Catholic Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." (1 Corinthians 1:25)

The Church at Corinth

Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is the most pastoral of his major letters, written around 54 AD to a community he founded and deeply loves but which has descended into factionalism, moral disorder, and theological confusion. Corinth was one of the great commercial cities of the ancient world, a cosmopolitan port notorious for its wealth, its moral permissiveness, and its fascination with philosophy and rhetoric. The church there reflects the city: talented, divided, proud of its spiritual gifts, and in need of the most basic instruction about what the Gospel actually means for how a community lives.

Paul opens with a thanksgiving for the grace given to the Corinthians, enriched in every way with all speech and knowledge. But immediately he turns to the central problem: divisions. The community is quarrelling, each group claiming allegiance to a different teacher, Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ. Paul is appalled: is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised in the name of Paul? The party spirit that attaches to human leaders is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Gospel: the power does not reside in the person of the preacher but in the Cross of Christ, and any preaching that draws attention to the preacher rather than the Cross has emptied the cross of its power.

The Foolishness of God

Paul then delivers one of his most brilliant arguments. The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those being saved it is the power of God. God chose to save the world not through the wisdom the world recognises but through the apparent folly of a crucified Messiah. The Jews demand signs; the Greeks look for wisdom. But Paul preaches Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. The Catechism presents the Cross as the supreme paradox: the ultimate demonstration of divine power expressed through the total surrender of divine power (CCC 272).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the Corinthians were dividing themselves along the lines of which gifted teacher they preferred. The same temptation runs through every Christian community: the cult of the personality, the following of a preacher rather than the one the preacher points to. The measure is always the Cross. Any teaching, any ministry, any community that draws people to itself rather than to the crucified Christ has missed the point of 1 Corinthians 1.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you are the wisdom and power of God, hidden in the foolishness of the Cross. Deliver us from every fascination with human wisdom that draws us away from you. Let our boasting be in you alone, crucified and risen, and let every division in your Church be healed by returning to the one who was not divided. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

1 Corinthians
1
Greetings from Paul and Sosthenes
(Acts 18:1–11; 2 Corinthians 1:1–2)
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 holy, 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
(Philippians 1:3–11; Colossians 1:3–14)
 
4 I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in Him you have been enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge, 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.
 
7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Unity in the Church
(Psalms 133:1–3; Ephesians 4:1–16)
 
10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: Individuals among you are saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,”* 1:12 That is, Peter or “I follow Christ.”
 
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into 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 into my name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that I do not remember if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
The Message of the Cross
 
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.Ӡ 1:19 Isaiah 29:14 (see also LXX)
 
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? 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 search for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,‡ 1:23 BYZ and TR to Greeks 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
 
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom,§ 1:25 Literally than men; twice in this verse and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
Wisdom from God
 
26 Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; 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 He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast in His presence.
 
30 It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”* 1:31 Jeremiah 9:24

*1:12 1:12 That is, Peter

†1:19 1:19 Isaiah 29:14 (see also LXX)

‡1:23 1:23 BYZ and TR to Greeks

§1:25 1:25 Literally than men; twice in this verse

*1:31 1:31 Jeremiah 9:24

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