Furthermore, the apostle considers these “rulers of the age” capable of knowing the wisdom of God in Christ, and supposes that, had they known it, “the rulers of the age” would not have crucified Christ. But again, this he could not say about demons, who knew Christ and yet harmed him in every way... It is better to see here those people such as Herod, Pilate, and the Pharisees who stood at the head of the Jewish people at the time of Christ and almost unwittingly cooperated in the realization of the plan of divine providence. — “Who are passing away.” The more the influence of the Gospel increases in the world, the more the representatives of human wisdom lose their power.

1 Corinthians 2:7. but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery — the hidden wisdom — which God foreordained before the ages for our glory, “The wisdom of God.” This wisdom was originally in God and proceeded from him. — “In a mystery” (εν μυστηρίω). In the Apostle Paul’s usage, the word “mystery” denotes not a fact or event that one person makes known to another, but a decision hidden until a certain time in God and then disclosed by God himself. A mystery is an event or truth that a person cannot learn by his own mind independently but learns only through revelation from God (Eph 3:4; Rom 11:25; 1 Cor 15:51; cf. Luke 8:10). Instead of “in a mystery” it would be more accurate to translate: “which existed as a mystery.” It is impossible to refer this expression to the word “we speak” — because that would mean the apostle introduced some kind of special, esoteric or secret, teaching of religion. — “The hidden wisdom.” This addition indicates that it pleased God for a long time to conceal this wisdom from people (cf. Rom 14:24-25; Eph 3:5). By this it is distinguished from another, also divine, wisdom that people could know from the very beginning of their existence (1 Cor 1:21; Rom 1:20): that was the wisdom disclosed in creation. — “Which God foreordained...” Two characteristics of the true evangelical wisdom have already been indicated. These are its higher origin and then its hiddenness. Now the apostle indicates the third characteristic feature — its high purpose. This wisdom is to lead to the glorification of believers. The human being was created for heavenly glorification — this goal was determined in the Council of God before the creation of the world and of humanity (cf. Rom 1:21). This glory will consist in the fact that believers will form a community of saints who are capable of reflecting upon themselves the majesty of God and of serving as instruments of the holy will of God, who stand in the relation of children to God and of brothers to Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:8. which none of the rulers of this age has known; for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Here the apostle proves the superhuman origin of the divine wisdom contained in the Gospel and its mysterious character by pointing to the fact of Christ’s crucifixion by people. Christ, this incarnate Divine Wisdom, was not recognized in this dignity of his by the representatives of humanity, the supreme representatives of human wisdom. They had no conception of the high destiny of humanity and therefore rejected and crucified the one who first fulfilled this destiny in his own person. — “The Lord of glory.” As the apostle said at the end of verse 7, “glory” was the ultimate goal of human existence on earth, in accordance with the divine purpose. But when the Lord himself came — the very Sovereign of this glory — people, instead of turning to him to receive this glory, rejected him and even put him to death!

1 Corinthians 2:9. But, as it is written: what no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and what has not entered the heart of man — what God has prepared for those who love him. The same thought — about the higher origin of evangelical wisdom and its mysteriousness — the apostle proves here by a reference to a prophetic word. It is simpler and more natural to complete this verse with the addition: “this wisdom is that of which it is written: ‘no eye has seen’” etc. — Where this passage comes from is difficult to say. It is more plausible to suppose, along with Jerome, that here the prophet combined two sayings of the Prophet Isaiah found in chs. LXIV and LXV of his book (Isa 64:4). — The three expressions: “to see, to hear,” and “to enter the heart” designate the three paths by which human knowledge proceeds: sight or direct experience, hearing — or knowledge received through the study of tradition — and, finally, what enters the heart, or knowledge based on one’s own reflection. By none of these three means could a person attain knowledge about the salvation destined for him by God — whether the blessings received here through Christ, or the future, heavenly glorification (cf. Eph 3:18).

1 Corinthians 2:10. But God has revealed these things to us through his Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. How then did the apostle himself come to know this wisdom of God? He and his helpers (“to us” — cf. vv. 6 and 13) received this knowledge by way of revelation (“God revealed”). The apostle here has in mind that initial illumination by the light of the Gospel which he received directly from God at his call to apostolic ministry, and of which he speaks in the Epistle to the Galatians (Gal 1:12). Ordinary believers are also granted revelations (cf. Eph 1:17), but these revelations are, one might say, of secondary significance and represent a reproduction of the first revelation granted to the first heralds of Christianity, which was then enshrined in the sacred writings of the New Testament as a guiding principle of Christian life (cf. John 17:20). — The means through which the apostle received this revelation was the “Spirit” of God. This Spirit grants all knowledge, because everything is open to him. — “And the depths of God,” that is, the being of God, the attributes of God, the divine plans and decisions.

1 Corinthians 2:11. For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. In order to explain to his readers this activity of the Spirit of God — which occurs, naturally, within the divine sphere — the apostle now speaks of the activity of the human spirit within the sphere of a person’s inner life. In our soul too there are states of mind and strivings that are accessible only to our own spirit and incomprehensible to another person.

1 Corinthians 2:12. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we might know the things freely given to us by God, The Spirit of God is the opposite of the “spirit of the world.” By the “spirit of the world” the apostle means the godlike human soul with its high capacities, which in people of genius were elevated to extraordinary power and by which humanity possesses many great works of philosophy and art. All the same — the apostle wishes to say — however precious the works of this human spirit may be, they cannot in any way compare with what is given to certain chosen ones by the Spirit of God. The apostle calls this Spirit the Spirit that proceeds from God (εκ), to show that he cannot be confused with the human spirit. — “The things given to us,” that is, all the saving blessings: the sending of the Son of God, the redemption of humanity by him, justification, sanctification, and the like. All this can, of course, be grasped by simple, immediate faith, but it can also be “known” (ειδέναι) — that is, apprehended in its full breadth and depth, the full greatness of these blessings fully realized — which is granted by the Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 2:13. And we speak these things not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Spirit, matching spiritual things with spiritual things. The Spirit of God communicates to the apostle not only the content of his preaching but also teaches him to clothe this content in an appropriate form. If one wishes to teach people what has been revealed by the Spirit of God, one does not in that case make use of words found by the person himself or by the combined efforts of human genius. One waits for a special prompting from the Spirit, and in this lies the secret of the distinctive style of Holy Scripture. Of course, there is nothing mechanical in this inspiration: as the expression “taught” (διδακτοῖς) shows, the apostle here speaks of the inspired person’s living appropriation of the truth being revealed to him. — “Matching spiritual things with spiritual things.” In the Russian translation the expression πνευματικοῖς is understood as the neuter of the adjective. But with that interpretation there would be nothing new in this expression compared with the first half of the verse; it is therefore better to understand the Greek expression as the masculine, and to translate as: “since we who are spiritual offer spiritual teachings to spiritual people (the same as ‘perfect’ — cf. v. 15 and 1 Cor 3:1), exercising a certain discernment.”

1 Corinthians 2:14. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he is not able to understand them, because they are discerned spiritually. This special wisdom can be communicated through the Apostle Paul and his helpers only to those who are capable of receiving it, and such people are comparatively few. The majority of people are “natural” people (ψυχικοί). This expression designates a person as an animated being, with a natural vital power (ψυχή), which is common to human beings and all other living creatures. Such a person does not possess that higher power of life through which morally free beings enter into communion with God and which in Holy Scripture is called the “spirit” (πνεῦμα). It is true that a person in the natural state also has a “spirit” (cf. 1 Thess 5:23), but this spirit is not in him an actual power and an actual life. Rather, it is only a receptivity to divine promptings, a capacity to understand and receive the divine, which in the Christian is already transformed into a new principle of life. Of course, even the soul in a person possesses higher capacities than in other animated beings, but still only the spirit places a person in relation to God, and by spirit precisely a person is sharply distinguished from animals. In the natural person the spirit remains, one might say, in a latent state (something like “latent energy”) and only the Spirit of God awakens it to life and makes it master of the soul and body. The natural person possesses only the reason or understanding innate to him, by means of which he judges the phenomena of this present life. It should be noted, however, that the “natural” person is not the same as the “fleshly” person (1 Cor 3:1): the Corinthian Christians were fleshly, but the apostle could certainly not say that they “regarded the spiritual as foolishness.” “Does not receive.” Just as an egoist “is unable” to believe that anyone could perform some difficult deed without personal interest, so the “natural” person in the full sense of the word is incapable of understanding the great significance of Christ’s work (of divine wisdom), because it is beyond the range of his understanding. — “Spiritually,” that is, on the basis of spiritual premises, possessing a certain store of higher, spiritual knowledge.

1 Corinthians 2:15. But the spiritual man judges all things, and he himself is judged by no one. 1 Corinthians 2:16. For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Who is the natural person and who is the spiritual person — the apostle has the capacity to discern, as does every spiritual person. In verse 15 the apostle asserts that such a capacity truly exists, and in verse 16 he adds that he, Paul, possesses this capacity. — “Judges all things.” From a mountain it is easy to see what is happening below, while from below one often cannot see what is occurring on the mountain. So also the natural person understands nothing of the spiritual, while the spiritual understands everything — both the good and the evil in public and personal life. — “For who has known...” The apostle borrows this expression from the book of Isaiah (Isa 40:13 in the LXX text). He evidently refers here to special revelations he has received, which none of the Corinthian Christians has been granted (“we” is contrasted with “with you” — in 1 Cor 3:1). — “The mind of the Lord” (νοῦς) — this is not the same as “the Spirit of the Lord.” This expression designates the thoughts of God concerning humanity and the best means of realizing those thoughts. The “Spirit,” on the other hand, denotes the organ through which these thoughts are communicated to the spiritual person. — “But we have the mind of Christ,” that is, we possess knowledge of all the thoughts and plans of Christ and know how to carry them out. Whoever regards such people with distrust is, in effect, distrusting Christ himself.