1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
A Church Divided Over Leaders
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men, and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 11 and 26; and in 2:1; 3:1; 4:6; 6:8; 7:24, 29; 10:1; 11:33; 12:1; 14:6, 20, 26, 39; 15:1, 6, 50, 58; 16:15, 20.] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas [That is, Peter ]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[Isaiah 29:14 ]
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? 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. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” [Jer. 9:24 ]
NOTES:
1:1–9 Paul follows the conventional form for the opening of
a Hellenistic letter (cf. Rom 1:1–7), but expands the opening with details
carefully chosen to remind the readers of their situation and to suggest some
of the issues, the letter will discuss.
1:1 Called…by the will of God: Paul’s mission and the
church’s existence are grounded in God’s initiative. God’s call, grace, and
fidelity are central ideas in this introduction, emphasized by repetition and
wordplays in Greek.
1:6 The testimony: this defines the purpose of Paul’s
mission (see also 1 Cor 15:15 and the note on 1 Cor 2:1). The forms of his
testimony include oral preaching and instruction, his letters, and the life he
leads as an apostle.
1:10–4:21 The first problem Paul addresses is that of
divisions within the community. Although we are unable to reconstruct the
situation in Corinth completely, Paul clearly traces the divisions back to a
false self-image on the part of the Corinthians, coupled with a false understanding
of the apostles who preached to them (cf. 1 Cor 4:6, 9; 9:1–5) and of the
Christian message itself. In these chapters he attempts to deal with those
underlying factors and to bring the Corinthians back to a more correct
perspective.
1:12 I belong to: the activities of Paul and Apollos in
Corinth are described in Acts 18. Cephas (i.e., “the Rock,” a name by which
Paul designates Peter also in 1 Cor 3:22; 9:5; 15:5 and in Gal 1:18; 2:9, 11,
14) may well have passed through Corinth; he could have baptized some members
of the community either there or elsewhere. The reference to Christ may be
intended ironically here.
1:13–17 The reference to baptism and the contrast with
preaching the gospel in v 17a suggest that some Corinthians were paying special
allegiance to the individuals who initiated them into the community.
1:17b–18 The basic theme of 1 Cor 1–4 is announced.
Adherence to individual leaders has something to do with differences in
rhetorical ability and also with certain presuppositions regarding wisdom,
eloquence, and effectiveness (power), which Paul judges to be in conflict with
the gospel and the cross.
1:17b Not with the wisdom of human eloquence: both of the
nouns employed here involve several levels of meaning, on which Paul
deliberately plays as his thought unfolds. Wisdom (sophia) may be philosophical
and speculative, but in biblical usage the term primarily denotes practical
knowledge such as is demonstrated in the choice and effective application of
means to achieve an end. The same term can designate the arts of building (cf.
1 Cor 3:10) or of persuasive speaking (cf. 1 Cor 2:4) or effectiveness in
achieving salvation. Eloquence (logos): this translation emphasizes one
possible meaning of the term logos (cf. the references to rhetorical style and
persuasiveness in 1 Cor 2:1, 4). But the term itself may denote an internal
reasoning process, plan, or intention, as well as an external word, speech, or
message. So by his expression ouk en sophia logou in the context of gospel
preaching, Paul may intend to exclude both human ways of reasoning or thinking
about things and human rhetorical technique. Human: this adjective does not
stand in the Greek text but is supplied from the context. Paul will begin
immediately to distinguish between sophia and logos from their divine
counterparts and play them off against each other.
1:21–25 True wisdom and power are to be found paradoxically
where one would least expect them, in the place of their apparent negation. To
human eyes the crucified Christ symbolizes impotence and absurdity.
1:26–2:5 The pattern of God’s wisdom and power is
exemplified in their own experience, if they interpret it rightly (1 Cor
1:26–31), and can also be read in their experience of Paul as he first appeared
among them preaching the gospel (1 Cor 2:1–5).
1:29–31 “Boasting (about oneself)” is a Pauline expression
for the radical sin, the claim to autonomy on the part of a creature, the
illusion that we live and are saved by our own resources. “Boasting in the
Lord” (1 Cor 1:31), on the other hand, is the acknowledgment that we live only
from God and for God.
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