Homily 6 — First Corinthians 2, verses 1 to 5

“And I, brothers and sisters, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” [a]

Nothing was ever more ready for battle than the spirit of Paul. Or rather, I should not say his spirit, for he was not himself the source of these things. I should say that nothing was ever equal to the grace at work within him, which overcomes all things. What he had already said was quite enough to bring down the pride of those who boasted of their wisdom; indeed, even a part of it would have been enough. But to make the victory more splendid, he fights again for the points he has been making, trampling on an enemy who is already down.

Look at it this way. He had brought forward the prophecy that 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 God destroyed the philosophy of the pagans. He had shown that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men.” He had shown that God not only taught through uneducated men, but also chose uneducated men to learn from him. Now he shows that both the thing preached and the way it was preached were enough to put people off, and yet they did not put them off. It is as if he said: “Not only are the disciples uneducated; so am I myself, the preacher.”

That is why he says, “And I, brothers and sisters” — again he uses the word “brothers and sisters” to soften the harshness of what he is saying — “did not come with excellence of speech, declaring to you the testimony of God.” “What then? Tell me, if you had chosen to come ‘with excellence,’ would you have been able to?” “I, for my part, would not have been able even if I had chosen. But Christ, if he had chosen, was able. He did not want it, so that he might make his trophy more brilliant.” That is also why, in an earlier passage, showing that it was Christ’s work that had been done, and his will that the word should be preached in an unlearned way, he said, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the good news; not with wisdom of words.” And it is a far greater thing — yes, infinitely greater — that Christ willed this than that Paul did.

“Not, then, with a display of eloquence,” he says, “nor armed with arguments from outside, do I declare the testimony of God.” He does not say “the preaching,” but “the testimony of God,” and that word by itself was enough to hold him back. For he went about preaching death, and that is why he added, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” What he meant to convey was that he is entirely without the wisdom from outside, as he was saying above: “I did not come with excellence of speech.” That he could have had this too is plain. The man whose clothing raised the dead and whose shadow drove out diseases — how much more was his soul able to take in eloquence! For eloquence can be taught, but those other things are beyond all skill. So a man who knew things beyond the reach of skill must have had far more strength for lesser things. But Christ did not allow it, for it would not have served the purpose. So he rightly says, “For I determined not to know anything” — “for I, too, for my part, want exactly what Christ wants.”

And it seems to me that he speaks to them in a humbler tone than to anyone else, in order to hold down their pride. So the words “I determined to know nothing” were spoken in contrast with the wisdom from outside. “For I did not come weaving syllogisms or clever sophistries, or telling you anything other than ‘Christ was crucified.’ They have ten thousand things to say, and they talk about ten thousand things, spinning out long runs of words, framing arguments and syllogisms, putting together sophistries without end. But I came to you saying nothing but ‘Christ was crucified,’ and I outran all of them. That is a sign, beyond anything words can express, of the power of him whom I preach.”

Verse 3: “And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.”

This, again, is another point. Not only were the believers unlearned; not only was the speaker unlearned; not only was the whole manner of the teaching unlearned from start to finish; not only was the thing preached enough by itself to put people off, since the message they brought was the cross and death. Along with all these there were other obstacles as well: the dangers, the plots, the daily fear, being hunted from place to place.

For in many places in his writing the word “weakness” stands for the persecutions. So it does elsewhere: “My weakness which I had in my flesh you did not despise” (Galatians 4, verses 13 and 14). And again: “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness” (Second Corinthians 11, verse 30). What weakness? “The governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes, wanting to arrest me” (Second Corinthians 11, verse 32). And again: “That is why I take pleasure in weaknesses” (Second Corinthians 12, verse 10). Then, saying in what, he added, “in insults, in hardships, in distresses.” And here he says the same thing. Having said, “And I was with you in weakness,” and the rest, he did not stop there, but explained the word “weakness” by mentioning his dangers. He adds, “and in fear, and in much trembling, I was with you.”

“What are you saying? Did Paul too fear dangers?” He did fear them, and dreaded them intensely. For though he was Paul, he was still a man. But this is no charge against Paul; it is the weakness of human nature. And it is to the praise of his settled purpose that, though he dreaded death and beatings, he did nothing wrong because of that fear. So those who claim that he did not fear beatings, far from honoring him, actually cut his praise down a great deal. For if he felt no fear, what endurance or what self-control was there in bearing the dangers? I, for my part, admire him for this very reason: that being in fear — and not only in “fear,” but even in “trembling” at his dangers — he ran in such a way as always to keep his crown. He never gave in to any danger in his work of cleansing the world and sowing the good news everywhere, by sea and by land.

Verse 4: “And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom” — that is, they did not have the wisdom from outside. Now if the teaching preached had nothing subtle in it, and those who were called were unlearned, and the one who preached was the same, and on top of this came persecution, and trembling and fear — tell me, how did they win without divine power? That is why, having said, “My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom,” he added, “but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”

Do you see how “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness stronger”? They, unlearned as they were and preaching such a message, in their chains and persecution overcame their persecutors. By what means? Was it not by giving the proof that comes from the Spirit? For this is proof that everyone admits. Tell me, who, having seen dead men rising to life and demons driven out, could have helped admitting it?

But since there are also deceptive wonders, like those of sorcerers, he removes this suspicion too. He did not say simply “of power,” but first “of the Spirit,” and then “of power,” showing that the things done were spiritual.

So it is no discredit that the good news was not declared by means of wisdom; rather, it is a very great ornament. For this, everyone will allow, is the clearest sign that it is divine and has its roots above, in the heavens. That is why he also added, verse 5: “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

Do you see how clearly, in every way, he has set out the vast gain of this “ignorance” and the great loss of this “wisdom”? The wisdom emptied the cross of its power; the ignorance proclaimed the power of God. The wisdom, besides failing to find any of the things they most needed, also set them boasting about themselves; the ignorance, besides bringing them the truth, also led them to take their pride in God. Again, wisdom would have persuaded many to suspect that the teaching was merely human; the ignorance clearly proved it to be divine, and come down from heaven.

Now when proof is made by clever words, the worse side often beats the better, because it has more skill in speaking, and falsehood outruns the truth. But here it is not so. For the Spirit does not enter an unclean soul, and once he has entered, he can never be overcome, even if every possible cleverness of speech attacks him. For proof by works and signs is far clearer than proof by words.

But perhaps someone will say: “If the good news is to prevail, and has no need of words, so that the cross will not be emptied of its power, why are signs withheld now?” Why? Are you speaking in unbelief, not granting that signs were done even in the apostles’ time? Or do you really want to know? If you speak in unbelief, I will take my stand against that first. [g]

I say, then: if signs were not done at that time, how did they win belief? They were chased and persecuted and trembling and in chains. They had become the common enemies of the world, exposed to everyone as a target for abuse. They had nothing of their own to attract anyone — no eloquence, no fine appearance, no wealth, no city, no nation, no family, no profession, no fame, nothing of the kind — but everything the opposite: ignorance, lowliness, poverty, hatred, hostility. They set themselves against whole states, and they had such a message to declare. How, I say, did they win belief? For the commands they brought meant hard labor, and the teachings meant many dangers. And those who heard and were to obey had been brought up in luxury and drunkenness and great wickedness.

Tell me, then: how did they convince them? Where did their credibility come from? For, as I have just said, if they won belief without signs, the wonder looks far greater. So do not use the fact that signs are not done now as proof that they were not done then. For as it was useful to work them then, so now it is no longer useful to work them.

Nor does it follow, because words are now the only means of persuading, that the preaching is now “in wisdom.” For those who sowed the word from the beginning were ordinary, unlearned men, and spoke nothing of their own; what they received from God, they handed on to the world. And we ourselves at this time bring in no inventions of our own; what we have received from them, we speak to everyone. Even now we do not persuade by clever reasoning; we bring the proof of what we say from the divine Scriptures and from the miracles done at that time. On the other hand, even they at that time persuaded not by signs alone, but also by speaking. And it was the signs and the witness of the old Scriptures, not the cleverness of what was said, that made their words more powerful.

But, you will say: “How is it, then, that signs were useful then, and are not useful now?” Let us suppose a case — for I am still arguing against the Greek, and so I speak hypothetically of something that will certainly come to pass. Let us suppose a case, I say, and let the unbeliever agree to believe what we say, even if only for the sake of argument: for instance, that Christ will come. When, then, Christ comes, and all the angels with him, and is shown to be God, and all things are made subject to him, will not even the Greek believe? It is quite plain that he too will fall down and worship, and confess him as God, though his stubbornness is beyond all counting. For who, seeing the heavens opened, and him coming on the clouds, and the whole assembly of the powers above spread around him, and rivers of fire rushing on, and everyone standing by and trembling, will not fall down before him and believe him to be God? [h]

Tell me, then: will that worship and that knowledge be counted to the Greek as faith? No, not at all. And why not? Because this is not faith. Necessity has done it, and the evidence of the things seen. It is not by choice; the powers of the mind are dragged along by the sheer size of the spectacle. It follows that the plainer and more overwhelming the course of events, the more the part left to faith is cut down. That is why miracles are not done now.

And to see that this is the truth, listen to what he says to Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20, verse 29). So the reward of faith is lessened in proportion to the evidence with which the miracle is set forth. And so, if miracles were worked now as well, the same thing would follow. For Paul has shown that then we will no longer know him by faith, when he says, “For now we walk by faith, not by sight” (Second Corinthians 5, verse 7). At that time, even if you believe, it will not be counted to you, because the thing is so plain to the senses; and so it would be now, if miracles were done like those done before. For when we accept things that cannot in any degree or in any way be worked out by reasoning, that is faith. This is why hell is threatened but not shown: if it were shown, the same thing would follow again.

Besides, if it is signs you are looking for, even now you can see signs, though not of the same kind: the countless predictions, on an endless variety of subjects; the conversion of the world; the philosophy of the barbarians; their change from savage customs; the greater intensity of devotion. “What predictions? All the things you have just mentioned were written after the present state of things had begun.” When? Where? By whom? Tell me. How many years ago? Do you say fifty, or a hundred? Then a hundred years ago they had nothing written at all. How, then, did the world keep the teachings and all the rest, since memory would not have been enough? How did they know that Peter was crucified? How could it have entered the minds of men who came after the events to foretell, for instance, that the good news would be preached in every part of the whole world, and that the Jewish institutions would cease and never return? And those who gave up their lives for the good news — how would they have borne to see it corrupted? And how would the writers have been believed, once the miracles had ceased? And how could the writings have made their way into the lands of the barbarians and of the Indians, and to the very edges of the ocean, if those who told these things had not been worthy of belief? [j]

And the writers — who were they? When, how, and why did they write at all? Was it to win glory for themselves? Then why did they put other men’s names on the books? “Why, because they wanted to recommend the teaching.” As true, or as false? If you say they held to it knowing it was false, then their joining it at all makes no sense. But if they held to it as the truth, there was no need of inventions like the ones you speak of.

Besides, the prophecies are of such a kind that even to this day time has not been able to force aside what was foretold. The destruction of Jerusalem did take place many years ago; but there are also other predictions that stretch on from that time until his coming. Examine them as you please. For instance, this: “I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28, verse 20); and, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16, verse 18); and, “This good news will be preached to all nations” (Matthew 24, verse 14); and what the woman who had been a prostitute did; and many others besides.

Where, then, does the truth of this prediction come from, if it really was a forgery? How did “the gates of hell” not “prevail against the church”? How is Christ always “with us”? If he had not been “with us,” the church would not have won. How was the good news spread into every part of the world? Those who have spoken against us are enough to testify to the age of the books — I mean men like Celsus, and the man from Batanea who came after him. They were not, I take it, speaking against books written after their own time.

And besides, there is the whole world, which has received the good news with one consent. There could not have been such agreement from one end of the earth to the other unless it had been the grace of the Spirit; the authors of a forgery would quickly have been found out. Nor could such great excellence have sprung from inventions and falsehoods. Do you not see the whole world coming in; error put out; the philosophy of the old monks shining brighter than the sun; the choirs of the virgins; the devotion among the barbarians; all people serving under one yoke? For these things were not foretold by us alone, but from the beginning by the prophets as well. You will not, I suppose, quibble at their predictions too; for the books are in the hands of their enemies, and through the zeal of certain Greeks they have been translated into the Greek language. These books too foretell many things about these matters, showing that it was God who was to come among us.

Why, then, do not all believe now? Because things have gone downhill, and for this we are to blame. (From here on, what I say is addressed to us as well.) For surely not even then did they rely on signs alone; many of the converts were drawn by the way of life as well. For he says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5, verse 16). And, “They were all of one heart and one soul; no one said that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common; and distribution was made to each one as he had need” (Acts 4, verses 32 and 35). They lived the life of angels. And if the same were done now, we would convert the whole world, even without miracles.

But meanwhile, let those who want to be saved pay attention to the Scriptures, for there they will find both these noble deeds and others greater still. For, it may be added, the teachers themselves outdid the deeds of the others, living in hunger and thirst and nakedness. We want to enjoy great luxury, and rest, and ease. Not so they. They cried out, “To this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are beaten, and have no settled home” (First Corinthians 4, verse 11). And one ran from Jerusalem to Illyricum (Romans 15, verse 19), another to the country of the Indians, another to that of the Moors, this one to one part of the world, that one to another.

But we do not have the courage to leave even our own country; we look for luxurious living and splendid houses and every other excess. Which of us ever went hungry for the sake of God’s word? Which of us ever lived in a wilderness? Which of us ever set out on a long journey to a far country? Which of our teachers lived by the work of his own hands to help others? Which of them faced death daily? That is why those who are with us have grown lazy too.

Suppose someone saw soldiers and generals struggling with hunger and thirst and death and every terrible thing, bearing cold and dangers and everything else like lions, and so succeeding; and then afterward saw them relax that strictness, grow soft, become fond of wealth, give themselves over to business and bargains, and then be beaten by their enemies. It would be the height of folly to go looking for the cause of all this. Let us reason the same way about ourselves and our forefathers. For we too have become weaker than anyone, and are nailed down to this present life.

And if someone is found who has some trace of the ancient wisdom, he leaves the cities and the marketplaces, the company of the world and the guiding of others, and takes himself off to the mountains. And if someone asks the reason for his withdrawal, he makes up an excuse that cannot be accepted. He says: “I am getting out of the way so that I will not be lost too, and so that the edge of my goodness will not be blunted.” Now how much better would it be for you to lose some of your edge and win others, than to stay up on the heights and neglect your brothers and sisters who are perishing? But when one group does not care about virtue, and those who do care about it take themselves far away from our ranks, how are we to overcome our enemies? Even if miracles were done now, who would be persuaded? Which of those outside would pay any attention to us, when our wrongdoing is so widespread? For so it is: to most people our upright living seems the more convincing argument of the two. Stubborn wicked men can put a bad meaning on miracles, but a pure life will have power enough to shut the mouth of the devil himself.

I say these things to those who lead and to those who are led, and before anyone else, to myself: so that the way of life we show may be truly admirable; so that, each of us keeping to our proper post, we may look down on everything present; so that we may despise wealth and not despise hell, think little of glory and not think little of salvation, and endure toil and labor here, so that we do not fall into punishment there. That is how we should make war on the Greeks; that is how we should take them captive, with a captivity better than freedom.

But though we say these things without stopping, over and over, they are very seldom done. Still, whether they are done or not, it is right to keep reminding you of them. For if some are busy deceiving others with fine speech, all the more should those who are drawing people back to the truth not grow tired of saying what is useful. Again, if the deceivers use so many devices — spending money, using arguments, running risks, and parading their powerful patrons — how much more should we, who are winning people away from deceit, endure dangers and deaths and everything else, so that we may win both ourselves and others, and become more than a match for our enemies, and so obtain the blessings promised, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory and power to the Father, together with the Holy and good Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.