1 CORINTHIANS 1:17 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not by means of eloquent wisdom, or else the cross of Christ would lose its power — 'not to baptize but to preach' (kēryssō) is not disparagement of baptism but clarification of Paul's primary calling. The watershed comes in the second clause: preaching must not employ 'eloquent wisdom' (sophia logou), which would domesticate the cross into a rhetorical achievement. In Corinthian ears, 'eloquence' was the ultimate good; Paul warns it is the cross's enemy.
Church Fathers on 1 Corinthians 1:17
And not by these only, but also by the next words, he greatly represses their pride, saying, “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel:” for the more laborious part, and that which needed much toil and a soul of iron, and that on which all depended, was this. And therefore it was that Paul had it put into his hand. And why, not being sent to baptize, did he baptize? Not in contention with Him that sent him, but in this instance laboring beyond his task. For he…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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