Friday 12 November 2021

Crutch or supreme wisdom ?

So that your faith may be based not on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2.5

We sometimes hear that the gospel is for the foolish, and that there are few great minds who embrace it. It would be a crutch for the weak. There would be no more wisdom to be learned... unlike other religions.

In the proposed reading, the apostle Paul explains to the Corinthians why the gospel was rejected by the rulers and the wise. This is because it is based on the power of God, and not on the wisdom of men.

The Corinthians undoubtedly liked the fine speeches of Greek rhetoricians, like their Athenian neighbors. Paul had been taught by Gamaliel, one of the greatest rabbis of his time (Acts 22.3). He could therefore have claimed his erudition. But, in this amazing text, Paul shows the Corinthians that purely human wisdom does not meet the deep needs of human beings. The only important thing is the fact that Jesus Christ was crucified. He had to die on the Cross, which the Greek philosophers considered madness.

And this remains true today : only faith in Jesus Christ who gave his life on the cross obtains salvation and eternal life for us. For by the power of God Jesus was resurrected.

Jean-Louis Theron

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Proposed reading : 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 2, verses 1 to 11.

Source (Live Today)