SUMMARY
Factions among the Corinthians are claiming greater spiritual enlightenment than others in the community. PaulThe Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was the author of several New Testament letters and the founder of many Christian communities. takes up their internal conflicts and reinterprets what it means to be spiritual. With the phrase, “the mind of Christ,” Paul emphasizes not the omniscience of Christ but rather the reversal of worldly wisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, "The fear of the... and power that the cross represents.
ANALYSIS
After the letter’s opening, Paul turns to the matter of wisdom, both the world’s wisdom and God’s wisdom. Is it wise to follow one who was crucified? The answer is “yes and no.” God’s wisdom is indeed foolishness when looked at through the lens of the world’s wisdom. Through the world’s lenses, we see only the rejection and failure that the cross represents.
Then Paul describes another way of looking at the cross. The Spirit of God reveals God’s wisdom for what it is: wise and gracious. Paul says that he and those to whom he is writing have received “the Spirit that is from God” (1 Corinthians 2:12). With that Spirit, they may “discern all things” (1 Corinthians 2:15).
The Corinthians are impressed with their spirituality. Paul reminds them that Christian spirituality is always tied to the HolyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine Spirit and to the work of Christ, especially to the work of Christ on the cross. To have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:15), then, is to think in terms of “JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. Christ and him crucified” (see 1 Corinthians 2:2) and to see the hand of a gracious God in the crucifixion.
