The Foolishness of Worldly Wisdom
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Straight to the Cross
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The Foolishness of Worldly Wisdom
by Hollis Miller
Some important lessons for modern times can be
learned from Paul's words recorded in 1
Corinthians 1:28-2:16. What the apostle wrote by
inspiration certainly ranks among the most
instructive verses in the Bible. In them he
declared that the message of the cross of Christ
is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it
is the power of God to all who are being saved.
The philosophers known to the Corinthians had been
unable through their wisdom to deliver men from
enslavement to moral and spiritual darkness. They
had been unable to do so because their philosophic
eyes were incapable of penetrating beyond the
boundaries of human thought.
Had philosophy been able to deliver men from the
realm of darkness into the realm of light surely
the Greeks would have supplied the bridge. They
could boast of some of the greatest thinkers ever
to walk the earth. Yet their genius had utterly
failed to provide men with the truth that sets
them free.
In the scripture cited above, Paul declared that
the cross of Christ is God's wisdom, the wisdom
which the wise of this world think is foolishness.
The apostle's statement is by no means limited to
the first century world. Many today rejoice when
the faith of Christians is attacked by theorists
of various descriptions, slandered, or laughingly
ridiculed. Yet Paul declared that it is these very
people who are themselves acting foolishly.
What should the church today learn from 1
Corinthians 1:18 — 2:16? One obvious lesson is
that when the Gospel is rejected, nothing can be
gained either for God or for men by turning to
human wisdom for a substitute message. Another is
that worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom do not
equal each other. It is therefore a dangerous
thing to assume that worldly learning within
itself will better equip one to either proclaim
the Gospel or to lead the church. Unless the
wisdom gleaned from the wise of this world is
supervised by heavenly wisdom one is poorly
prepared to lead others into total faith in the
sufficiency of the cross of Christ.
At Corinth the Gospel made its greatest appeal to
those who were not enthralled by their own wisdom,
power, and riches. Paul stated it thusly: "For see
your calling, brethren, that not many wise
according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble, are called." Just how this stated fact
applies to different societies in different times
may be a flexible matter, but experience seems to
teach us that even today biased worldly wisdom,
power, and wealth do not equip many for reception
of the Gospel. God's ways are not worldly man's
way, and it still remains true that the cross of
Christ is foolishness to those who think more
highly of their own wisdom than they do of God's
wisdom.
Thanks to The Voice of Truth International, Vol
20, pgs. 13-14.
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