Yesterday, the Church started reading from St. Paul’s first letter to community at Corinth. He had landed in northern Greece several weeks before and was gradually working his way south toward Corinth. One stop on the way was in Athens, the center of Greek culture. While there. the Acts of the Apostles reports that St. Paul gave an impassioned sermon. During the sermon he used philosophy, theology, history, science, poetry and every other trick in the preacher’s handbook to convince the Athenians of the truth of the Gospel. The sermon was a complete dud. The fact that there is no epistle to the Athenians proves he was not able to form a Christian community there. When he arrived in Corinth he shifted strategies. Instead of superior argumentation, instead of proving how smart he was, instead of seeking an intellectual conviction Paul focused on the heart. We proclaim Christ crucified … For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. It is the cross of Christ, the example of complete loving, self-giving over to God, that will attract people to the gospel, not having all the answers.
