📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 2:5
What does 1 Corinthians 2:5 mean?
"that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
— 1 Corinthians 2:5 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing.
But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory,
which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory.
Explanation
1 Corinthians 2:5 comes at the close of a short but pointed passage in which Paul explains his approach to preaching the gospel in Corinth. In plain language, the verse says that Paul deliberately avoided relying on impressive rhetoric, philosophical argument, or human cleverness when he shared the message of Christ with the Corinthians. His purpose in doing so was so that their faith would not be built on the shifting foundation of human persuasion, but on something far more solid and reliable: the demonstrated power of God at work in their midst.
To understand this verse well, it helps to know the context of Corinth itself. Corinth was a sophisticated Greco-Roman city that highly prized eloquence, rhetorical skill, and philosophical sophistication. Public speakers were judged and admired the way celebrities might be today, based on style, wit, and persuasive power. When Paul arrived in Corinth (as recounted in Acts 18), he came, by his own admission earlier in this chapter (2:1-4), "not with excellency of speech or of wisdom" but "in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling." He refused to compete on the world's terms of clever argumentation. Instead, his preaching centered simply on "Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (2:2), a message that seemed foolish by worldly standards but carried real spiritual power.
Theologically, this verse draws a sharp contrast between two possible foundations for faith: human wisdom versus divine power. Paul is making a crucial point about the nature of true faith and how
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