1 Corinthians 2:1-2
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Nothing was ever more prepared for combat than the spirit of Paul; or rather, I should say, not his spirit, (for he was not himself the inventor of these things,) but, nothing was ever equal to the grace working within him, which overcomes all things. For sufficient indeed is what had been said before to cast down the pride of the boasters about wisdom; nay, even a part of it had been enough. But to enhance the splendor of the victory, he contends anew for the points which he had been affirming; trampling upon the prostrate foe. Look at it in this way. He had brought forward the prophecy which says, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. He had shown the wisdom of God, in that by means of what seemed to be foolishness, He destroyed the philosophy of the Gentiles; he had shown that the foolishness of God is wiser than men; he had shown that not only did He teach by untaught persons, but also chose untaught persons to learn of Him. Now he shows that both the thing itself which was preached, and the manner of preaching it, were enough to stagger people; and yet did not stagger them. As thus: not only, says he, are the disciples uneducated, but I myself also, who am the preacher.
Therefore he says, And I, brethren, (again he uses the word brethren, to smooth down the harshness of the utterance,) came not with excellency of speech, declaring unto you the testimony of God. What then? Tell me, had you chosen to come ‘with excellency,’ would you have been able? I, indeed, had I chosen, should not have been able; but Christ, if He had chosen, was able. But He would not, in order that He might render His trophy more brilliant. Wherefore also in a former passage, showing that it was His work which had been done, His will that the word should be preached in an unlearned manner, he said, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel; not with wisdom of words. But far greater, yea, infinitely greater, than Paul’s willing this, is the fact that Christ willed it.
Not therefore, says he, by display of eloquence, neither armed with arguments from without, do I declare the testimony of God. He says not the preaching, but the testimony of God; which word was itself sufficient to withhold him. For he went about preaching death: and for this reason he added, for I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. This was the meaning he meant to convey, that he is altogether destitute of the wisdom which is without; as indeed he was saying above, I came not with excellency of speech: for that he might have possessed this also is plain; for he whose garments raised the dead and whose shadow expelled diseases, much more was his soul capable of receiving eloquence. For this is a thing which may be taught: but the former transcends all art. He then who knows things beyond the reach of art, much more must he have had strength for lesser things. But Christ permitted not; for it was not expedient. Rightly therefore he says, For I determined not to know anything: for I, too, for my part have just the same will as Christ.
And to me it seems that he speaks to them in a lower tone even than to any others, in order to repress their pride. Thus, the expression, I determined to know nothing, was spoken in contradistinction to the wisdom which is without. For I came not weaving syllogisms nor sophisms, nor saying unto you anything else than Christ was crucified. They indeed have ten thousand things to say, and concerning ten thousand things they speak, winding out long courses of words, framing arguments and syllogisms, compounding sophisms without end. But I came unto you saying no other thing than Christ was crucified. and all of them I out-stripped: which is a sign such as no words can express of the power of Him whom I preach.
1 Corinthians 2:3
- And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
This again is another topic: for not only are the believers unlearned persons; not only is he that speaks unlearned; not only is the manner of the teaching of an unlearned cast throughout; not only was the thing preached of itself enough to stagger people; (for the cross and death were the message brought;) but together with these there were also other hindrances, the dangers, and the plots, and the daily fear, and the being hunted about. For the word weakness, with him in many places stands for the persecutions: as also elsewhere. My weakness which I had in my flesh you did not set at nought: and again, If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern my weakness. What [weakness]? The governor under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes, desirous to apprehend me. And again, Wherefore I take pleasure in weakness: then, saying in what, he added, In injuries, in necessities, in distresses. And here he makes the same statement; for having said, And I was in weakness, etc. he did not stop at this point, but explaining the word weakness makes mention of his dangers. He adds again, and in fear, and in much trembling, I was with you.
How do you say? Did Paul also fear dangers? He did fear, and dreaded them excessively; for though he was Paul, yet he was a man. But this is no charge against Paul, but infirmity of human nature; and it is to the praise of his fixed purpose of mind that when he even dreaded death and stripes, he did nothing wrong because of this fear. So that they who assert that he feared not stripes, not only do not honor him, but rather abridge greatly his praises. For if he feared not, what endurance or what self-restraint was there in bearing the dangers? I, for my part, on this account admire him; because being in fear, and not simply in fear, but even in trembling at his perils, he so ran as ever to keep his crown; and gave not in for any danger, in his task of purging out the world, and everywhere both by sea and land sowing the Gospel.