Your voice matters! Join the conversation by submitting a Letter to the Editor here. In chapter two of the First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul wrote about divine wisdom. Stephen Ray commented “In the second chapter of this epistle, Paul expresses his frustration with the Corinthians’ fleshliness and lack of spirituality that limited what they could understand and thus what he could teach. In the first chapter Paul began to correct the problem of divisions and dissensions within the Corinthian church. In 1 Cor 2 some would say Paul digressed, while others would suggest that he backed up a bit in order to lay a foundation of understanding before he returned to the problem of divisions. In fact, Paul begins chapter three continuing where he left off in the first chapter.”
St. Paul wrote, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Cor 2:3).
St. John Chrysostom said, “Was Paul really afraid of danger? Yes, he was, for even though he was Paul, he was still a man. This is not to say anything against him but rather about the infirmity of human nature. Indeed it is to the credit of his sense of determination that even when he was afraid of death and beatings, he did nothing wrong because of this fear. Therefore those who claim that Paul was not afraid of being beaten not only do not honour him, they diminish his greatness. For if he was without fear, what endurance or self-control was there in bearing dangers?”
We learn from the Acts of the Apostles that the Lord gave Paul courage to preach in Corinth: “And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.’ And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” (Acts 18:9–11) Paul’s success at Corinth was the result of the power of God.
In this chapter, we see the contrasts between human wisdom and wisdom from the Spirit, and between the natural person and the spiritual person.
St. Paul wrote, “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor 2:8).
Stephen Ray commented: “What Paul calls ‘the rulers of this age’ could refer to the human leaders who crucified Christ (e.g., Pilate, Herod, or Caiaphas), or to the power of Satan and his evil spirits behind these leaders, or to both. Many Fathers of the Church (e.g., Cyril of Alexandria) thought this referred to Satan and other leaders in Judea.”
St. Augustine said, “But if Christ had not been put to death, death would not have died. The devil was overcome by his own trophy, for the devil rejoiced when, by seducing the first man, he cast him into death. By seducing the first man, he killed him. By killing the last man, he lost the first from his snare.”
A carnal person is spiritually blind and asleep, whereas a spiritual person is spiritually sighted and awake.
St. John Chrysostom said, “The man who can see sees everything which belongs to the blind man, but no blind person can tell what he is doing. Likewise, we who believe can understand both our own affairs and those of unbelievers, but they are helpless when it comes to trying to understand us.”
St. Thomas Aquinas said, “A person who is awake rightly perceives both that he is awake and that the other person is asleep; but the person who is asleep cannot form a correct judgment concerning either himself or someone who is awake … And so the Apostle says that ‘the spiritual man judges all things’: for a person whose understanding is enlightened and whose affections are ordered by the Holy Spirit forms correct judgments on particular matters having to do with salvation. He who is unspiritual has a darkened understanding and disordered affection as far as spiritual things are concerned, and therefore the spiritual man cannot be judged by the unspiritual man, just as the sleeping person cannot judge the one who is awake.”
St. Josemaria Escriva said, “We have no alternative. There are only two possible ways of living on this earth: either we live a supernatural life, or we live an animal life. And you and I can only live the life of God, a supernatural life.”
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我們必須過超性生活
在《格林多前書》第2章中，聖保祿宗徒闡述了天主的智慧。Stephen Ray評論說：「在這書信的第2章中，保祿表達了對格林多人屬血氣生活和缺乏靈修生活的失望，這限制了他們對信仰奧秘的理解，也因此影響了他對他們的教導。在第1章，保祿開始糾正教會內部分裂和紛爭的問題。在第2章，有人認為保祿偏離了主題，但也有人認為他是回溯，為問題的解決打下了理解的基礎。事實上，保祿在第3章接續了第一章的討論。」
聖保祿寫道：「而且當我到你們那裏的時候，又軟弱，又恐懼，又戰兢不安。」（格前 2:3）金口聖若望主教解釋說：「保祿真的害怕危險嗎？是的，因為即便是保祿，他也仍然是一個人。這並不是批評他，而是揭示了人性的軟弱。然而，他的決心令人敬佩，即使面對死亡和鞭打的恐懼，他仍然選擇忠於福音。若說保祿不曾害怕，這不僅無助於彰顯他的偉大，反而削弱了他面對恐懼時的堅毅和克己精神。
我們在《宗徒大事錄》中看到，主曾賜給保祿勇氣，使他在格林多宣傳福音：「夜間，主藉異象對保祿說：『不要害怕，只管講，不要緘默，因為有我與你同在，必沒有人向你下手加害你，因為在這城裏有許多百姓是屬於我的。』於是，他就在那裏住了一年零六個月，在他們中講授天主的聖道。」（宗 18:9-11）保祿在格林多的成功，完全是仰賴天主的力量。
在這一章中，我們看到人的智慧與聖神的智慧之間的對比，以及屬血氣的人與屬神的人之間的區別。
聖保祿寫道：「今世有權勢的人中沒有一個認識她，因為如果他們認識了，決不至於將光榮的主釘在十字架上。」（格前 2:8）Stephen Ray評論說：「保祿所稱的『今世有權勢的人』，可能是指那些參與釘死基督的俗世領袖（如比拉多、黑落德或蓋法），也可能是指這些領袖背後的撒旦勢力，或兩者兼而有之。許多教父（如Cyril of Alexandria、）認為這是指撒旦及猶太地區的其他領袖。」
聖奧斯定說：「如果基督未被釘死，死亡就不會被毀滅。魔鬼因自己的詭計被戰勝，他本以為引誘了第一個人，使他墮入死亡就歡呼勝利了。然而，引誘了第一個人使他死亡，卻因殺害最後一個人（基督），魔鬼失去了對第一個人的控制。」
屬血氣的人是靈性上的盲者和沉睡者，而屬神的人則是靈性上視而清醒的。
金口聖若望說：「能看見的人可以看清盲人周遭的一切，但盲人卻無法了解能看見的人正在做什麼。同樣地，我們這些有信仰的人，不僅能理解自己的事，也能理解不信者的事；然而，不信者卻無法理解我們。」
聖多瑪斯·阿奎那說：「一個清醒的人能正確地意識到自己是清醒的，也能判斷他人是沉睡的；但沉睡的人既不能正確地認識自己，也不能正確地判斷清醒的人 … 。因此，宗徒說：『惟有屬神的人能審斷一切』，因為他的理智受聖神的光照，他的情感也被聖神所引導，因此能對有關救恩的具體事務作出正確的判斷。而屬血氣的人對靈性事物的理解卻是黑暗和混亂的，因此他們無法評斷屬神的人，就如同沉睡的人無法評斷清醒的人。」
聖施禮華（St. Josemaria Escriva）說：「我們別無選擇。在這世上，我們只有兩種生活方式：要麼過超性生活，要麼過像動物一般的生活。而你我只能過屬天主的生活 – 一種超性的生活。」
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