What was the purpose of the Bible author who wrote this verse?

Question

1 cor.1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

I am sorry it is out of context. But, still, why would you ever say this to someone?

Dear "ask" - Jesus was the most intelligent and intuitive person that ever walked this Earth. He has over 100 sets of wisdom and instructions for us.

Dear "sweet"- Good point. But, why wasn't it more clear in the above verse?

I didn't know God was in the business of shaming us, I thought he was in the business of encouraging us to get along with each other.

a la sermon on the mount, turn the other cheek, "If you do not forgive others, your father in Heaven will not forgive you."

Answer 1

Because God's power is made manifest in the weak and foolish.

Answer 2

Hi :-)This passage is taken from the letter that Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth. During those times,a few of them had more important places in society. Crispus had been the ruler of the synagogue (Acts 18:8). Erastus was an official in the city (Romans 16:23). Gaius had a large enough house to act as host to Paul and other Christians (Romans 16:23). But many of the Christians were slaves. Some of them had once been slaves. Other Christians were ordinary workers.
Slaves had no rights. They were ‘things’ that their owners could use as tools. They were ‘nothings’ until the Christian faith made them into persons. Then they gained respect. What this passage tells us is… God chose people like these. That no one will be able to boast before others that they became a Christian because they were smarter. No one will be able to boast before God that they understood because of their greater intelligence.
He did this to show that he had defeated the world’s false ways to think. That God does not depend on what people can offer him. Everyone needs God’s forgiveness. No one can be satisfied with himself in front of God. In some cases, a person’s intellectual pride can keep them from acknowledging that their wisdom is very small compared to God’s. Christianity is fascinating in that it is simple enough for a child to understand all the important things, yet so deep, the most intelligent person cannot hope to know everything about an infinite God…
Hope this answers your question :-)

Answer 3

In essence, those who become enlightened to the world only become so through realization they have been fooled by their own sense of understanding so-called 'truths.' Knowledge exists within those who don't strive for truth and instead observe as a tool for understanding experience. The strong are humbled through realization that not all beauty is physically strong, yet can seduce the strongest of men. Thus Strength and Wisdom are fruits of a life demonstrated as passion for life and not as will to achieve absolute ends.

As for the assertion that a god-object 'chose' this to be the reality of the strong and the wise is an entirely different question and answer session.

Answer 4

If you read on until the end of chapter 1 you will understand why that was said. That verse means that the strong are not the strongest, even the weakest or smallest can defeat them in strength, and the same goes for the wise. Strength, wisdom, knowledge etc all comes from God. God can take it all away. So do not boast of how wise or strong you are, rather boast that God gave you that strength, knowledge or whatever it is. If you boast then you don't glorify God, but you take all his glory, which means you have too much pride. God says that we should be humble.

Answer 5

Try this translation and editing from the Berkley version of the New Testament.

1 COR. 1:27

But God has chosen what the world calls foolish to shame the wise; the world's weaklings to shame the strong.

Kind of the same in sound but drastically different in thoughtful musing.

Answer 6

Verse 29 of that chapter gives you the answer. Paul was saying that we were all foolish before we came to Christ and that none of us have any reason for being prideful or thinking better of ourselves than others. Again, he's saying God is the one who gets the credit because He's the one who did the work and made the way for us. The testimonies I've heard, including my own....you know that God was the only one who could get us out of the pit we were in....we didn't have a ladder long enough to get back out.

Answer 7

It is in the general context of how God deals with divisions in the Church... there are more of the lower class than the upper... and the lower are the better in God's eyes... going to church is not about showing youself off... it is about prepairing yourself to do God's work.... there is much more to it but it is not intended for those who are non-believers... The bible is for the instruction of the believers...very few verses or even chapters, in The Bible are intended to be taken out of context... this is one that has many others connected to it... it is part of a study not a lesson of it's self.

Answer 8

This goes to the heart of God's view of human arrogance and pride !!
No matter how wise one thinks they are---there will always be tiny seemingly insignificant things that are unexplainable with the context of the knowledge base being used by these ultra brilliant dummies !!!
No matter how ultra strong and powerful people become--- there will always be the ever present , unyielding, and never ceasing powerless who can not be dominated totally by power because they just simply presist !!
This is an underlying fact left as a sign that man in all of his arrogance and self righteousness is NOT the total master of the universe that he likes to see himself as !!

Answer 9

Wise men do not understand the foolishness of God or the things that are foolish to him, wise men can't understand
the weak things of this world will shame a strong man, he can not understand that either
His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts so that we can not understand what he knows that is so much like a baby making his first steps

Answer 10

David was abut a simple boy who God purposely chose to slay the mighty Goliath. God also states that he chose Israel because they were a weak nation to conquer the strong. Therefore, when these were triumphant, all knew that they had to have had a backer. The backer, God proved that he can move any mountain with a pebble if he so chooses.

He also teaches us that if we rely on Him, our weaknesses can't prevent God from making us victorious over our trials and tribulations. For it is actually He that is fighting the battle for us.

Answer 11

Is Christianity against rational thinking? Christians clearly do believe in using their minds to weigh the evidence and make wise choices. Paul is declaring that no amount of human knowledge can replace or bypass Christ's work on the cross. If it could, Christ would be accessible only to the intellectually gifted and well educated and not to ordinary people or to children.