(Audio version; Music: "Lead Me To The Cross" by: Hillsong United and "At The Cross" by: Hillsong)
Introduction
Is
there any doubt in anyone’s mind that Albert Einstein was a genius? He was a
brilliant physicist that developed the Special & General Theory of
Relativity including the famous equation of “e=mc2” which was used
in the development of many modern innovations like, the television, the remote
control, lasers and the atomic bomb just to name a few. He received the Nobel
Prize in Physics and was named by TIME magazine as the “Person of the Century”
in 1999. To say he was really smart is probably an insult. A while back it was
announced that one of his letters referred to as Einstein’s “God” letter was
being sold on eBay with a starting bid at $3 million! I had never heard of this
“God” letter and figured it must have had some brilliant theological insights.
Well, before I tell you what I think, I’ve included the relevant excerpt from
the letter below so you could read it for yourself:
“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression
and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still
primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no
matter how subtle, can (for me) change this.
For me the Jewish religion
like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish
superstitions…The Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose
mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all
other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other
human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of
power. Otherwise I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them.”[1]
Well
there you have it! If Einstein the genius says it then that must be the
definitive word on the subject of God’s existence right? A smart guy like that
can’t possibly be wrong; I mean he has that whole “e=mc2” thing
going for him! My area of expertise is in theology not in science but I know
from my basic science classes that there are some basic and universal
principles of scientific inquiry; 1) Pose significant questions that can be
investigated empirically; 2) Link research to theory; 3) Use methods that
permit direct investigation of question; 4) Provide coherent chain of rigorous
reasoning; 5) Replicate and generalize; and 6) Transparency and scholarly
debate.[2]
Although I’m not certain, I’m guessing Einstein used some form of this
methodology in his own scientific research. I think it’s definitely safe to say
that Einstein probably did not reach a conclusion before going through these
steps. Yet one short sentence from Einstein’s “God” letter reveals that this is
precisely what he has done when it comes to his belief in God when he writes,
“No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can (for me) change this.” That
doesn’t sound like a very scientific approach to me. Instead, Einstein has
reached a conclusion that God does not exist and no amount of evidence or explanation
to the contrary could have changed his conclusion.
Some
people seem to think that smart people are just too smart to believe in God. I
mean Einstein must know since he’s so smart right? But you can see by his own
words that he has concluded that God doesn’t exist without the same benefit of
inquiry that I’m sure he would insist on when doing scientific research. I can
see how some people might not believe in God because they see that there are
some really “smart” people that don’t believe in God. But that principle can
work the other way as well. When I was going through seminary, I was
consistently amazed at the brilliance of all my professors. However, my New
Testament professor, Dr. Craig Blomberg, was so freakishly smart that I almost
felt sorry for him that he had to deal with people like me. Let me just give
you a brief bio of Dr. Blomberg: He completed his B. A. Summa Cum Laude from Augustana College, he received his M. A. from
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and he received his Ph. D. from University
of Aberdeen, Scotland. He was a Research Fellow in Cambridge, England working
with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He is fluent in biblical Hebrew and
Greek. He has authored or edited twenty books as well as submitted countless
scholarly articles. What I’m trying to say is that he is really, really smart. I
remember sitting in his class, probably lost during one of his lectures,
thinking that God must exist if someone so smart believes in him. I can’t say
whether he was or wasn’t as smart as Einstein but it illustrates my point that
belief in God is not a matter of intelligence.
For those of us who are
believers, God becoming incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ and dying on
the cross to pay for our sins so that we could be reconciled to God makes
perfect sense. However, the Hebrews of Jesus’ day couldn’t accept a Savior that
didn’t conform to their image of a conquering Messiah that would liberate them
from Roman occupation. The Greeks couldn’t accept a God that was too weak to
save Himself from being nailed to a cross. Einstein calls the notion of God
“childish.” Some unbelievers might agree with that but most just consider
belief in a God that allowed Himself to be put to death as foolishness. It is The
Foolishness of the Cross that is so often the obstacle to their belief
regardless of how smart they might be. And that is the point of my lesson this
week so let’s take a look at the relationship between the Bible and unbelievers
the world considers wise and intellectually reliable.
1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
18For the message of
the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written: “I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 20Where
is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher
of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For
since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God
was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who
believe. 22Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but
we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness
of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human
strength. 26Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you
were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were
influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the
foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the
world to shame the strong. 28God chose the lowly things of this
world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things
that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is
because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from
God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore,
as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
And so it was with me, brothers
and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom
as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to
know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I
came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4My message
and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not
rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Context
Paul
is writing this letter to the church in Corinth to address some sort of
division in the local church there (I know you’re shocked that there could be
division in a church!). It appears that the division centers around whose
teachings are the best to follow. In other words, the church was picking sides
and Paul is reminding them that all believers are one body and followers of
Christ and Christ’s teachings alone since Christ is the one who died on the
cross and into whose name we have been baptized. Paul is insisting that
superior human intelligence and wisdom cannot elevate one believer over another
if Christ is the center and focus of our faith. “In order to preserve the
threatened unity of the church, Paul established that the formation of
inner-church groupings had no basis in his ministry as founder of the church
nor in the gospel as such. He had baptized only a few of the Corinthians, and
his teaching was not worldly wisdom teaching where one teacher may be superior
to the other. On the contrary, he had promulgated the gospel—proclaimed by
himself and his fellow apostles who were nothing but servants of Christ
responsible to God.”[3] Paul
goes on to teach in our Subject Text
that wisdom and intelligence, if anything, is an obstacle to believing. That’s
not to say that smart and wise people can’t and don’t become believers but they
do so not because of their superior intelligence but in-spite of it.
Text
Analysis
18For
the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God.
As
usual, Paul pulls no punches in v. 18
as he makes clear that the cross is only foolish for those who are perishing.
Some believers read with satisfaction that they are not included among those
who are “perishing.” But these are dire words indeed. Note that Paul makes no
specific distinction of those who are included within the definition of those
who are perishing. It isn’t a matter of intelligence, wealth, beauty, age,
race, gender, or anything else. It is a matter of whether one accepts, as true,
Christ’s atonement for our sins through his death on the cross. The cross is
the great equalizer for all humanity. “From the standpoint of his new position
in Christ, Paul with this sentence sets forth the two basic groups of
humankind. Formerly, as a Jew, it was Jew and Gentile (just as for the Greco-Roman
it was Greek/Roman and barbarian). Now it is ‘us who are being saved’ and
‘those who are perishing.’ The former groups, Jew and Gentile, continue to
exist (indeed, in v. 22 they will serve as representatives for the two most
common human ‘idolatries’), but apart from Christ they now both belong to the
‘perishing.’”[4]
19For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I
will frustrate.”
In v. 19, Paul draws on the words of
Isaiah (Isa 29:14) to demonstrate that God’s ways are not like the ways of the
world. The Greek word for “frustrate” can also be translated as “reject,
ignore, invalidate or set aside.” How often do we think we know what is right
or better even though God says just the opposite? Whether it’s in the area of
money, sex or power, we deceive ourselves into thinking that we know that our
way must be better than God’s way. Ultimately, that leads to the belief that God
is irrelevant. Therefore, it’s up to us to live life according to what we think
is best. We do the best we can and try to be the best person we can be and
either don’t think about what happens at the end of life or hope we’ve been
good enough to make God happy. It is humanity’s sinful condition that believes
we’re smarter, wiser or stronger than God but “in its original context this
passage belongs to that grand series of text that regularly warn Israel, or
someone in Israel, not to try to match wits with God (cf. Isa 40:12-14, 25; Job
38-42). Yet it is the folly of our human machinations that we think we can
outwit God, or that lets us think that God ought to be at least as smart as we
are. Paul sees this Isaiah passage as now having eschatological fulfillment. In
the cross, the promised ‘great reversal’ has been played out before human eyes
in its ultimate way.”[5]
20Where is the wise
person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age?
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
Paul continues his point in v. 20 by highlighting those who are
highly esteemed in virtually every society: Those who are wise, the philosophers
and the scholars. Paul is not disparaging wisdom and intelligence generally,
this is clear when he uses the qualifying statement “of this age” which is
elsewhere translated “of this world.” Instead, Paul calls into question worldly
wisdom “to say what is left of a human wisdom which God’s saving acts have left
high and dry in the light of the cross. The cross places giving, receiving, and
serving above achieving or ‘finding the right formula.’”[6]
21For since in the
wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased
through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Paul makes a subtle but
important point in v. 21 when he
says that God in his wisdom knew that the world in its wisdom would not believe
in him. Yet God used what the world considered foolish, Christ’s sacrifice on
the cross, to save those the world did not consider wise. It is really
brilliant when you stop and think of it; those of us who may not be considered
very wise or intelligent are saved because we believe the very thing that makes
us foolish in the eyes of a world that considers itself to be wise and
intelligent for not believing. And to top it off, that’s exactly the way God
planned it!
22Jews demand signs
and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
In vv. 22-23 Paul explains that the Jews
want proof and the Greeks want rational comprehension. But all the Church has
to offer is that God incarnate in Christ was crucified for our sins. The Jews
cannot possibly accept that the Rock of Ages would sacrifice Himself for His
creation. Therefore Christ becomes the capstone the builders reject and the
stone that causes people to stumble (1 Peter 2:7-8). Instead, the “Jews viewed
the crucifixion as the ultimate proof that Jesus had been cursed by God for
some sin of his own.”[7] For
the Greeks, who prized rational thought and clever rhetoric, the message of the
cross was unintelligent. “Many Greeks found numerous aspects of the story of
Christ’s death foolish—a suffering God, the ideal of perfect order destroyed, a
criminal Messiah, and a way to God not based on human speculation.”[8] Is
this really very different from today? Those who refuse to believe at once
demand proof of Jesus’ claims while at the same time refusing to believe that
God could become a man, offer Himself to die a gruesome death on the cross and
then rise back to life after three days in the grave.
24but to those whom
God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God.
In
contrast to all those who can’t or won’t believe are those who do believe
because God has called them to belief. Paul makes clear in v. 24 that God has called both Jew and Greek. Paul’s identification
of Jew and Greek is not intended to establish a limitation but to illustrate
the two extremes intended to include all those who fall within the extremes. Those
who accept God’s call to believe find that,
“The cross of Christ
constitutes precisely the mode of action which conveys God’s power and God’s
wisdom. It does not rest on human calculations about signs of the times, nor
upon manipulative devices which entice belief, nor does it rest on
self-defeating strategies to master life by techniques of human wisdom. God’s
manifestation of power and wisdom operates on a different basis, namely, the
way of love which accepts the constraints imposed by the human condition or
plight and the prior divine act of promise, and becomes effectual and operative
(has power) in God’s own way, for it
corresponds with God’s own nature as revealed in Christ and in the cross. Any
version of the gospel which substitutes a message of personal success for the
cross is a manipulative counterfeit.”[9]
25For the foolishness
of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than
human strength.
Finally Paul reminds us in v. 25 that our wisdom is hardly
comparable to the wisdom of God and any weakness of God is still stronger than
any person’s strength. “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…Had God consulted us for wisdom we could have given him a more
workable plan, something that would attract the sign-seeker and the lover of
wisdom. As it is, in his own wisdom he left us out of the consultation. We are
this left with the awful risk: trust God and be saved by his wise folly, or
keep up our pretensions and perish.”[10]
26Brothers and
sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise
by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong. 28God chose the lowly
things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to
nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him.
Paul reminds his readers in vv. 26-29 that when they were first
called by God to believe, the world probably didn’t consider them wise.
Furthermore, they weren’t socially or politically influential either
positionally or by birth. In fact, being affiliated with Christ and the cross
made them appear foolish in the eyes of the world. But it is precisely these
“foolish” ones that God uses to shame the wise; those who are the lowest, those
who are the weakest and those who are despised to shame those who are strong
and highly esteemed by society. God uses what has been discarded by the world
to shame the world. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to make sense to us because the
wise, intelligent, prominent, popular and strong have a louder voice in society
and could advance the gospel so much more effectively given the fact that when
they talk, the world seems to listen. But that’s precisely the problem as far
as Paul’s concerned. A wise person boasts in their wisdom, a strong person in
their strength, a smart person in their intelligence and a powerful person in
their influence. But those who are despised, broken and weak can only rely on
God and as a result can boast only in what God has done for them and in them.
30It is because of him
that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is,
our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is
written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Paul tells them in vv. 30-31 that it is because of God’s
wisdom that Christ came to us. And by extension, Christ and everything He
represents for us; righteousness, holiness and redemption, is now God’s wisdom reflected
in our lives. Consequently, everything about our lives must be Christ-centered
because everything we have comes from God through Christ. Paul calls on the
words of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 9:24) at the end of the chapter imploring
those who boast about anything should boast only in the Lord who has called
them to faith in the great reversal that shows worldly wisdom, strength and
influence to be shameful in light of the what God has done in and through the
foolish, weak and despised.
And
so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come
with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For
I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified. 3I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.
4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive
words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your
faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Paul picks up in Chapter 2, vv. 1-2 right where he left
of at the end of chapter one when he claims to have come to them originally
without fancy words or intellectual arguments about God. Instead, Paul was
determined to keep his testimony simple and to the point: Christ and the cross.
“Paul does not deny that he tried to present his message in as compelling a
form as possible, merely that by the world’s standards he was at best
ordinary.”[11] Paul’s
comment in v. 3 that he came to the
Corinthians originally in weakness, fear and trembling, is difficult to
understand because we don’t really know the context of Paul’s weakness. Many
believe that it is a reference to some sort of illness since some of his other
letters reference “my illness” (Gal 4:14) in one case and “severe suffering” (1
Thess 1:5-6) in another. Nevertheless, Paul uses his “weakness” as an advantage
to demonstrate the power of God’s message even in, or perhaps especially in, weakness.
Paul’s sense of “fear and
trembling” is not based in the receptivity of his audience but in the gravity
of the message. “Paul is precisely not a visiting orator come to entertain the
crowds as an audience-pleasing performer.”[12] Instead,
Paul makes it clear in vv. 4-5 that
even though his words may have not been wise or persuasive as defined by the
world, they were, nevertheless, laden with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Consequently, their faith was not rooted in the wisdom or words of Paul but in
the power of God alone. Paul “deliberately avoided the very thing that now
fascinated them, ‘the persuasion of wisdom.’ But his preaching did not thereby
lack ‘persuasion.’ What it lacked was the kind of persuasion found among the
sophists and rhetoricians, where the power lay in the person and his delivery.
Paul’s preaching, on the other hand, despite his personal appearance and
whatever its actual form, produced the desired results, namely it brought about
the faith of the Corinthians.”[13]
Application
This
ministry has put me right in the line of fire for those “smart” and “wise” people
who think I’m “diluted, deceived, unintelligent and irrational” just to point
out a few of the more civilized ways some readers have characterized me. But
I’m pretty sure that I’m none of those things (at least not most of the time).
Nevertheless, standing up for the truth of the Gospel seems terribly difficult
at times. Not because it’s hard to defend but because most of us are the
foolish, weak and despised and don’t have much of a voice in the world. We’re
not like Einstein who says belief in God is “childish” and an illustration of “human
weakness” and because he’s a genius, people automatically think he must be
right. But that’s the beauty of God’s wisdom! We don’t need to match wits with
the Einsteins of the world. We can put them all to shame with the message of
salvation represented by our lives.
We each have a salvation
“story” that demonstrates, first, God’s mercy but also God’s power to transform
lives. If you are a believer, think about your “story” against the backdrop of
Einstein’s words. You substance abusers or addicts of any kind who have kicked
the habit; is that weakness? You women who have been abused and/or raped yet
have forgiven those who have harmed you; is that weakness? You single people
who remain sexually pure until your wedding while fighting a world constantly
trying to entice you to compromise; is that weakness? You who have forgiven
your spouse who has been unfaithful to you; is that weakness? You who have
given your lives in service to those who are lost, broken, hungry or in prison;
is that weakness? Don’t be intimidated by a world that prizes intelligence,
power, influence and outward beauty. You have all you need because of what God
has done for you and in you through Christ. Remember The Foolishness of the Cross
will never make sense to those who are perishing!
[1]
“Einstein ‘God’ letter to sell on eBay, with bidding starting at $3M,” http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/04/einstein-god-letter-on-ebay-with-bidding-starting-at-3m/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fmost-popular+(Internal+-+Most+Popular+Content),
(Accessed October 4, 2012).
[2]
“Principles of Scientific Inquiry,” http://www.mc3edsupport.org/community/knowledgebases/principles-of-scientific-inquiry-64.html,
(Accessed October 5, 2012).
[3] Gerald
F. Hawethorne, Ralph P. Martin, Daniel G. Reid, eds., Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, (Downers Grove, IL:
InverVarsity Press, 1993), p. 969.
[4] Gordon
D. Fee, NICNT, The First Epistle to the
Corinthians, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987),
pp. 68-69.
[5] Ibid.,
p. 70.
[6] Anthony
C. Thiselton, NIGTC, The First Epistle to
the Corinthians, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
2000), p. 162.
[7] Craig
Blomberg, The NIV Application Commentary,
1 Corinthians, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), p. 53.
[8] Ibid.
[9]
Thiselton, NIGTC, p. 172.
[10] Fee, NICNT, p. 77.
[11]
Blomberg, NIV, 1 Corinthians, p. 54.
[12]
Thiselton, NIGTC, First Corinthians,
p. 213.
[13] Fee, NICNT, First Corinthians, p. 94.
I heard that Einstein was a Christian believer.
ReplyDeleteI am really shocked at his above quoted words. How foolish!
Dear PV Cherian,
DeleteNothing shocks me anymore. If you have a chance and haven't done so already, I recommend you take a look at a few of books by George Barna that document a number of surveys his organization conducted. Be prepared to be really shocked at the absolutely foolish things "Christians" say they believe. The books are "Growing True Disciples: New Strategies for Producing Genuine Followers of Christ," "The Second Coming of the Church," and "Boiling Point: It Only Takes One Degree: Monitoring Cultural Shifts in the 21st Century."
Blessings to you!