Dean Lange

Paul was in Athens before going to Corinth. Acts 18:1 states that Paul “left Athens and went to Corinth”. According to his own letter, Paul preached to mostly gentiles of the lower class while in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 12:2 says “when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols”. This means that the majority, if not all, of the church were former gentiles. In 1:26, Paul says that “not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” He is saying here that many of the Corinthians were of lower class. This means that a few of them were of the upper class, but he preached mostly to those of the lower class, or at the very least it was the lower class who accepted his message. After Paul left, the church split into factions. This is evident in 1 Corinthians 1:11 when Paul says “it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you”.

In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Paul spells out his beliefs concerning human wisdom and God’s foolishness. He says that “Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom” but that “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom” (1:22,25). He says here that seeking human wisdom is actually a stumbling block in seeking Jesus and the God of Israel. He wants the Corinthians to know that it is better to reject the wisdom of the world in favor of foolishness in God. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-7, Paul talks more about earthly wisdom and God’s wisdom. He says that he came speaking “plausible words of wisdom… so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God” (2:4-5). He is humbling himself here by saying that he spoke humbly instead of using “lofty words” that other wise men would use because those words would be confusing (2:1). What he is saying here is that human wisdom is lofty, difficult to understand, and complicated, while the wisdom of God is humble and easy to understand for those who will listen.