PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF REVERSAL: KERYGMATIC ...

Pseudo-Phocylides: Sentences, 53-54
Do not be arrogant with respect to wisdom or strength or wealth. The one God is
wise, powerful, and at the same time full of blessing.
Irenaeus thus hears 1 Corinthians 1:29 as proving the necessity of grace, in the face of a
boastful human desire to usurp God’s position. 122 Augustine insists that in these verses,
Paul’s clear intention is to confront the problem of pride in human works, 123 because God
himself is our righteousness. 124 According to John of Damascus, Paul presents this human
boasting as the origin of all sin. 125 And Clement of Rome draws on this theme of 1
Corinthians in order to establish a fundamental attitude of humility, before urging the
Corinthians very practically to forsake partisanship in the latter part of his letter:
2:5
1 Clement 13:1
Let us be humble then, brothers and sisters, forsaking all boasting [ἀλαζονείαν]
and pride [τῦφος] and foolishness and anger; and let us do that which is written.
For the Holy Spirit says, “Do not let the one who is wise boast in their wisdom,
or the one who is strong boast in their strength, or the one who is wealthy boast
in their wealth; but let the one who boasts boast in the Lord, to seek him and to
do justice and righteousness”.
This verse, introduced by ἵνα, brings 2:1-5 to a climax with a summarizing purpose
clause: “So that your faith might not rest on human wisdom [ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀνθρώπων], but on
God’s power”. The contrast is not between different types of wisdom, but between
different authorities, human or divine. The term “demonstration” [ἀπόδειξις] is used
ironically here, as it was known as a technical term of rhetorical “proof”. 126
122 Irenaeus, Against Heresies 20.1.
123 Augustine, Predestination of the Saints 5.9.
124 Augustine, On Patience 17.
125 John of Damascus, Commentary on 1 Corinthians, PG 95.
126 See, for example, Cicero, Academics 2.8; Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory 5.10.7.
163