Lessons #23 and 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The message of the cross is superior to world’s wisdom (1 Cor 1:19–21)
19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
To understand these three verses, they should be read in the context of the larger section that covers verses 18 to 25 of 1 Corinthians 1 that we indicated is concerned with the message or the preaching of the cross. In the preceding verse, the apostle had indicated that the message of the cross has significations. To the lost, it makes no sense, or it is foolishness but to those who are saved it is recognized as God’s display of His power that led to their salvation although they are yet to fully realize their salvation. It is following these assertions that the apostle wrote these three verses. In effect, these three verses are still concerned with the larger theme of the message of the cross. However, the three verses are concerned with the superiority of the message of the cross over worldly wisdom, implying that these verses relate to the preceding verse.
The question is to understand in what way the apostle related these three verses with verse 18. This question arises because of the very first word for that begins verse 19. The Greek conjunction (gar) translated “for” has three major usages. It can be used as a marker of reason or cause with the translation “for, because.” Another usage is as a marker of explanation or clarification with the meaning “for, you see” or “now, then” to indicate a transition to something else or to signal an important point is about to be made. Another usage is as a marker of inference leading to the translation “so, then, certainly, by all means.” In verse 19, it is used either as a marker of reason or as a marker of clarification. In this particular context, there seems not to be any significant difference in either interpretation. This is because, on the one hand, the interpretation of our Greek conjunction as a marker of reason or cause indicates that what follows provides the reason or the cause the message of the cross is foolishness to the lost but power of God to the saved. On the other hand, the interpretation of the conjunction as a marker of explanation means that what follows explains how it is that the message of the cross has different significations to the lost and the saved. That aside, it seems that both interpretations are implied in verse 19 so that what we have is both the cause and explanation for the two significations of the message of the cross to two different groups of people on this planet – the lost and the saved.
Our interpretation that both usages of the Greek conjunction as marker of cause or reason and explanation mean that the apostle intended to say that the explanation for different significations of the message of the cross to two different groups of people is because of what God has said in the past that He would do, which He has done. We say this because the apostle supported his assertions regarding the significations of the message of the cross by quoting from the OT Scripture. We are sure that he quoted from the OT Scripture because of the formula it is written in verse 19.
The sentence it is written is more literally it has been written. This is because the Greek used the perfect tense. It is true that the perfect tense in the Greek is used to describe a completed verbal action that occurred in the past, nonetheless, its emphasis is not on the past action so much as it is as such but the present “state of affairs” resulting from the past action. Its usage here is to convey that what was written in the past is still true today, especially that what the apostle quotes concerning what God said in the past is true today.
The formula it is written is one that is used to quote a portion of the OT Scripture. Thus, it is the formula Jesus used to quote a passage in Deuteronomy to Satan during His temptation, as we read in Matthew 4:4:
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Here Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3. There can be no doubt that when the formula is used in the NT that it is for quotation from a specific passage of the OT Scripture since it is the formula that is used to indicate that Jesus in the Synagogue read a portion of Prophet Isaiah that He applied to Himself in Luke 4:17–19:
17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Of course, the passage our Lord read here is Isaiah 61:1-2. That the formula it is written is used to cite a passage in the OT Scripture is demonstrated by Apostle Peter when during the process the early church set out to replace Judas Iscariot, he quoted from psalms, as recorded in Acts 1:20:
“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, “‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “‘May another take his place of leadership.’
Peter quoted from Psalm 69:25. Apostle Paul was specific to the portion of Psalm that he quoted during his sermon in Pisidian Antioch, as we read in Acts 13:33:
he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’
The apostle quoted from Psalm 2:7 but we should remember that there were no verses in the ancient times associated with the OT Scripture as such. That aside, the point is that the formula it is written is one that intimates us that a writer or speaker in the NT Scripture is about to quote from OT Scripture. Such a practice is used for authority of what one says. In effect, such quotation recognizes that the OT Scripture is authoritative coming from God. We are saying that quotation of the OT Scripture either by our Lord or the apostles is an affirmation of the fact that the OT Scripture is God’s word that is authoritative and so should be applied to support a teaching or a declaration. Apostle Paul’s approach of citing OT Scripture in support of the fact he stated in verse 18, tells us that we should be believers who are ready and armed with readiness to support our position from the Scripture
Apostle Paul having used the formula that is an indicator of a quotation from the OT Scripture, proceeds to cite the words of the quotation in the remaining sentence of 1 Corinthians 1:19 “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Apostle Paul’s quotation that is given in verse 19 is from the Septuagint since the quotation reads slightly different from that of the Hebrew Text as given in the Masoretic Text. His quotation is from Isaiah 29:14:
Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
A more literal translation from the Hebrew reads therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise ones will perish, the discernment of their discerning ones will keep hidden. A version of the Septuagint from where the apostle quotes reads:
Because of this, Look! I will continue to change this people, and I will change them, and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will hide the intelligence of the intelligent.”
The reading of the Septuagint is interpretative. This is because there is no clear indication of what it is that God said He would do to Judah in the literal words I will again do wonderful things with this people or in the words of the NIV I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder. There are two possible interpretations. It could refer to the hardening of the hearts of the Jews to such an extent that even the appearance of wisdom and understanding, which the rulers of the people had hitherto retained, would completely disappear or it could refer to the coming siege, with those extreme sufferings and perils which the Jews would have to undergo in accordance with what is stipulated in the law that will come to Israel when they fail to keep their covenant with the Lord. It appears that the translators of the Septuagint adopted the second interpretation in their translation.
Paul’s quotation does not quite fit the Septuagint in that the passage in the Septuagint uses a Greek word (kryptō) that means “to hide” while the apostle in his quotation used a Greek verb that we will consider shortly that the translators of the NIV rendered “frustrate.” Scholars provide several explanations for this difference. Some say that the apostle was using “a free rendering” of the Septuagint probably because he quoted from memory. Others think the apostle had a different Greek text than ones available to us. We cannot be certain as to the explanation of the difference in the apostle’s quotation and the versions of the Septuagint available to us. However, it is not necessary for us to give a perfect explanation of the apostle’s approach. Since the apostle wrote under the directive of the Holy Spirit, we should recognize that his quotation is exactly how the Holy Spirit wanted him to use the word of God as recorded by Prophet Isaiah. My point is that we should not be overly concerned with the difference between the apostle’s quotation and that of the versions of the Septuagint available to us but to accept that what the apostle wrote is exactly what the Holy Spirit intended.
That aside, our major concern is the portion of Isaiah 29:14 that the apostle quoted. The Hebrew text literally reads, and the wisdom of their wise ones will perish, the discernment of their discerning ones will keep hidden or in the words of the NIV the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. The reading of either the literal translation or the reading of the NIV does not state who is responsible for the perishing or the hiding or vanishing so the translators of the Septuagint were more explicit to indicate that God is the One acting in both actions. Thus, the Septuagint reads I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will hide the intelligence of the intelligent. It is this reading that Apostle Paul quoted with a slight variation in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:19 that again reads “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” We will examine the key words used in the Greek to enable us to understand what the apostle intended to convey by quoting from Isaiah.
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
There is also that wisdom that is given by God to those who are in close relationship with Him that is mentioned, for example in, Ephesians 1:8:
that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:19, the intended meaning of the Greek word is the wisdom of the world, that is, the ability to acquire and discern truth about natural and supernatural matters without the assistance or revelation of God
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
The word may pertain to understanding that results in wise attitudes and conduct hence means “wise, prudent” so it can be used to describe being learned and so refers to an individual with intelligence and education above the average person, as that is the sense of the word in Romans 1:14:
I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
The meaning “wise” may refer to a state that is divine and originates from God reflected in one’s conduct, as it is used in Romans 16:19:
Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
The Greek word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:19 to describe a person who is characterized by wisdom.
The word “destroy” of 1 Corinthians 1:19 is translated from a Greek verb (apollymi) that may mean “to perish, die”, as the word is with the meaning “to die” when Jesus instructed Peter not to fight for Him as that is unnecessary stated in Matthew 26:52:
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
It may mean “to destroy, ruin” as it is used to describe the activity of a thief in John 10:10:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
It may mean to fail to obtain what one expects or anticipates that is “to lose out on, to lose” as it is used to indicate that those who take care of believers or God’s special messengers will be rewarded, as we read in Matthew 10:42:
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
The word is used in the sense of “to destroy”, that is, “to do away with” in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:19.
The word “intelligence” is translated from a Greek word (synesis) that may mean the faculty of comprehension hence “intelligence, acuteness, shrewdness” so the meaning of “understanding” is used in the NIV to translate the word in Luke 2:47:
Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
The phrase at his understanding may be translated at his insight. Of course, it is the meaning “understanding” that is appropriate in Apostle Paul’s declaration of one of his purposes for his epistle to the Colossians in Colossians 2:2:
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
The Greek word may mean the content of understanding or comprehension, hence “insight, understanding” as Apostle Paul used it to convey to the Ephesians that by reading his epistle to them they would become aware of his comprehension of the doctrine of mystery of Christ in Ephesians 3:4:
In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
It is in the sense of an ability to understand the meaning or importance of something hence “comprehension” that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:19.
The word “intelligent” is translated from a Greek adjective (synetos) that pertains to being able to understand and evaluate and so means “intelligent, wise, with good sense” as it is used to describe the Proconsul that invited Paul and Barnabas to his house because he wanted to hear the message they were preaching, as stated in Acts 13:7:
who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.
It is in the sense of “intelligent”, that is, the ability to understand the meaning or importance of something that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:19.
The word “frustrate” of 1 Corinthians 1:19 is translated from a Greek verb (atheteō) that in the Septuagint has the meaning of “to break faith with,” as in Exodus 21:8:
If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.
In the NT usage, it may mean to reject something as invalid hence “to declare invalid, nullify, ignore” as the word is used in Apostle Paul’s comparison of the law and God’s promise in Galatians 3:15:
Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.
The sentence no one can set aside is more literally no one declares invalid. The word may mean to reject by not recognizing something or someone hence means “to reject, not recognize, disallow” as it is used by the Apostle Paul to warn the Thessalonians about rejecting the message he delivered them in his epistle, as stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:8:
Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
It is in the sense of “to invalidate” that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:19.
There is one more factor we need to consider before we interpret what the Holy Spirit intended for the Apostle Paul to convey that led him to quote from the passage in Isaiah. This factor concerns how to understand the quotation in its original context. The preceding verse to the quotation of the apostle is concerned with the Lord’s denunciation of the Israelites for outward show of piety that lacks inward piety, as we read in Isaiah 29:13:
The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
Israelites worshipped the Lord in an outward manner of offering sacrifices that the Lord does not accept as Prophet Isaiah stated in Isaiah 1:11–14:
11“The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies. 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates.
They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
The problem of Israel was not that they offered sacrifices but that they did so without an inward condition that manifests itself in life of righteousness and justice. They followed traditions without paying attention to the spiritual significance of what they were doing so that the Lord said through Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 29:13 Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. It is not only that the worship of Israel was only an outward show, but the people did not trust the Lord as those who worship Him should. The evidence of this is that instead of paying attention to the word of God that required them to obey His word and depend on Him to deliver them from their enemies, Israel’s king relied on the so called wise counsel of his advisors that suggest seeking help from Egypt instead of the Lord. The Lord denounced this approach through the prophet in Isaiah 30:1–2:
1“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; 2who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
It is based on this situation of lack of true devotion to the Lord evident in trusting Him instead of relying on human counsel of the king’s advisors that He uttered the words that the prophet recorded in Isaiah 29:14.
The problem of Isaiah 29:14, as we indicated previously, is that the Lord did not specify what it is that He would do that is given in the clause Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder. As we indicated previously, there are two general interpretations of what the Lord intends to do that are both negative in that they involve punishment. However, there is another interpretation that takes the view that the thing God will do that will astound Israel is positive in nature. In other words, this other interpretation takes the view that God would be gracious to Israel, perhaps in keeping with the Lord’s promise to destroy Israel’s enemies, as stated in Isaiah 29:5–7:
5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff.
Suddenly, in an instant, 6 the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire. 7Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night—
Furthermore, it is argued that the Hebrew word (pālāʾ) used, designates God’s marvelous actions often displayed in the deliverance of His people. This is not entirely correct since the word may mean to act in a way that is marvelous and inspires wonder, whether the result is positive or negative. For example, it is used in a negative sense in Deuteronomy 28:59:
the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.
The verbal phrase will send fearful plagues is more literally make plagues wonderful, which is certainly a negative assertion. Thus, it is not entirely correct to justify what the Lord will do in Isaiah 29:14 as positive because of the verb the prophet used. That is not all. We should not think that only God’s positive action that will bring amazement to people. For after all, the Lord, informed Prophet Habakkuk that He would do something amazing that he would not believe that involves raising up the wicked Chaldeans to be His instrument of judgment on Israel, according to Habakkuk 1:5:
“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
Therefore, it is difficult to be certain of whether the thing the Lord said He would do to Israel was punishment or blessing. Either is possible although the interpretation of punishment makes better sense because of the confounding of the wise. This is because if Israel is punished despite the wise counsel of the king’s advisors then their advice would seem foolish. In any case, Apostle Paul probably quoted Isaiah 29:14 because God acts and causes whatever humans perceived to be wise to look foolish. This understanding should help us to comprehend what the apostle meant in quoting the passage of Isaiah 29:14 following his declaration of 1 Corinthians 1:18.
In any case, the apostle quoted from Scripture to convey the point that what he stated regarding the responses of the two groups of people on this planet towards the message of the cross is in accordance with the Scripture. In effect, although he wrote under the Holy Spirit, he wanted us to know that the Holy Spirit had already caused Prophet Isaiah to pen down the same truth he stated. Thus, it should not surprise anyone that he stated what he did. Furthermore, the apostle wanted to convey that God is sovereignly in control of all that happens on this planet. Therefore, it is God who is responsible for the different responses to the message of the cross based on His own decision and no one could challenge Him or change what He planned. His ways are different from our ways as Prophet Isaiah stated in Isaiah 55:9:
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
It is because we often forget that God’s ways are different from ours that some of us get surprised that those who are highly educated or those who are considered highly intellectual do not understand the simple message of the gospel. In our human estimation, we will expect such individuals to be the first to comprehend the gospel message, but God says that that is not the case. Hence, God acts on those who are worldly wise or educated in such a way that they do not understand the simple message of the gospel unless, of course, they are of the elect. The point we want to stress is that the Lord is responsible for bringing about the different responses of people to the message of the cross. That this is the case is further explained in verse 20.
The apostle conveyed the fact that our human intellect has nothing to do with comprehending the message of the gospel. To convey this point, the apostle posed four questions, the last of which is indeed intended to convey that God is responsible for causing the worldly wise from understanding the message of the cross on their own. Before we consider the questions, we should recognize that the four questions are indeed rhetorical in that the apostle did not expect any response from the readers. In fact, the questions are to be understood as statements that are most effective if stated in terms of questions to get the reader to ponder what the apostle communicated.
The first question of 1 Corinthians 1:20 is Where is the wise man? The wise here refers to any individual characterized by having wisdom or characterized by understanding that results in wise attitudes and conduct. Its use here is to cover every person with natural wisdom that is not necessarily the result of education and training. You see, there are those who are wise in the sense that they make correct decisions regardless of their level of education. In effect, a person can be wise in the natural sense without any education. The question is intended to convey that there is not one person with understanding or characterized by wisdom that exists anywhere on this planet when it comes to understanding the message of the cross, unaided by God the Holy Spirit.
The second question of 1 Corinthians 1:20 is Where is the scholar? In this second question, the apostle mentioned a first group of persons that are respected by others because of their learning. This is because the word “scholar” is translated from a Greek word (grammateus) that may refer to the chief executive officer of a governmental entity so means “secretary of a state, clerk.” It is this word that is used to describe the high official in Ephesus that controlled the crowd when there was riot in the city because of Apostle Paul’s preaching of the gospel that is describe as clerk in Acts 19:35:
The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?
The word may refer to experts in matters relating to divine revelation. Thus, it is used to describe specialists in the law of Moses and Jewish traditional laws and regulations with the meaning “expert teacher in the law, a scholar versed in the law, scribes” as the word is used to describe some experts who came to Paul’s defense, so to say in Acts 23:9:
There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
The phrase the teachers of the law is more literally the scribes. In our passage, the meaning of “scholar” is correct so long as we recognize that the scholar in view refers to one who has been instructed in the law and so able to teach others since this is the sense in which the Greek word is used in the NT. Anyway, to avoid confusion, the word “scholar” may be avoided and replaced with the expression “teachers of the law.”
Apostle Paul used this second question where is the scholar? to assert that there are not those who themselves are experts because of their knowledge due to instruction they have received that exist that unaided by the Holy Spirit are able to comprehend the message of the cross. Today, we could say that those who are highly educated and serve as professors in the universities are incapable of understanding the message of the cross unaided by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is not surprising that majority of the professors in our universities are unbelievers, since to them the gospel message makes no sense. Not only them, the second question of the apostle conveys also that those scholars in religions of the world are incapable of understanding the message of the cross. Some of them study our Bible intensely because they want to debate Christian theologians or Christians in general regarding the Christian faith. They could study the Bible and dissect it as a literature, but in the end, they are still incapable of understanding the message of the cross without the Holy Spirit aiding them. The point of the second question of the apostle is to convey that there are no educated persons or teachers anywhere that could understand the message of the cross without the Holy Spirit aiding them.
The third question of the apostle in 1 Corinthians 1:20 is Where is the philosopher of this age? This question is concerned with the debater who engages in a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal. This is because the word “philosopher” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (syzētētēs) that appears only here in the Greek NT with the meaning “debater, disputer.” Since the word concerns use of human logic in reasoning then the meaning “philosopher” is implied. Nonetheless, the apostle is concerned with those who are skilled in arguing against any matter with only human reasoning. These individuals are those associated with the world. You see, the word “age” is translated from a Greek word (aiōn) with various meanings. It may refer to a long period of time, without reference to beginning or end so it may mean “the past, earliest times” as indicated in 1 Corinthians 2:7:
No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
This meaning of a long period of time without reference to beginning or end may be understood as “eternity” although quite often it is translated “forever” in our English versions as in the promise of Jesus to those who believe in Him, given metaphorically, of living forever in John 6:51:
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
The word may mean a segment of time as a particular unit of history hence “age.” When it is used with the word “present” so we have “present age”, it could mean the “world” as in Romans 12:2:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The phrase this world is literally this age. The word may mean “universe” referring to God’s creation in Hebrews 1:2:
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
Of course, the phrase the universe may mean the world. In our passage where our Greek word is used in the phrase this age, it has the sense of the world with emphasis with the time of the apostle. In effect, the apostle focused on the debaters who lived in his time, but the application is to debaters of all periods of history since the apostle wrote this epistle. Thus, the question of the apostle conveys that those who engage in discussions where only human logics are employed are helpless regarding understanding of the message of the cross. Their ability to give well-reasoned arguments to the positions they hold is of no value regarding the message of the cross. Those who are so described are what we will describe as enlightened individuals in our present time. It is therefore not surprising that those who lived in the so-called age of enlightenment had difficulty accepting the teaching of the Christian faith because they relied purely on their human reasoning without any help from God the Holy Spirit. There is more to this section of 1 Corinthians 1:19-21 but we are out of time and so we will continue and conclude it in our next study.
02/16/18