ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Corinthians 1.18-25

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

16. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void.

18. For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. 19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought. 20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21. For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. 22. Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom: 23. but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; 24. but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

  1. For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27. but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; (1 Corinthians 1:16-27, ASV)
WEB

16. (I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.) 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News, not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.

18. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God. 19. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.” 20. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21. For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe. 22. For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom, 23. but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks, 24. but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

  1. For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; 27. but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; (1 Corinthians 1:16-27, WEB)
KJV

16. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 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 none effect. words: or, speech

18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

  1. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; (1 Corinthians 1:16-27, KJV)
YLT

16. and I did baptize also Stephanas' household, further, I have not known if I did baptize any other. 17. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but, to proclaim good news; not in wisdom of discourse, that the cross of the Christ may not be made of none effect;

18. for the word of the cross to those indeed perishing is foolishness, and to us, those being saved, it is the power of God, 19. for it hath been written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nought;' 20. where [is] the wise? where the scribe? where a disputer of this age? did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world? 21. for, seeing in the wisdom of God the world through the wisdom knew not God, it did please God through the foolishness of the preaching to save those believing. 22. Since also Jews ask a sign, and Greeks seek wisdom, 23. also we, we preach Christ crucified, to Jews, indeed, a stumbling-block, and to Greeks foolishness, 24. and to those called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God, 25. because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men;

  1. for see your calling, brethren, that not many [are] wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27. but the foolish things of the world did God choose, that the wise He may put to shame; and the weak things of the world did God choose that He may put to shame the strong; (1 Corinthians 1:16-27, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle
  • Audience: the church at Corinth, a mixed Jew-and-Gentile congregation in a wealthy Roman colony, fractured over teachers, status, sexual ethics, and the limits of freedom
  • Location: composed in Ephesus, addressed to Corinth
  • Time period: c. AD 55-56

Theological reading

This is the fullest statement of Paul's theology of the cross, and it is structured as a sustained paradox. Verse 22 names the two great cultures of his world by what each demanded: Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom. Verse 23 answers both with the same thing: we preach Christ crucified, which is a stumbling block to the first and foolishness to the second. Paul does not offer a version of the message adjusted to either demand.

Both rejections are intelligible, which is why the passage is honest rather than triumphalist. For a first-century Jew, a crucified Messiah was close to a contradiction, since crucifixion carried the curse of Deuteronomy 21:23 and a cursed deliverer was unthinkable. For a Greek or Roman, a god who shares the death of a provincial criminal was beneath discussion, since divinity was defined by freedom from suffering. The cross offends the religious expectation and the philosophical one at once.

Two apologetic uses follow. First, the passage is a strong internal witness to the antiquity of the cross-centered message: an invented gospel would not have been built on the single fact hardest to defend before either target audience, which is the criterion-of-embarrassment reasoning applied to the kerygma itself. See Minimal Facts Argument and Pre-Pauline Creeds. Second, it answers the claim that Christianity assembled itself out of surrounding myth. The mystery cults did not preach a crucified savior, and Paul's readers found the idea scandalous rather than familiar. See Copycat-Christ Hypothesis.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.