IS GOD WEAK AND FOOLISH? (I CORINTHIANS 1:25)

This verse reads in the NEB, “Divine folly is wiser than the wisdom, and divine weakness stronger than man's strength.” Thus, at one stroke Paul appears to be taking a potshot at two key attributes of God: His omniscience and His omnipotence. And although this verse may cause some ultra-literalists consternation, it is obvious to most readers that Paul couldn't possibly be stating anything like this. Thus, we see the following translations and paraphrases which attempt to bring out the intended underlying thought in the verse:

    TEV renders it as “What seems to be” God's foolishness and weakness.

    The Message says, “Human wisdom is so cheap, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can't begin to compete with God's 'weakness.'”

    And The Living Bible reads, “This so-called 'foolish' plan is far wiser than that of the wisest man, and God in his weakness – Christ dying on the cross – is far stronger than any man.”

In addition, even “human wisdom” is a phrase which can't be taken at its face value. The note in the Jerusalem Bible to this verse defines it as “philosophical speculation and tricks of rhetoric.”

So we have here a prime example of irony used to explain why some people, even those considered wise by earthly standards, just can't understand the reason why Jesus needed to die in order to save us. It is certainly a major sticking point with those followers of Islam.

There was once a showing on TV of the cartoon version of C.S. Lewis' “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” It became the discussion of a group of us chemists during break time at work, and one of the most intelligent chemists at our table, who had seen the show, said that he just couldn't understand the logic behind the lion having to die in order to save the boy and Narnia from the witch's spell. It seemed like complete nonsense to him. And this was a PhD who had been raised in Roman Catholic schools. Interestingly, even some of the atheists in our group had absolutely no trouble in immediately recognizing the Christian symbolism in the story, even though they may have personally rejected the message.

Here is how various Bible scholars weigh in on the meaning in this verse:

“Apart from God's active involvement in preaching the message would come as a stumbling block to the Jews (who demanded miraculous signs) and foolishness to the Gentiles (who looked for wisdom). At this point the content and activity of preaching correspond, for both are marked by 'foolishness' (I Cor 1:21-25). Only to those who believe does it bring salvation (I Cor 1:21-23).” (Mounce)

“In the logic of human wisdom the cross of Christ is foolishness (1 Cor 1:18), but in reality the apparent weakness of God is a demonstration of his power (1 Cor 1:24-25).” (Schnable)

Stott states, “What was foolishness to Greeks, and continues to be to modern intellectuals who trust in their own wisdom, is nevertheless the wisdom of God. And what remains a stumbling-block to those who trust in their own righteousness, like the Jews of the first century, proves to be the saving power of God (1Cor. 1:18-25).”

Orr and Walther: “The foolishness of divine love is wiser than the wisdom of human pride; it is the unadorned, stark display of willingness to enter the worst conditions that ever faced a human being. This is wiser than the security sought by the skill of intelligent persons because it accomplishes what no human wisdom can achieve: the reclamation and remaking of the victims of sin and death. The weakness of God is the weakness of the death of Christ. In human experience death is the ultimate weakness, but the death of Christ is more powerful than all human strength. Paul's acquaintance with Christ caused him to change all his previous ways of thinking. Here was indeed the supreme metamorphosis. Now he understood that wisdom and strength were to be found in weakness, life in death.”

“The foolishness of God is that work of God which the world considers foolish: the work of God in Christ. What the world considers foolish and feeble, namely, the death of Christ, is salvation for believers. It saves whereas the world cannot save. That is why the foolishness of God is wiser than man. These words denote man in all his knowledge and power. God's revelation, which by men is thought foolish and weak, is stronger than the strongest work of man.” (Grosheide)

Fee: “Christ crucified as God's power, and therefore God's wisdom, at work in the world is the ultimate contradiction. Paul now brings closure to his argument by grounding the historical outworking of that reality in a theological axiom: God is both wiser and more powerful than mere human beings. But he says that by keeping intact the paradoxical language of the paragraph...In the cross God 'outsmarted' his human creatures and thereby nullified their wisdom. In the same cross God also 'overpowered' his enemies, with lavish grace and forgiveness, and thereby divested them of their strength.”

He continues: “One can scarcely conceive of a more important – and more difficult – passage for the church today than this one...Such 'weakness' in God is scandalous to those who think of themselves as righteous and thus in no need of forgiveness; but to those who recognize themselves as in need of mercy this is the good news that sets us free to follow him. Thus this weakness is also the ultimate power, and therefore the final wisdom of God.”