God Chose the Foolish and Weak Things of the World (1 Corinthians 1:22–28)

1 Cor. 1:22–23. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.

Saint Paul explains that the preaching which he and the other Apostles conduct by God’s command is indeed foolishness, and yet, notwithstanding this, it saves. He speaks as it were: that God indeed arranges the salvation of all through the foolishness of preaching, this needs no intellectual proofs; but look at what is happening before everyone’s eyes and you will see that it is so. God chose us and sent us to preach salvation both to Jews and to Greeks. What exactly shall we preach? – Believe in Christ crucified and you will be saved. That is what we do: wherever we come, both to Jews and Greeks we say: believe in Christ crucified and you will be saved. Looking at us, must not anyone say: is it not foolishness to conduct such preaching? What success can you expect from such preaching? You say: believe in the Crucified One and you will be saved. But for a Jew this is a stumbling-block, and for a Greek – foolishness. Who will listen to you and believe? Give the Jew a sign, present the Greek some wise philosophical system and offer it in an attractive form, then perhaps they will open their ear to your preaching, but the way you do it – this is sheer foolishness: for it means wanting to reach a goal by means that not only do not lead to the goal but rather distance one from it. – And that is how those perishing looked upon this preaching. The Apostle brings here the testimony of experience.

“Jews demand signs.” But indeed there were signs, both from Christ the Savior and from the Apostles. What then does the Apostle mean by this? – Either that they all demand signs and wonders – they demand more and more signs, not satisfied with those they see. How many signs did the Lord reveal! And yet they, having seen many of them, come up to Him and say: Teacher, we want to see a sign from You. They want signs, but when these are given, they do not want to be forced on the basis of this to change their hopes and convictions, and this cannot be avoided: so they begin to distort the sign they have seen and desire another. Thus without end.

Or this is what the Apostle meant: they ask for signs, but we cannot give them whenever we wish. This is God’s work. When it pleases God, then He performs through us a sign, and when He does not please, He does not perform. But the preaching nonetheless we must and do present.

Or this thought is his – that the Jews await some striking sign, like that which Moses performed, freeing the Israelites from Egypt and leading them through the sea, in which Pharaoh and his host were drowned. Then this miracle resounded through all peoples. And now it should be so. If the Lord had appeared in the brightness of His divine glory and had struck all peoples, and had magnified Israel, then for the Jew no greater sign would be needed.

Christ the Lord, living among the Jews, left behind a reverent memory both through His moral character, His teaching, and His signs. Memory of this could have greatly aided the preaching. But the death on the cross spoiled all. For in the eyes of the Jew, death on the cross is a kind of heavenly punishment. Meanwhile the preaching told them: believe in the Crucified One and you will be saved. The thought of crucifixion was a stumbling-block to them, and they turned their hearing away from this preaching.

“Greeks desire wisdom.” They desire that there be proposed to them some wise teaching and moreover in speech beautiful in form, but to them is proposed an account of one event, the most unpleasant – the crucifixion of a man – and they are told: believe and you will be saved. What could one expect from them but: “what does this babbler want to say?” (Acts 17:18). The teaching of salvation through the cross-death of the incarnate God, as it was later unfolded by the Apostles, presents the most exalted and harmonious metaphysical system, beginning in eternity, embracing all temporal things, and ending in infinite eternity. But such teaching in its full scope was not offered at the beginning, not to novices, but to those who had already progressed in Christianity, as Saint Paul writes below (1 Cor. 2:6 and further on). At the beginning, however, the preaching was always simple: God, becoming incarnate, died on the cross; believe and you will be saved. To a Greek this preaching could not fail to seem foolishness. What God, when crucified? If crucified, it means He could not save Himself: how then can He save others – and moreover all, the whole universe? This is inconsistent with anything (Saint Chrysostom). Regarding the preaching in this way, how could he believe?

Thus it is evident that God arranged for salvation a preaching that was bound to appear foolishness to all. It appeared foolishness and yet it saved, and by this proved that in it is hidden the highest wisdom and divine power.

1 Cor. 1:24. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

How it came to be that certain souls, despite this apparent stumbling-block and this visible foolishness, penetrated through this unprepossessing veil and beheld in the substance of the preaching saving power and wisdom, this is God’s mystery. Saint Paul does not explain this, but only testifies that it was so. It was so with the souls whom earlier he called those being saved, and whom he here calls the called. Both expressions point to God’s election, and although, of course, not without the participation of human will, yet in such a way that human wisdom had no part in it whatsoever.

And thus for these blessed souls, from among Jews and Greeks, the preaching which was for others a stumbling-block and foolishness, presented divine power and divine wisdom. Having received it in this sense, they believed and were saved. Truly they were assured of this power and wisdom when in baptism they were buried with the Crucified Lord and tasted the saving power of the cross. But everything obtained here was transformed in faith; and was obtained because it was believed.

“One and the same thing – both wisdom and foolishness, both power and weakness; foolishness and weakness to unbelievers, but wisdom and power to believers. For the sun is light to those who see and darkness to those who are blind. But it does not bring darkness; rather the disease keeps back the brightness of the ray. So also the pus of unbelief prevents the light of knowledge of God from illuminating the soul” (Theodoret).

Saint John Chrysostom says: “Great power is contained in these words of the Apostle! He wishes to show how God overcame through that which seemingly promised no victory, and how preaching is not a work of man. His words mean the following: when we say to the Jews, ‘Believe,’ they object, saying, ‘Raise the dead, heal the demon-possessed, show us signs.’ What then do we say instead? We say that the One we preach was crucified and died. This seemingly cannot only fail to attract those who oppose, but can repel even those who are not opposed; yet it does not repel, but attracts, retains, and conquers. The Gentiles, on their part, require from us eloquence and skill in reasoning; yet we preach the cross to them as well. To the Jews this seems like weakness, to the Greeks like foolishness. If we present to them not only what they do not require, but even the opposite, for the cross seems to reason not only not a sign but something contrary to a sign, not only not a sign of power but a sign of weakness, not only not an expression of wisdom but a proof of madness—if those requiring signs and wisdom not only do not receive what they demand but also hear from us the opposite of what they require, and yet are still persuaded by this opposite, is this not the work of an unspeakable power of the One preached? The Apostles conquered not only without signs but through that which seemingly opposed signs. Thus Christ dealt with the blind man: wishing to grant him healing, He destroyed blindness through that which produces blindness, ‘He put mud’ (John 9:15). As He healed the blind man with mud, so He drew the universe to Himself through the cross, through that which seemingly increased scandal rather than destroyed it. He acted thus also at creation, arranging the opposite through the opposite: He enclosed the sea with sand, restraining the mighty through the weak. Through the Prophets He worked such that iron swam up from water by means of a small piece of wood (2 Kings 6:6). Thus also did He restore the universe through the cross. In this way, to persuade through the opposite is a sign of great power and wisdom. The cross seemingly produces scandal, yet it not only does not scandalize but attracts. Contemplating all this and marveling, Paul says:”

1 Cor. 1:25. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

That is, what God establishes and introduces into life, that, although it seems foolish and weak to our wisdom, in reality is wiser than all the wisdom that men can devise, and stronger than all the strength that men can exert. “The Apostle calls the mystery of the cross foolish and weak according to the opinion of senseless men, and proves that it overcame both the wise and the strong” (Theodoret). To human wisdom it seemed that the cross was a testimony of weakness, and to believe in it was unreasonable; but in reality it was quite different: those who believed in it were filled with power and wisdom. “Speaking of the foolishness and weakness of the cross, the Apostle means not that it actually is such, but that it appears so; for he speaks in accordance with the opinion of opponents. What philosophers could not accomplish through reasoning, was accomplished through what appears as madness. Who is wiser? The one who persuades many, or the one who persuades no one? Plato tried so hard to prove that the soul is immortal, but said nothing clear and persuaded no one! On the contrary, the cross through the uneducated persuaded and converted the entire universe, persuaded not in trivial matters, but in doctrine concerning God, true piety, Gospel life, and the future judgment; it made philosophers of all—both farmers and the uneducated. Thus the foolishness of God is wiser and the weakness of God is stronger than man. Stronger in what? In that it spread throughout the entire universe, subjected all to its power, and while countless multitudes of men strove to destroy the name of the Crucified One, it did the opposite. This name was glorified and grew more and more, while they perished and disappeared: the living, rising up against the One delivered to death, could do nothing. What the tax collectors and fishermen accomplished by the grace of God, philosophers, orators, rulers, and the entire universe, despite countless efforts, could not even imagine. What did not the cross accomplish! It introduced the teaching concerning the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of bodies, the contempt for present goods and hope for future blessings; it made men into angels; through it all everywhere became philosophers and capable of every virtue” (Saint John Chrysostom).

“Above, the Apostle expressed that human wisdom has been rejected, and proved this both by the testimony of Scripture and by the very events themselves; by the testimony of Scripture in the words, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise’; and by events in the proposed question, ‘Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe?’ Then he proved that this was both useful and necessary: ‘For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe’; that the cross is a proof of unspeakable power and wisdom, and that the ‘foolishness of God’ is far above human wisdom. Now he proves the same not from the perspective of teachers, but from that of the very disciples themselves: ‘Look,’ he says, ‘at your calling’ (Saint John Chrysostom).”

1 Cor. 1:26. For you see your calling, brothers: that not many of you were wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

It corresponds exactly. Since God was pleased to arrange salvation through the cross, which appeared weak, inglorious, and presented nothing wise, almost none of the wise, glorious, and powerful of the world accepted the preaching about it; instead, mostly the unwise, the weak, and the unknown came. Look at all the believing brothers, and you will be convinced that it is so. But this neither demeans the cross nor you. For God willed that it be so. He called you. This ‘calling’ and election is your honor, higher than all earthly glories. And the honor of the cross lies in the fact that having believed, you do not remain as you were, but are transformed in spirit, and receive such advantages before which all the advantages of the world are nothing. In a word: ‘calling’ means those who are called.

“Not many. He did not say there is not one wise, not one strong, not one noble; for some from among them had believed, but he says ‘not many’ because the greater number of believers came from among poor people” (Theodoret). Pride prevented those prominent according to the flesh from believing, while nothing prevented the humble, the unseen, from believing—not their undeveloped intellect nor coarse manners. Their humble faith was clothed by the power of the cross with high perfections of spirit. Saint John Chrysostom writes on this: “Not only were the teachers uneducated, but the disciples themselves were chosen to be such: ‘Not many,’ he says, ‘were wise according to the flesh.’ Thus is revealed great power and great wisdom when many are persuaded, and moreover the unwise. For it is the most difficult thing to persuade the ignorant, especially when great and important matters are being inculcated. Yet they were persuaded, of which he presents them themselves as witnesses: ‘For you see your calling, brothers,’ that is, look, consider. What does ‘according to the flesh’ mean? Apparently, in a worldly sense, according to external learning. So that you do not think he contradicts himself (for he also persuaded a proconsul and an Areopagite, and Apollos, and we know that other wise men accepted the preaching), he does not say not one wise, but ‘not many wise.’ For he did not exclusively call the ignorant and reject the wise, but accepted the latter as well, yet far more of the former. Why? Because the wise according to the flesh are filled with great foolishness, and especially are foolish when they do not wish to reject impious teaching. As it is when some physician wishes to teach others his are—people who know something but are using it badly and incorrectly and are stubborn cannot learn quickly, while those who know nothing can sooner accept the teaching; so it was here. The ignorant were more quickly persuaded because they did not have that extreme foolishness of considering themselves wise. ‘Not many strong, not many noble.’ For such people are often filled with pride; and nothing harms true knowledge of God as much as pride and attachment to wealth; for those devoted to them consider the present as great, care not at all for the future, and close their ears with a multitude of cares.”

The cross made so that all came to despise everything by which man is shown from without, and instead strove for perfections of spirit, which are both true nobility, and true dominion, and true wisdom, putting to shame the wisdom, power, and nobility from without.

1 Cor. 1:27–28. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; and God chose the weak things of the world to shame the mighty; and God chose the base things of the world and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are.

“Foolish things of the world”—uneducated people, ignorant not only in speech but in knowledge; “weak things of the world”—the poor, having no weight or authority in society; “base things of the world and despised”—people of simple station, low birth; “things that are not,” whom all regard as nothing. The opposite to them are people—“the wise,” not merely educated but those who are high in their education and knowledge; “the mighty”—those strong in authority and weight, and wealth in society, and those relying on themselves, and those placing their permanence in such things; “things that are”—those who alone seem to be in society, while the others are not, those high both by birth and honor. God chose, he says, the first, in order to “shame and nullify” the last. But how? If God, having chosen the first, left them as they were, there would be no shaming of the last. But He, leaving the first in their external appearance as they were, filled them with perfections in spirit, such high perfections and so prominently manifest that the last could not help but notice them and could not help but recognize that these perfections were incomparably higher than those they possessed. To recognize that those whom they considered as nothing had become incomparably higher than themselves—therein lies the shame. Coming into contact with them, the noble saw in the despised a noble character of disposition, feeling, and sentiments which they themselves did not have and which was not given them by their birth according to the flesh; the mighty saw in the weak power over themselves unshaken by any passions, and peace of spirit not shaken by any accumulation of adverse external circumstances, saw power and peace which were foreign to themselves and which their external power did not give them; the wise saw in the foolish clarity of understanding about all things, and about God, and about the world, and especially about man—why he is on earth, what awaits him beyond the grave, and how to pass there not to torment but to bliss—saw understanding before which their own, gained with such effort, was nothing both in scantiness, brevity, and in darkness and indefiniteness. Seeing all this, those prominent according to the flesh could not help but feel ashamed. Experience showed many times that, feeling shame, they cast aside all they considered valuable, turned to faith, and humbly entered into communion with those whom before they regarded as nothing. Thus God arranged it because there was no other way to draw minds away from the fleshly and visible, than to present before their eyes so strikingly the advantages of spiritual perfections, combined with external invisibility and deprivation of the advantages of the flesh.

“The Apostle called the foolish, weak, and base according to human opinion; for true foolishness is not inexperience in speech, but lack of faith; and weakness and baseness—not poverty, but impiety and moral corruption. But God conquered the learned through the uneducated, the rich through the poor, and caught the universe in a net through fishermen” (Theodoret).

“Great is the victory—to conquer through the foolish. For the Gentiles are no more shamed when defeated by the wise than when they see that men who work with their own hands and belong to the common people philosophize better than they. Therefore Paul said: ‘to shame the wise’. And God did not stop with this alone but did the same with other worldly advantages. ‘And God chose the weak things of the world to shame the mighty’—not only the uneducated but the poor, despised and obscure He called, that He might shame the strong. ‘And God chose the base things of the world and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are’. What is meant here by ‘things that are not’? Those who are counted as nothing. Thus He manifested great power, bringing down the great through those who seemed as nothing, as He says also elsewhere: ‘My power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Cor. 12:9). For it takes great power to suddenly make the most despised men, who have never engaged in any learning, to philosophize about what is above the heavens. We marvel at a physician and an orator and all others especially when they successfully persuade and teach the ignorant. If it is a great thing to impart to the ignorant learning about some are, how much more such wisdom! However, God did this not only for marvel or to show His power, but also to humble the haughty. Therefore the Apostle, as he said above: ‘to shame the wise, to nullify the things that are,’ so also here speaks” (Saint John Chrysostom).