1 So, when I came to you, Family,a I came not based on elitistb discussionc or philosophyd as I announced to you the statemente about God. 2 That’s because I decided not to hold in mindf anything among you except Jesus Christ and him as crucified. 3 So, I came to be with you, feeling faint and fearful with much trembling, 4 and my discussion and my announcement were not with persuasive discussionsg of philosophyh but rather with a demonstration of the Life-breath and power, 5 so that your trusti would not be in human wisdomj but rather in God’s power.
6 However, we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this Age or of the leaders of this age who are being rendered obsolete. 7 Instead, we speak God’s wisdom that God decided on beforehand, prior to the Ages, which has been shrouded in mystery, for our praise,k 8 which none of the leaders of this Age understood. You see, if they understood it, they would not have crucified the praiseworthyl Lord. 9 Rather, as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and in no human heart has it arisen, are things God has prepared for those who lovem God.”n 10 However, God unveiled it for us through the Life-breath, for the Life-breath looks into everything, including the deep things of God. 11 Who among people perceives the things of a particular person if not the Life-breath of the person that is within them? In that same way, no one understands the things of God if not the Life-breath of God. 12 We did not receive the breath of the world systemo but rather the Life-breath that comes from God so that we can understand the things generously given to us by God. 13 So, we speak these things not with ideas taught to us with human wisdom but rather with what is taught by the Life-breath, putting together Life-breath-animated things for Life-breath-animated people. 14 The person animated by one’s own life-forcep does not accept the things of God’s Life-breath because they are nonsense to them, and they can’t understand them because they are thoroughly understood through being filled with the Life-breath. 15 However, the one who is animated by the Life-breath thoroughly understands everything while no one thoroughly understands them. 16 “You see, who understands the mind of the Lord; who would help the Lord to understand?”q However, we do have the mind of Christ.
FOOTNOTES:
a The word adelphos, literally means ‘brother’ or ‘sibling.’ It was also frequently used to refer to ‘cousin’ or ‘relative,’ and even for members of the same ideological or ethnic group. With Jesus’ insistence on a radically inclusive understanding of God’s instruction, it is always pushing further than what already seems to be the most wide-sweeping view people hold. In the New Testament letters, it comes to be used of anyone who has joined the Christ community, regardless of gender.
b Or ‘superior’ or ‘supremacist’
c This word is logos, which can mean ‘word’ or ‘message’ or ‘conversation,’ but focuses more on the concepts being discussed rather than on the language being used.
d Literally, ‘wisdom,’ but the word sophia is being used in this passage in a number of ways. In order to clarify the usage in each instance, additional describing words have been added in the translation. It can refer to ‘prudence’ or ‘good insight’ or it can mean something more like ‘philosophy’ including the esoteric discussions of abstract ideas by elite and highly educated individuals or the ‘philosophy’ as in the perspective held by a group.
e Traditionally, ‘testimony.’ The word means an account of something, providing information for others to understand the truth of something.
f Most literally, ‘to know.’ The word can mean a sense of being aware or of being skilled or expert. The idea is that Paul was not relying on his advanced education but on the simple triumphant message of Christ’s liberatory, radical inclusion.
g This word is logos, which can mean ‘word’ or ‘message’ or ‘conversation,’ but focuses more on the concepts being discussed rather than on the language being used.
h Literally, ‘wisdom,’ but the word sophia is being used in this passage in a number of ways. In order to clarify the usage in each instance, additional describing words have been added in the translation. It can refer to ‘prudence’ or ‘good insight’ or it can mean something more like ‘philosophy’ including the esoteric discussions of abstract ideas by elite and highly educated individuals or the ‘philosophy’ as in the perspective held by a group.
i Traditionally, ‘faith.’ The Greek word pistis carries a reciprocal relationship between the concepts of trust and following through on a commitment based on that trust. The full meaning is difficult to capture in one English word. Sometimes, the concept of ‘trust’ seems to be the most prominent part, other times ‘commitment’ and other times ‘faithfulness’ or ‘allegiance.’ ‘Faithfulness’ is the closest word to carrying the full meaning, but it should be understood that these other meanings are all in the background, informing what kind of faithfulness is in view.
j This is the same word translated as ‘philosophy’ in verses 1 and 4.
k Traditionally, ‘glory’
l Traditionally, ‘Lord of glory’
m This is a reference to Isaiah, but in the Hebrew it says ‘who waits for the Lord.’ The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) renders it as ‘endures in eleos.’ Eleos means ‘compassion’ but is the typical word used to translate the Hebrew word hesed, which is something like committed love, prioritizing faithfulness and solidarity with the one being loved.
n Reference to Isaiah 64:4
o Traditionally just ‘world.’ It is not about physical existence as opposed to heavenly realms or life after death. It is about existing in the universe at all or about being present in the way things are within ‘the world as we know it.’
p The term psuchikos comes from psuchē, which refers to the life-force or inner being that animates a person, not merely “nature” or “physicality” in a modern sense. Paul draws the contrast between this self-sustained life-force and God’s Life-breah from Genesis 2:7, where Adam is described as eis psuchēn zōsan (“became a living being” or “a living soul”) after God breathed life into him.
q Quotation of Isaiah 40:13