1 Corinthians 1:20, commentary and pictures

The verse asks where the world's learned teachers and clever debaters stand before God, and answers that their learning and argument are exposed as powerless beside the cross. God has turned human wisdom into foolishness, destroying the understanding of the wise and prudent who trust in it. The message of Christ crucified seems like folly to those who are perishing, whether they demand signs or seek philosophy, yet to those who believe it is God's power and wisdom for salvation. No amount of reason, education, or strength can by itself bring a person to know God or fit them for His work, for God chooses what the world calls foolish, weak, and despised to humble the mighty so no one can boast before Him. True wisdom is found only in Christ, who is made wisdom and righteousness and redemption to believers, and true education is knowing God and Jesus Christ through revelation of His word by the Holy Spirit.

Words and Historical Setting

The wise, the scribe, and the disputer of this world are the worldly-wise, the learned teachers, and the debaters, whose learning, status, and argument cannot stand before God, cannot answer the power of the gospel, and cannot make the cross less powerful or its message true. The wisdom prized by the world cannot bring people to know God, and those who judge Christ by worldly standards fail to see the wisdom and power of God in His humble, self-sacrificing life and crucifixion. The message of Christ crucified may look like foolishness to the world, but to those who believe it reveals God's power and wisdom and is God's appointed means of saving them.

The three questions challenge and expose the authority of human learning and argument, declaring that worldly learning and debate cannot replace God's wisdom. God has exposed the wisdom of the world as foolish because human wisdom cannot bring people to know Him, and divine teaching rather than endless human study is the highest education. This belongs to the truth that God saves believers through preaching that the world regards as foolish.

Through successive ages of darkness in the midnight of heathenism, people were permitted to try the experiment of finding God by their own wisdom, not to prove their inability to God, but so they themselves might see they cannot obtain a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ His Son except through the revelation of His word by the Holy Spirit. When Christ came the experiment had been fully tried and proved that the world by wisdom knew not God. Therefore it pleased God to save those who believe not by wisdom of words, which would make the cross of none effect and is foolishness to those who perish, but by the foolishness of preaching the cross, which to the saved is the power of God, since education alone cannot fit a man for a place in God's work and those who undertake the work in their own strength will certainly fail.

At Athens comparatively few received the gospel because pride of intellect and worldly wisdom counted the gospel foolishness. The grand truths that men in pride and self-exaltation refuse to examine and cast aside as worthless are clearly apprehended and enjoyed by those who are babes in knowledge. God's wisdom surpasses the wisdom taught in human philosophy, and He instructs even those with a feeble understanding when they are willing to learn with the humility of little children, giving them greater wisdom than human schools can impart. For God has chosen the foolish and weak and base and despised things of the world to confound the wise and mighty and to bring to nothing things that are, so that no flesh should glory in His presence, but those in Christ Jesus have Him made unto them wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

The overturning of the world's claims to wisdom and learning is illustrated when a simple man repeating the first angel's message about the bridegroom's coming was used without learned arguments to bring a learned elder to humility before God, so that through the moving of the Spirit the elder confessed his pride. Human wisdom cannot accomplish what God does, and God brings the wisdom of the world to nothing. So also Bro. Aldrich's reliance on his own wisdom and judgment and his imprudent management came to nothing, for God made his wisdom foolishness and his plans came to naught.

Human Wisdom Made Foolish

God has exposed the wisdom of this world as foolishness, made foolish the wisdom of this world, destroyed the wisdom of the wise, and brought to nothing the understanding of the prudent. The wise, the scribe, and the disputer or debater of this world cannot by their learning, teaching, and argument stand before God, lessen the power of the cross, or make its message true. Human wisdom prized by the world cannot provide the wisdom found in Christ crucified, who to those saved and called is God's power and wisdom, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Human wisdom, education, expertise, cleverness, and strength alone cannot bring people to know God and Jesus Christ His Son, fit a man for a place in God's work, equip anyone for God's revelation, or save believers. Those who undertake God's work in their own strength will certainly fail, and worldly aims make the message of the cross appear foolish to those shaped by them. Through successive ages of darkness in the midnight of heathenism men were permitted to try the experiment of finding God by their own wisdom, not to prove their inability to God but so they themselves might see they cannot obtain that knowledge except through revelation of His word by the Holy Spirit, and when Christ came the experiment had been fully tried and proved that the world by wisdom knew not God. Therefore it pleased God to save them that believe not by wisdom of words, which would make the cross of none effect and is foolishness to them that perish, but by the foolishness of preaching the cross, which to the saved is the power of God, overturning human claims so that no one proud of learning who dismisses that preaching can boast before Him.

A lifetime spent searching after God by reason, argument, and logic leaves a person ignorant and confused, for in God's wisdom the world by its own wisdom never knew God. The true knowledge of God is found in the Bible alone, and it pleased God to save those who believe by what the world calls the foolishness of preaching.

There are two opposite wisdoms, the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world, and true education is to walk in the wisdom of God and not in the wisdom of the world. Human wisdom pursued apart from God and measured against God's wisdom is foolishness and cannot lead to true wisdom, while education based on human interpretations rather than on God and Jesus Christ is false. Such wisdom is foolishness because it misses the whole of God's providences, which look into eternity, giving God's word an inferior place and making what should stand first subordinate to human inventions, better facilities, greater skill, and newer methods.

God makes the wisdom of even the wisest man foolishness when it swerves one jot or tittle from the Word of the living God and places human assumption and sophistry above a plain Thus saith the Lord. In this age there is no safety in such departing, however wise and correct the human reasoning may appear, because tradition in names and books is nothing and God's Word is everything, and those who exalt sophistry above His plain word while honoring men disloyal to God He turns to foolishness, while them that honor Him by holding to His Word He will honor. Human theories, speculative philosophy, and theology that turn the mind from Scripture to philosophical sophistries are worthless and harmful and cannot replace God's truth, for lasting truth is found in the words of the prophets and apostles. Such teaching drifts into worldly plans, methods, customs, practices, and traditions God has not given, conforming like the Jews and clinging to old habits and nonessential studies as if salvation depended on them, directing minds from eternal interests to human theories and explaining infinite, eternal truth, the revelation of God, in the light of human interpretations, when only the Holy Spirit's power can unfold spiritual things.

Exalting human judgment above God's will leads people astray through the foolishness of human wisdom, for human wisdom cannot be treated as God's wisdom. Trusting another person's opinion instead of prayerfully examining evidence for oneself illustrates this danger.

Christ Crucified Saves Believers

The preaching of Christ crucified looks like foolishness to the world and to those who perish, but to those who are saved and called it is the power of God and the wisdom of God. God has exposed the wisdom prized by the world as foolishness, because human wisdom, education, and strength cannot bring people to know Him, fit them for His work, or lessen the power of the cross. Those proud of learning who dismiss the preaching of the cross as foolish do not understand their need of Christ, and those who undertake God's work in their own strength will certainly fail. It pleased God to save those who believe not by wisdom of words, which would make the cross of no effect, but by what the world calls the foolishness of preaching. In God's wisdom the world by its own wisdom did not know God, for through successive ages of darkness in the midnight of heathenism men were permitted to try finding God by their own wisdom so they themselves might see they cannot obtain knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ except through revelation of His word by the Holy Spirit, and when Christ came the experiment had been fully tried and proved.

The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, so preaching Christ crucified is a stumblingblock to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. To the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.

God overturns human claims to wisdom by choosing the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. He chooses the base and despised things, even things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are. He does this so that no flesh should glory in His presence. True education is therefore not pride in human learning or ability but knowledge of God, and grand truths refused by men in pride are apprehended by those who are babes in knowledge.

Those who are in Christ Jesus have Him made unto them wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Human learning and achievement cannot replace this wisdom or give grounds for boasting before God. No one can boast before Him, and he who glories glories only in the Lord. Education becomes harmful when it pushes out knowledge of God, truth, and spiritual life.

God's devised plan to save believers by preaching that the world calls foolishness was carried forward through successive generations and through centuries of heathenism. It was carried forward not as an experiment but as the approved way for spreading the gospel. Through that method from the beginning conviction came upon men and the world was enlightened concerning the gospel of God. The highest grade of schooling any human being can attain is the schooling given by the divine Teacher, greatly needed as the close of earth's history draws near to bring minds out of darkness into marvelous light as vessels for use. Piling one line of human education upon another as if to reach perfection is positive peril, and education gained in that spirit is deficient in every way.

Opposers Present False Wisdom

The wise, the scribes, and the disputers of this world are the supposedly wise men of earth who present doctrine contrary to the Bible, fabricate bewitching theories to infatuate minds, exalt men and clothe them with honor above God, set aside the law of God, prescribe the limit of Jehovah's power, and refuse all evidence of God's power until it is brought under their finite faculties. They are led by the great apostate, the anointed cherub who was perfect until iniquity was found in him and who corrupted his wisdom by reason of his brightness. Against their wisdom God is clothed with power to take those who are dead in trespasses and sins and by the operation of the Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead transform the human character, bring back to the soul the lost image of God, and change rebels against the law of God into obedient servants and subjects of His kingdom through being born again, regenerated, and sanctified through the truth. He saves them that believe by the foolishness of preaching Christ crucified, who unto them which are called is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Though Paul could meet oratory with oratory and philosophy with philosophy on their own ground, he determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified, for God alone transforms character and Jesus Christ came to bring back through the mighty power of the cross of Calvary what was lost. Believers receive not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God to know the things freely given by God, speaking not in words of man's wisdom but as the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The verse rebukes the rich and learned who exalt themselves above those seeking salvation, since human learning and status cannot bring people to know God or save them, while the cross and the preaching of Christ, which worldly wisdom dismisses as foolish, reveal God's power and wisdom. Those who are considered learned and try to reshape the Scriptures dishonor God, while learning from Christ instead makes people truly wise.

The Greeks regarded the message of the cross as foolish because they prized their own learning and intellect above divine wisdom. Those who approached Christ in pride and confidence in their own attainments failed to receive the light and knowledge He gives, while those who come as lost sinners become wise unto salvation. Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but the message of the crucified Christ is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, looking foolish to those who are perishing while it is God's power to those who are saved. Spiritual blindness can lead people to favor those advancing error and to misjudge God's humble workers, until God's grace changes that judgment.

True Education Versus Worldliness

True education is knowing God and Jesus Christ, whom to know is eternal life, and an education centered on that knowledge is of more value than gold and silver and precious stones, more to be desired than worldly honor and the empty applause of frivolous mortals. The wisdom prized by the world cannot stand before God, who exposes it as foolish and overturns its claims by choosing what the world calls foolish and weak to confound the wise and mighty. True wisdom is found in God and in Christ, who is made wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so no one is to glory in human wisdom, strength, ability, or wealth, but he who glories is to glory in the Lord. In education book-learning and human knowledge must not displace God's word or become grounds for pride, for the highest education is knowing God.

The highest grade of schooling any human being can attain is the schooling given by the divine Teacher, greatly needed as the close of this earth's history draws near. Then men must be under God's training and by living faith carry out His plans, to bring human minds out of darkness into light, into the marvelous light of God, as vessels meet for the Master's use. This is because in the wisdom of God the world by its own wisdom did not know God, and human learning by itself cannot bring people to the knowledge of God. God's devised plan is to save those who believe by the preaching the world calls foolishness, and that plan was carried forward through successive generations and through centuries of heathenism not as an experiment but as the approved way for spreading the gospel, bringing conviction upon men and enlightening the world concerning the gospel of God.

Advising students to pursue one line of education after another as if added learning will bring perfection is positive peril and dangerous, and education gained in that spirit is deficient in every way. Schools will always be needed, but education must not absorb every spiritual interest or lead people to trust human wisdom instead of God. Human wisdom and learning do not lead people to know God, for God sets aside the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent and destroys and brings to nothing the wisdom of the wise, the scribe, and the disputer of this world. The questions about the wise, the scribe, and the debater declare that worldly learning and argument cannot replace God's wisdom, and divine teaching rather than endless human study is the highest education.

Man's ideas of education are not to be exalted as supreme, and the inclination to exalt and extol learned men, to direct minds to so-called wise men who do not know God and keep His commandments, especially men disloyal to God, is foolishness in His sight. God has higher aims for His people than the study of man, for God has made foolish the wisdom of this world and will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. In the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, so it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, the preaching of the cross being foolishness to them that perish but the power of God to the saved.

Education becomes harmful when it pushes out knowledge of God, the truth, and spiritual life, and when book-learning and human knowledge displace God's word. It gives a deficient, wrong education when it gives the word of God an inferior position and makes what should stand first subordinate to human inventions, trusting better facilities, greater skill, and newer methods to set society right. It drifts into worldly plans, methods, and customs, conforming like the Jews to customs, practices, and traditions God has not given, and clings to old habits and nonessential studies as if salvation depended on them. Such teaching turns away from God's special work and directs minds from a plain Thus saith the Lord involving eternal interests to human theories and teachings, explaining infinite, eternal truth, the revelation of God, in the light of human interpretations, when only the Holy Spirit's power can unfold spiritual things, because human wisdom is foolishness in that it misses the whole of God's providences, which look into eternity.

Preaching and Daily Living

All who take part in the various branches of God's work are to study the first and second chapters of First Corinthians, for there it is shown that God has made foolish the wisdom of this world and will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Since in God's wisdom the world by its own wisdom did not know God, He saves believers by what appears as the foolishness of preaching, namely preaching Christ crucified, which is a stumbling block to Jews who require a sign and foolishness to Greeks who seek after wisdom, but to the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Speech and preaching therefore are not to be with excellency of speech or enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that faith stands in the power of God and not in the wisdom of men. The wisdom to be spoken among the perfect is not the wisdom of this world nor of its princes that come to nothing, but the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom ordained before the world unto glory, which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. That wisdom is the things God has prepared for those who love Him, hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes, revealed by His Spirit that searches all things, even the deep things of God, spoken not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Ghost teaches, spiritually discerned and foolishness to the natural man, and no one has anything he did not receive, so none should glory.

Though Paul could meet oratory with oratory and philosophy with philosophy on their own ground, he determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. God alone transforms character, and Jesus Christ came to bring back through the mighty power of the cross of Calvary what was lost. Believers receive not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God to know the things freely given by God, speaking not in words of man's wisdom but as the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

The cross of Calvary gives the proper level to the human mind. By looking unto Jesus as Author and Finisher of faith and contemplating the cross, all desire for self-glorification is laid in the dust. Seeing God in Christ and Christ as God aright shows the wonderful provision brought to every believer and levels human exaltation and pride, bringing a spirit of self-abasement that promotes lowliness, humbleness of mind, and true humility with no self-exaltation. The Creator of all worlds, the Majesty of heaven, rich in heaven's treasure, humbled Himself to human nature in meekness and lowliness and for our sake became poor that through His poverty believers might be made rich. Any cherishing of high-mindedness, self-trust, self-sufficiency, and self-complacency therefore dishonors the Maker and will surely be humbled.

God may use humble, simple means to overthrow powerful enemies, and these means succeed through His power rather than their apparent strength. His wisdom in this can appear foolish to boastful, self-confident people who do not understand His work, while dependence on Him through the prayer of humble, obedient, trusting people brings victory. Envy and strife cherished by church members make the church weak and carnal, causing members to walk as men, to withdraw from some and bind up with others, and to cherish prejudice, jealousy, and evil surmising that separate them from their brethren and from God and hinder the manifestation of His Spirit. When the Holy Spirit molds minds and hearts, believers reveal thanksgiving for grace, are enriched in utterance and knowledge, are confirmed with the testimony of Christ and come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord, and speak the same thing with no divisions, perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Those acting a part in God's work of leading out a people preparing for translation are called back into right lines of work. They are to stand as sentinels for God, to labor unitedly, to be willing to be servants of all, and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus as the great Exemplar. There are two opposite wisdoms, the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world, and true education is to walk in the wisdom of God and not in the wisdom of the world. Before present truth can be carried in all its fullness to other countries, every yoke must be broken and this true education entered, with messengers educated as true reformers until they understand the message themselves and then give it to the world.