No. It couldn’t be. Paul was a confident performer in public. He knew the right words and chose them carefully. He knew how to get the best out of an audience and when they were on his side. It would never occur to you to describe Paul as a timid person, self-conscious, fearful of putting a foot wrong.
Yet this is how he describes himself in 1 Corinthians 2.3. Of course, he was observing the formalities in self-deprecation, admitting his lowly place in the scheme of things. He was practised in argument and equipped with the skills and experience that served him well as a servant of the new faith. Christianity could hardly have had a better qualified ambassador.
What Paul is getting at as he writes to his Corinthian friends is the truth about God and how it is received and transmitted. The faith does not spread, he says, by virtue of eloquence, lateral thinking and the parading of successful personalities. This, says, Paul, would be to discredit the Gospel. No, something more than human skill is needed. The philosophers of Greece had help generations to sharpen their wits and see things from a new angle but they had not managed to launch a world-changing message. That was another thing altogether.
This is a daring approach. Paul may have discounted clever argument but he knew very well that this would be used against him. He knew, too, that he was not the only scholarly person able to deploy philosophical points in debate. What counted for him was the array of lives changed. He saw this as the power of God at work.
The Corinthian Christians found it hard to come to terms with Paul’s approach or the one he renounced. They were flibbertigibbet, inconstant, excitable, sure they knew best. Paul conceded nothing. They lived amongst experts in religious matters, though they failed to grasp the significance of the Lord of Glory come to dwell amidst them (1 Corinthians 2.8).
We still have the choice to make: accepting a visit from the Lord of Glory to bring well-being and meaning to men and women; and on the other hand accepting brilliant schemes that promise to make sense – one day – of a world in need.
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