1 Coríntios 1
Leon Morris · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Coríntios 1
Morris - The sign-seeking Jews were blind to the significance of the greatest sign of all when it was before them. The wisdom-loving Greeks could not discern the most profound wisdom of all when they were confronted with it. Full text of 1 Corinthians TNTC Leon Morris)
1 Coríntios 1
Morris says it well - The faithful preaching of the Cross leads people to put their trust, not in any human device, but in what God has done in Christ. A reliance on rhetoric would cause trust in men, the very opposite of what the preaching of the cross is meant to effect. (The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians)
1 Coríntios 1
Morris - Merely human achievement means little to Paul; in the flesh ‘nothing good lives’ (Ro 7:18+). He gives thanks, not for what the Corinthians have done of themselves, but for what God’s grace given … in Christ Jesus has accomplished in them. (Full text of 1 Corinthians TNTC Leon Morris) Spurgeon on I thank my God always - Not only, “I thank God,” but “I thank MY God.” Paul had God in possession. He had taken Him to be his own forever and ever. Notice how often Paul, in the first ten verses, mentions the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—at least ten times. He was full of Christ. Not only did he love Christ in his heart, but he had Christ’s Name continually on his tongue, for he was not ashamed of the sweet Name of Jesus Christ. “I always thank my God for you.” That was wisely written, for Paul was about to rebuke these Corinthians for many serious faults, yet he began by acknowledging that they had certain excellences. Such an approach gives one ground to stand on if a person is willing to see all that is good in those who have to be rebuked. But Paul did not merely use this as a polite way of commencing his letter. He really did thank God every day (present tense) for the divine grace these Corinthians had. How seldom do we thank God for the grace he has given other people, especially if they outshine us. It was not so with Paul. (Are you as convicted as I am?) (CSB Spurgeon Study Bible) THOUGHT - Paul will later spend most of this letter rebuking sin and correcting error, yet he is still sincerely thankful for God’s work in the Corinthian Christians. Those who feel called to rebuke sin and correct error in the church today should follow Paul’s example. Unfortunately, many of them never communicate any encouragement with their correction and advice. (David Guzik 1 Corinthians 1 Commentary) THOUGHT - As a young man in theological training I was deeply impressed by the counsel of Joe Blinco of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association regarding how to criticize constructively, avoiding the cynical type of criticism often leveled at Billy Graham. “First of all,” he said, “stand back in awe of the working of God. Then, offer suggestions on how certain things should be changed.” This seems to be Paul’s approach. Before he administers his somewhat harsh words of correction, he genuinely compliments them “so that the Corinthians may willingly accept and drink down the cup of saving medicine, its rim being coated with sugar” (Colet 1985:75). (Alan
1 Coríntios 1
Morris - He singles out two points, speaking, the telling forth of the truth, and knowledge, the grasp of the truth (
1 Coríntios 1
Morris - Some at least of the Corinthians were setting too high a value on human wisdom and human eloquence in line with the typical Greek admiration for rhetoric and philosophical studies. In the face of this Paul insists that preaching with wisdom of words was no part of his commission. That kind of preaching would draw men to the preacher. It would nullify the cross of Christ. The faithful preaching of the cross results in men ceasing to put their trust in any human device, and relying rather on God’s work in Christ. A reliance on rhetoric would cause men to trust in men, the very antithesis of what the preaching of the cross is meant to effect. (Tyndales 1 Corinthians 1-4) (Bold added) Hodge - The commission was, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them” (Matthew 28:19+). The main thing was to make disciples; recognizing them as such by baptism was subordinate....Baptism was a work that the apostles seem to have generally left to others (Acts 10:48+). During the apostolic age, and in the apostolic form of religion, truth stood immeasurably above external rites. The apostasy of the church consisted in making rites more important than truth. (1 Corinthians 1 Commentary) Robertson and Plummer - Preaching was St Paul’s great work, but his aim was not that of the professional rhetorician. Here he rejects the standard by which an age of rhetoric judged a speaker. The Corinthians were judging by externals. The fault would conspicuously apply, no doubt, to those who ‘ran after’ Apollos. But the indictment is not limited to that party. All alike were externalists, lacking a sense for depth in simplicity, and thus easily falling a prey to superficialities both in the matter and in the manner of teaching. (1 Corinthians 1 Commentary)
1 Coríntios 1
Morris - A well-known graffito in Rome depicts a worshipper standing before a crucified figure with the body of a man and the head of an ass and the inscription ‘Alexamenos worships his god’. That was the way the worldly-wise regarded the message of the cross. (TNTC-1 Cor) Cicero (Pro Rabirio Perduellionis Reo 5.16) decries the crucifixion of a Roman citizen, exclaiming, “The very word ‘cross’ should be far removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen but from his thoughts, his eyes and his ears.” Christianity was cradled in what looks like disastrous defeat, and the unspeakable stigma of the cross exposed the preacher of this message to woeful contempt.... The gospel transforms the cross as a symbol of Roman terror and political domination into a symbol of God’s love and power. It shows that the power of God’s love is greater than human love of power...Since the cross represents painful death and profound humiliation, it calls into question the conventional wisdom about power and the divine. The ancients took for granted that deities possessed power, and the degree of their power determined their ranking in the pyramid of gods. In the cross, that pyramid is turned upside down. The most powerful God appears to be the most powerless. The cross makes hash of all secular and religious attempts based on human wisdom to make sense of God and the world. Victory is won by giving up life, not taking it. Selfish domination of others is discredited. Shame is removed through divine identification with the shamed in a shameful death. God offers a new paradigm that makes the experience of shame the highest path to glory and honor (
1 Coríntios 1
Morris - His point is that no human wisdom can avail before God, and he uses three typical terms for the learned and acute of this world. There is a glance at the transitory nature of human wisdom in the use of this age (aion; cf. NEB, ‘limited, all of them, to this passing age’). This world is but a passing show and its wisdom passes with it (cf 1 Jn 2:17+; 1 Cor 7:31). God has not simply disregarded this wisdom or shown it to be foolish; he has made it foolish. Paul leaves not the slightest doubt that God has rejected all that rests on merely human wisdom. (The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians) Arnold - Man’s wisdom in God’s sight is foolishness. The best of man’s wisdom is folly. Even in the categories where human wisdom is valid, it has proven faulty. Human wisdom raises the right questions but does not have the right answers. Human solutions are temporary and not permanent; it sounds impressive, radiates optimism, and does seem to temporarily work in some situations, but ultimately it solves nothing. This is why every generation wrestles with the same problems, and that remains true as far back as we can go into human history. This is why one generation never seems to learn from another. Men still go hungry; there is social injustice; there is war; there is greed; there is political maneuvering. Look at the wisdom of man in the failure of the United Nations. See the wisdom of man in the hopelessness of the ghettos of the city of New York. Watch the panic of the world as it tries to solve a global economic crisis. See the wisdom of man in the USA and western culture as it crumbles away morally, grasping at every straw to solve the AIDS epidemic. Look at the wisdom of man in the blood-soaked streets of Bosnia. If the wisdom of man is faulty in the categories where it is supposed to work, then this is proof positive that human wisdom most assuredly cannot work in the area of salvation. (1 Corinthians 1:17-24 The Foolishness Of The Cross) Winston Churchill - Certain it is that while men are gathering knowledge and power with ever-increasing speed, their virtues and their wisdom have not shown any notable improvement as the centuries have rolled. Under sufficient stress, starvation, terror, warlike passion, or even cold, intellectual frenzy, the modern man we know so well will do the most terrible deeds, and his modern woman will back him up” As
1 Coríntios 1
Morris has an interesting point on foolishness of God noting that "Paul does not use the word ‘foolishness’ (moria) as in 1 Cor 1:18, 21, 23, but says ‘the foolish thing’ (moros), i.e. the cross. So with the weakness; the cross is ‘the weak thing’ of God that is stronger than anything man can produce." (Full text of 1 Corinthians TNTC Leon Morris) Thomas Schreiner - Human beings reject the message of the cross as foolish and weak, but what is foolish in human eyes is actually the wisdom of God. Similarly, what is weak according to human standards—the cross—actually unleashes the power of God, and hence God’s ‘weak thing’ is stronger than anything human beings can muster. (1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary) Foolishness (3474)(moros conveys the root meaning of one who is mentally dull, sluggish in understanding, foolish, morally worthless, useless, silly or stupid (English = “moron”). Absurd (ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous). Jesus used moros giving us a good description of foolish when he declared “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish (moros) man who built his house on the sand." (Mt 7:26+) That is foolish! All 12 NT uses - Mt 5:22; Matt. 7:26; Mt 23:17; foolish describes "foolish" virgins in Mt. 25:2, 3, 8; 1 Co. 1:25; 1 Co. 1:27; 1 Co. 3:18; 1 Co. 4:10; 2 Ti 2:23 = foolish speculations; Titus 3:9 = foolish controversies.