A S T U D Y IN C O R IN T H IA N S by J. RICHARD CHASE
brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of Cod." The word translated "exce llency" conveys the idea of exceeding or going be yond what others are able to do. Paul recognized that in the culture of that day it was not only pos sible, but it was expected that a speaker would outdo the previous speaker. Somehow he would be more persuasive, more powerful, more effective. Paul says, "I didn't come in the spirit of competition as in some oratorical contest. I came simply declaring unto you the message or the testimony that God would have me present." Another insight into this phrase is found in I Corinthians 2:4. Paul writes, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." The word "enticing" is really the standard Greek word for "persuasion." Aristotle used this in his treatise, "The Art of Rhet oric." He set the tone that many people used for generations, in fact for centuries. That was, that man's Page 25
Paul reveals his goal to preach the Gospel, In I Corinthians 1:17: "For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the Gospel; not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no ef fect." Paul baptized only a handful of believers because he knew the Corinthians were prone to follow men. He did not want to encour age division of the church into "those baptized by Paul" and those baptized by another. He wanted the focus on Christ and the cross, not on man and his ability. We are going to focus on the second half of the verse, the con cept that the wisdom of words, if used as the method of communi cation, would actually empty the cross, make it of no effect. It would strip it of its power. Why? I believe that the wisdom of words as used in I Corinthians 1:17 and in chap ter two, is a tribute to man and his rhetorical power. The focus would be on man and not God. The glory would be man's and not Cod's. In verse 17 there is simply the phrase "the wisdom of words." However, in I Corinthians 2:1, Paul expands the concept, "And I,
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