1 Coríntios 1

1 Coríntios 1

MacDonald - Godet says that verse 21 contains a whole philosophy of history, the substance of entire volumes. We should not hurry over it quickly, but ponder deeply its tremendous truths. (BBC) Hodge - This and the following verses contain the apostle’s second argument in support of the insufficiency of human wisdom. The argument is this: experience having shown the insufficiency of human wisdom, God set it aside and declared it to be worthless (ED: REGARDING HOW ONE IS SAVED) by adopting the foolishness of preaching as the means of salvation. This argument, therefore, includes two distinct arguments—first, that derived from experience; and, second, that derived from God’s having appointed the Gospel, as distinguished from human wisdom, to be the means of saving people. (1 Corinthians 1 Commentary) For (gar) - Term of explanation. Paul explains his answer to "has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" Yes, He has FOR...then introduces his explanation of how God accomplished His objective. Since - "This particle, though the Greek writers generally use it for time, is almost always in the New Testament used in a causal sense. This is its meaning here. “For inasmuch as or because.” (Hodge) In the wisdom (sophia) of God (in context = the Cross of Christ, the Gospel) the world (kosmos) through its wisdom (sophia) did not (ouk = absolute negation) come to know (ginosko by experience, know intimately, personally) God - Amplified = "the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know God by means of its own philosophy, " Know (ginosko) speaks of an intimate relationship which is not possible through worldly wisdom. The point is that even the highest IQ, the greatest intellect, the wisest man, cannot know God intimately and personally except through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While natural revelation is clear, irrefutable proof that God exists as Creator of the Cosmos, men cannot be saved by natural revelation and indeed most even choose to deny God's part in natural revelation (read Ro 1:18-32+ especially "Professing to be wise, they became fools!"). They must hear and believe the foolish message of the Gospel in order to be saved. This thought echoes Paul's words in 1 Cor 3:18+ "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish (THAT IS RECOGNIZE MAN'S WISDOM IS FOOLISHNESS BEFORE GOD!), so that he may become wise (ED: THE ULTIMATE "WISDOM" IS TO BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST)." As