The Spiritual Man Discerns All Things; We Have the Mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:11–16)

1 Cor. 2:11. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

The Apostle explains how the Spirit of God knows all the depths of God through a comparison comprehensible to everyone – what happens in the spirit of each man. Whatever occurs in the human spirit is hidden from outsiders through the body, yet the human spirit itself, being self-conscious, knows all of it and cannot help but know, even if it wished not to; for all of it occurs within itself. So the Spirit of God knows all things in God, because all that is in God is in Him, as being inseparable from the other Persons and one God. But does not the Son of God know all things? – He knows. And God the Father knows all things. Knowledge is undivided in the Godhead and belongs equally to all Persons. Yet holy Paul mentions the Spirit, because the discourse concerns Him, who reveals the mysteries of God. Or perhaps he indicates here the spirit of Divinity, which unites all hypostases in the single consciousness of the one Godhead, speaking in a human manner.

Yet the intention of Paul is not to introduce us into the mysteries of the Godhead, but to make clear that God’s things are known by no one except the Spirit of God. They are hidden from all creatures, and no one can grasp them by himself, no matter how high a place he holds in the ladder of creation. He said that the Holy Spirit revealed it to us. Now, lest anyone think: the Holy Spirit revealed it to you, but we shall reach the same place by another way, he adds: God’s things no one knows except the Spirit of God. There is no other way, therefore, to the knowledge of God’s wisdom, hidden in mystery, and there cannot be. Either learn from us, or remain outside, in ignorance and lack of understanding. And in following us, you will not be taught by us, but by the Spirit of God, who teaches all and enlightens all, whom the crucified Lord grants for the sake of faith.

1 Cor. 2:12. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, so that we might know the things freely given us by God.

The Apostle was about to say: this very Spirit, who knows the depths of God and all things of God, we have indeed received; but since through contrast an affirmed thought becomes clearer, he first spoke of the spirit of the world – that it is not this spirit which we received, this spirit before whom the door to God’s mysteries is closed – and which, as it sits itself in darkness, so covers with darkness all who breathe even a little of it into themselves. And the princes of this age with the sons of this age are filled with a spirit which likewise knows depths, but not of God, but of Satan. Or Satan himself is this spirit of the world, who darkens the understanding of unbelievers so that the light of grace does not shine forth in them. In every way the spirit of the world here is not merely an idea – an outlook and undertakings of the sons of the world, the hopes that animate them, the goals they pursue, the customs and mores that govern all among them – but the spirit that holds sway over all this, sets all this in motion, and whirls about those who love the world. The contrast with the Spirit of God demands this understanding.

Not this spirit, but “the Spirit which is from God” we have received – from God – ἐκ θεοῦ – out of God, that is, the Spirit proceeding from God the Father. The Apostles received Him on the day of Pentecost. From them afterward all believers received Him through the laying on of hands (anointing with chrism). So it began, so it is even now. In communities where this mystery is absent, the Spirit of God is also absent. If without the Spirit of God there is no true knowledge of Christianity, then the consequence is evident. One may speak, but not in those taught by the Spirit.

“So that we might know the things freely given us by God.” “He Himself, the Spirit proceeding from the Father, has taught us the hidden mysteries” (Theodoret). “The Spirit of God is light, and we have received this light, so that being illuminated by it, we might behold what was hidden until now. What exactly? – That which has been given us by God, given according to Christ’s economy, that is, as He died for us, as He made us sons of God, and as He has seated us in Himself in the heavens at the right hand of the Father; so that those not having the Spirit do not know this” (Oecumenius). This divine knowledge indeed shone forth on earth from the time of the descent of the Holy Spirit, and even now it is preserved by Him in God’s Church and communicated by Him to the worthy. The Apostle speaks not only of himself and his time, but of Christians in all times. It was written in the books of the New Testament; anyone can read it and all is transmitted to catechumens before baptism. But true knowledge of all this is always communicated by the Holy Spirit. Strong faith and sincere devotion to God make the soul a parchment upon which the Spirit of God writes the mysteries of God.

1 Cor. 2:13. And we speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

“Having spoken of the perfect knowledge of the Spirit, having shown that it equals the knowledge of God, as human knowledge equals itself, and having proved that we learned all from Him, the Apostle continues: ‘and these things we speak.’ Do you see how he has honored us with the dignity of the Teacher? We are as much wiser than the pagans as Plato is distant from the Holy Spirit. They have rhetoricians as their teachers, but we have the Holy Spirit” (holy Chrysostom).

Earlier he spoke of the subjects revealed by the Spirit, or the content of his preaching; now he speaks of the form in which the Apostles presented their teaching. “And these things we speak.” “These” – what we know through the Spirit, whom we received from God, that is, all the mysteries of the Kingdom, all the economy of salvation. “We speak” – we preach, we proclaim to all; “not in words taught by human wisdom,” not in the form of speech which human wisdom devised for transmitting its teaching to others. The thought here is the same as in the words: “not in persuasive words of human wisdom,” or: “not in the wisdom of words.” All verbal artistry, which the rhetoricians teach, is negated. The essence of this are consists in stirring the movements of the heart and passions through various turns and devices of speech, and through this gaining control of minds and inclining them to one’s side. Since all that is passionate can only be directed toward earthly, temporal, fleshly things, while God’s wisdom belongs entirely to the opposite realm; the devices of speech devised to arouse passions were not adopted by the Spirit in teaching God’s wisdom to men. We, he says, did not use them. We had our own methods. As the Spirit of God taught, so we spoke. The Spirit of God impressed certain truths upon us; these awakened certain concepts, and the concepts drew forth certain words. These words came from the sum of words at the disposal of the one to whom the truth was revealed, and the manner of speech was likewise awakened in accordance with what he was accustomed to, or what suited the one receiving the revelation. But when it came to presenting the teaching, he not only did not resort to the are of rhetoric, but gave no thought to the word at all. It flowed from the heart, moved by the Spirit, who impressed upon it the mysteries of the Kingdom. This is what the Apostle expressed by saying: “we speak… in words taught by the Holy Spirit.” The Lord promised the same, saying: “Do not be anxious how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matt. 10:19–20).

“Interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” “Interpreting” – συγκρίνοντες. This verb means: to bring one thing alongside another so that they fit together. “Spiritual” – God’s wisdom, all truths impressed by the Spirit of God; “with spiritual” – with spiritual words, turns of speech, modes of expressing the revealed truths. Thus the Apostle says: for spiritual truths, bringing together the corresponding words and turns of speech, which likewise should be called spiritual. We never allowed ourselves to descend from that height to which contemplation, produced by the Spirit of God, lifted us, to find here, in the sphere of vain human wisdom, means for expressing divine truths. Although the Spirit of God moved the tongue of the Gospel-proclaimers, they did not lose their self-control and directed their speech consciously.

Holy Chrysostom explains where to find the necessary subjects for clarification. He says – from the types and prophecies. Here is his statement: “What does it mean: ‘interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual’? If concerning the spiritual there arises any perplexity, we bring forth explanations from spiritual subjects, for example: I say that Christ rose, that He was born of a Virgin, and for explanation I bring forth testimonies and types – the abiding of Jonah within the whale and his subsequent deliverance from it, the births of barren women – Sarah, Rebecca, and others, the sprouting of trees in paradise while seeds had not yet been sown, rain had not yet fallen, furrows had not yet been made. For future events were sketched out and foreshadowed, as it were in shadow, by earlier ones, so that they might believe in them when they were accomplished. I show further how man came from earth, how without any union a woman came from a single man, how earth itself came from nothing, how everywhere and in all things the power of the Creator was sufficient. Thus I explain the spiritual by the spiritual, and nowhere do I resort to external wisdom, to reasonings and inferences. The pagan sages strain and torment their weak reason and cannot at all explain what they speak of, but do the opposite – they bring greater confusion and increase darkness and perplexity.” Thus all our – Theodoret, Oecumenius, Theophylact.

Theophylact, among other things, expressed also this thought: “interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual,” that is, offering spiritual truths to spiritual people, or reasoning about the spiritual with the spiritual; for only such can receive them. Πνευματικὰ πνευματικοῖς συγκρίνοντες… Πνευματικοῖς can also be translated in the dative case. Some modern interpreters have also adhered to this, and there has arisen the opinion that this is indeed what the Apostle meant to say here. To prefer such an opinion to the first might be going too far, but neither should it be completely disregarded. The following text gives it probability: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God,” as if called forth by what was said – that is, we strive to present the spiritual to the spiritual, or to reason about the spiritual with the spiritual, for they alone are able to receive it; the natural man does not receive the spiritual. It is implied: we do not even offer it to him. Thus the Saviour commanded: “Do not cast your pearls before swine.”

1 Cor. 2:14. The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

“The natural man” – he who wants to know everything by his own mind, and considers true only what appears so to him – he who arranges his life and all his undertakings by his own methods, relying on them alone as on a solid foundation – he who makes earthly peace and happiness the goal of life and converts all things into means to that end – he who has become so accustomed to the tangible and sensible that he does not even consider the invisible and spiritual to exist. “The things of the Spirit of God” – that which God’s wisdom offers, impressed upon us by the Spirit of God, is entirely opposite to this. It reveals dogmas which are accepted by faith contrary to reason, commands us to renounce all our own methods and entrust both our external life and especially our spiritual life into God’s hands, points to a goal beyond the grave, and to achieve it demands that we sacrifice earthly happiness, abundance, and peace, commands us to live as if we had neither body nor anything visible, but only the invisible, which to taste is to live.

Because of such opposition between the requirements of spiritual God’s wisdom and the disposition of the natural man, it is very natural that the latter accepts nothing from the requirements of the former. The proclamations of the Spirit are incomprehensible to him; they appear to him as folly, and he can understand nothing in them. For the natural man to accept and understand the spiritual and see wisdom in it, he must cease to be natural, or at least desire this. We have in our nature a spiritual element – spirit, breathed into the face of the first man. It is characteristic of it to fear God; it is the seat of conscience; it instils dissatisfaction with all created things. When the soul – the power entrusted with the management of earthly existence – gets the upper hand over spirit, the latter is stifled, but is never destroyed and is always present within, and immediately speaks when opportunity arises. When the Apostles set out to preach in order to proclaim the things of the Spirit of God and in words taught by the Holy Spirit, they encountered everywhere, especially among the Gentiles, chiefly natural men. On what then was the hope of success based, when the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God? – On this: that however natural a man might be, spirit lies hidden in him, which, under the action of graceful Gospel preaching, raised its voice in the natural man and compelled him both to listen and to consent to what he heard. And this to varying degrees. In some the spirit barely moved; in others it rose with such force that immediately conversion took place. But the one completely given to the natural resisted, stopped his ears, and fled from Apostolic preaching or rose up against it. The Apostle was everywhere a witness to this phenomenon and testifies that one absorbed in the natural does not contain the things of the Spirit, does not understand them, and does not accept them.

“Because they are spiritually discerned.” “Discerned” – ἀνακρίνεται – examined. In him in whom the natural movements and manifestations of spirit are not stifled, especially the fear of God and conscience, when listening to Apostolic preaching, he found in it a kindred element, was drawn to it with attention, examined it, and seeing how it corresponded to the requirements of his own spirit, cleaved to it, believed, and was renewed in the mysteries. From that moment he no longer examined the things of the Spirit of God with his spirit alone, but also with the grace that had vivified him and taken up dwelling in him. He entered the spiritual realm and the grace of the Spirit gradually led him into the knowledge of the things of the Spirit of God. And by such a person the spiritual is indeed examined spiritually. The natural spirit, aroused by the Gospel preaching, examined the spiritual only as a probability, as hope, but now he examines it as something actual, possessed, tasted.

1 Cor. 2:15. The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself judged by no one.

The Apostle compares the scope of the spiritual man and the natural man. Although he does not name the latter, it is evident that he means him by the one unable to judge the spiritual. The spiritual man, he says, examines, surveys, and determines all things – he examines his own spiritual realm, for he dwells in it, and thus knows it, as one ordinarily knows the house in which one lives; and he surveys and examines the natural realm, and understands it, for although he is no longer in it, he knows it well, because he suffered so long under its yoke; he knows all the workings of the natural and all that it depends on and what it aims at when it says one thing or another, when it undertakes this or that. From the first words he recognizes the natural and spiritual man and acts accordingly in his bearing toward them. The natural man, however, cannot understand the spiritual from any perspective, for the realm in which the spiritual man lives is to him an unknown land. He sees only that he is not like himself and that instead of expecting such a manifestation of him in a given case, something entirely different appears in him. And this is incomprehensible to him. He can neither understand nor explain to himself his way of thinking or his rules of life. To the natural man the spiritual is incomprehensible, is not judged by him. Here is what happens, for example, when in a two- or three-story building a man who has lived in the lower stories moves to the upper. He knows his story well, and he knows the lower stories, but those who live in the lower stories and who have had no opportunity to visit the upper ones know nothing of it and cannot make judgments about it.

Holy Chrysostom says: “He who sees sees all and even what pertains to him who does not see; but what pertains to him, no one among those who do not see perceives. So too here – we know both our own things and all that pertains to unbelievers, but they do not know ours. For we know what is the nature of present things and what is the dignity of future things, what will happen to the world afterward, what punishment sinners will bear and what the righteous will enjoy; we know that present goods have no worth, and we expose their vanity, while future goods are eternal and unchanging. The spiritual man knows all this, both what punishment the natural man will bear in the future life and what the believer will enjoy when he departs from here, whereas the natural man knows none of this.”

1 Cor. 2:16. For Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

He gives the reason why no one among the natural can understand and examine the spiritual man. For, he says, what is in the spiritual man is the mind of Christ – the spirit of Christ, the contemplations of Christ, the dispositions of Christ, the powers of Christ, the plans of Christ, the hopes of Christ – all is Christ’s. But the mind of Christ, the mind of the Lord, no one among the natural can understand, so that everything in it is clear to him. As none of them can understand this, they cannot understand the spiritual man either, because he has that same mind. The words: “Who…could instruct him?” – some refer to the mind of the Lord, thus: Who knows the mind of the Lord so as to understand it clearly and harmonize it with his own conceptions? (Theophylact). Some refer to the spiritual man, thus: Who understands the mind of the Lord so as to understand and examine the spiritual man? But in us, the spiritual, is the mind of Christ – that is, the Lord’s. The main thought remains the same in both interpretations of these words: the spiritual realm – with all that it contains, with the persons and subjects in it – is inaccessible to the natural man; he can understand nothing in it, neither how it is in itself nor how it manifests itself in persons living spiritually.

Here is what holy Chrysostom says to this:

“We have the mind of Christ, – that is, we know what is in the mind of Christ, what He desires and what He has revealed to us. Since the Apostle said above that the Spirit revealed to us, and lest anyone reject the Son, he adds that Christ also revealed, expressing not that we know all that Christ knows, but that all our knowledge is not human and thus subject to doubt, but is the knowledge of the mind of Christ and spiritual. The understanding which we have is Christ’s, that is, the knowledge we have of the objects of faith is spiritual knowledge, and therefore truly no one can judge us, for the natural man cannot know divine things. Therefore the Apostle said: “For who has known the mind of the Lord,” affirming that our understanding of these things is His understanding. And the words: “so as to instruct him?” – he added not in vain, but in correspondence with the words said above, “the spiritual man is judged by no one.” – Do you see how variously he refutes external wisdom and shows that the spiritual man knows more and better? It is only in this way (that is, having the mind of Christ) that we can see and know high, mysterious objects that are above us; and reason proved insufficient, because through worldly wisdom we cannot grasp what is above us. – “We have the mind of Christ,” – that is, spiritual, divine, having nothing human in it; Christ has communicated His knowledge to our understanding. And Christ Himself presents as proof of perfect friendship the fact that He revealed mysteries to us: ‘No longer’ he says, ‘do I call you servants…but I have called you friends…for all things that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you,’ that is, entrusted to you (Jn. 15:14–15). Now if even mere confidence serves as a sign of friendship, think what love He expressed by entrusting to us mysteries not in words alone, but by communicating them to us in deed. Let us be ashamed; and if the horror of hell does not frighten us too much, let it be more terrible than hell for us – to prove ungrateful and unthankful to such a friend and benefactor.”