Continues his defence of his mode of preaching. In vs. 1-5 he shows that he acted on the principles set forth in the preceding paragraph. In vs. 6-9 he shows that the gospel is the true wisdom. The source of this know- ledge, as externally revealed and as spiritually apprehended, is the Holy Spirit, vs. 10-16.
Continuation of his defence of his mode of preaching.
Vs. 1-16.
As God had determined to save men not by human wisdo^ but by the gospel, Paul, when he appeared in Corinth, came\ neither as an orator nor as a philosopher, but simply as a wit- ness, vs. 1,2. He had no confidence in himself, but rehed for success exclusively on the demonstration of the Spirit, vs. 3, 4. The true fomidation of faith is not reason, but the testi- mony of God, V. 5.
Though what he preached was not the wisdom of men, it was the wisdom of God, undiscoverable by human reason, vs. 6-9. The revealer of this divine wisdom is the Holy Ghost, he alone being competent to make this revelation, because he only knows the secret purposes of God, vs. 10-12. In com- municating the knowledge thus derived from the Spirit, the apostle used words taught by the Spirit, v. 13. Though the knowledge communicated was divine, and although communi- cated in appropriate language, it was not received by the natural man, because the things of the Spirit can be discerned only by the spiritual, vs. 14-16.
1 . And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
And I^ i. e. accordingly I. * In accordance with the clear- ly revealed purpose of God to reject the wisdom of the world and to make the cross the means of salvation.'
Excellency of speech or of wisdom. As speech and wis- dom (Aoyos and aoc^ta) are here distinguished, the former ' probably refers to the manner or form, and the latter to the matter of his preaching. It was neither as a rhetorician nor as a philosopher that he appeared among them. This clause