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.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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