How does Paul contrast his preaching and spiritual discernment?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Paul’s testimony to Christ crucified and the showing of Spirit and power ground his preaching. He contrasts worldly wisdom with revealed wisdom and spiritual discernment.

Chapter breakdown

Paul recalls coming without loftiness of speech or wisdom to declare Christ’s testimony. He judged to know only Jesus Christ crucified among them. He was with them in weakness, fear and much trembling. His speech and preaching used the showing of Spirit and power rather than persuasive words of human wisdom, so their faith would stand in God’s power rather than men’s wisdom.

He does speak wisdom among the perfect, but not the wisdom of this world or its princes, who come to nothing. He speaks God’s wisdom in a hidden mystery, ordained before the world for their glory. None of the princes knew it, otherwise they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. He cites what eye has not seen, ear has not heard and heart has not conceived, prepared by God for those loving him.

God has revealed these things through the Spirit, who searches all things, even God’s depths. A man’s things are known by his own spirit; God’s things by God’s Spirit. They received God’s Spirit rather than the world’s, to know God’s gifts. They speak in the doctrine of the Spirit rather than words learned from human wisdom, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

The sensual man does not perceive the things of God’s Spirit, regarding them as foolish and unable to understand because they are spiritually examined. The annotation describes someone guided by sensual pleasures and worldly affections, or measuring mysteries solely by natural reason, sense and human wisdom with little or no notion of God. It explains the spiritual man as submitting judgment on religious mysteries to the church’s decisions rather than human sense, citing Christ’s commands to hear and obey the church and his promises to remain until the world’s end and guide it by the Spirit of truth. Paul says the spiritual man judges all things and is himself judged by none, asks who knows the Lord’s mind to instruct him, and concludes that they have Christ’s mind.

The story inside

The annotation supplies two meanings of the sensual man and explains the spiritual man through obedience to church decisions. Paul’s weakness and fear receive no clinical diagnosis.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Wisdom is spoken among the perfect.
2
The annotation gives two senses of sensual man.
3
Judged of none wording is retained without invented guarantee.

Test your recall

What does the annotation command concerning church decisions?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 129251–129251
2:3. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
Lines 129268–129270
2:9. But, as it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard: neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.
Lines 129287–129289
2:14. But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God. For it is foolishness to him: and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined.
Lines 129291–129299
The sensual man—the spiritual man.... The sensual man is either he who is taken up with sensual pleasures, with carnal and worldly affections; or he who measureth divine mysteries by natural reason, sense, and human wisdom only. Now such a man has little or no notion of the things of God. Whereas the spiritual man is he who, in the mysteries of religion, takes not human sense for his guide: but submits his judgment to the decisions of the church, which he is commanded to hear and obey. For Christ hath promised to remain to the end of the world with his church, and to direct her in all things by the Spirit of truth.