In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul asserts that the crucifixion of Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly or foolishness to the Gentiles. Three questions arise from this assertion: What did Paul mean by stumbling block? What was objectionable about the Christian gospel to the Jews and Gentiles? How does the historical background that forged these objections inform the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 1:18-31? Without correctly understanding the cognitive environment and cultural milieu, the interpreter risks missing Paul’s meaning and anachronistically applying modern concepts to an ancient text. The following essay suggests that the term “stumbling block” refers to an event offensive to both Jews and Gentiles due to their religious traditions. In turn, Paul’s message of the cross paradoxically trumps each of their perspectives. The essay first discusses Paul’s assertion that the gospel is a “stumbling block to Jews and folly to the Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23, English Standard Version). Next, the objectionable or unattractive aspects of the Christian gospel are identified from both the Jewish and Gentile perspectives. Finally, the essay explains how the historical backdrop of the ancient Jewish and Gentile views inform the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.

Stumbling Block

Any discussion regarding Paul’s phrase written to the Corinthians asserting that the gospel is a “stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” must, at a minimum, consider the immediate literary context of the clauses (1 Cor 1:23). The ESV appears to appropriately delineate the sentence or complete thought when stating, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:22-24). Specifically, the term “stumbling block” (σκάνδαλον) provides the focal point of the adjectival phrase describing Christ’s crucifixion. The Greek word σκάνδαλον has three possible connotations: a device to entrap, an act to tempt or entice, or an event that offends.[1] The term is uncommon in extrabiblical material but is utilized fifteen times in the New Testament, thus supporting all three potential meanings. Romans 9:33, 1 Peter 2:8, and Galatians 5:11 all appear to use σκάνδαλον to suggest an offensive act. Galatians 5:11 points explicitly to crucifixion on a cross as an offensive act. Accordingly, within context, it makes more sense that Paul refers to an event that offends rather than an act that ensnares or entices.

The initial phrase in the passage, “for Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,” requires explanation (1 Cor 1:22). The Jews already had access to ancient wisdom in the form of scripture. Accordingly, the Jews did not require access to wisdom; they needed signs or proof that Jesus fulfilled the divine promise the Old Testament prophets communicated. Anthony Thiselton explains that, in a sense, the Jews were correct; it is reasonable that the Jews were careful in establishing the credibility of the Messiah, especially when the process of salvation occurred in such a shockingly disgraceful event.[2] The Jews had the preconceived notion that the Messiah must be proud, not humble, and mighty, not weak, to effectuate God’s kingdom. Alternatively, Paul argues that Christ crucified is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24). The manifestation of God’s power and wisdom occurs through His paradoxical meta-narrative that offended the Jews.

Alternatively, the Greeks sought wisdom (1 Cor 1:22). The wisdom of the Greeks did not arise from Hebrew Scriptures but from their ancient traditions. Everett Ferguson explains that the Greek wisdom tradition was built upon a foundation of “social, economic, and cultural life, as well as political, that was interwoven with the polytheistic tradition.”[3] Although the paganism of the Greeks had similarities with the Christian tradition, such as divine births and immortal gods, the concept of an incarnation and crucifixion had no precedent and was repugnant to their senses.[4] Like the Jews, the paradox of power, where weakness displays the power of God and sacrifice, reveals the wisdom of God’s love, grated against the Greek worldview and its traditions. The Apostle Paul succinctly points to the lack of signs for the Jews and the lack of wisdom for the Greeks precisely because the cross was offensive. The assumption is that the original audience would have known the Jewish and Greek objections to the Christian gospel within their cultural milieu. However, the modern reader requires a brief immersion into the historical background to identify the Christian gospel’s unattractive aspects from Jewish and Gentile perspectives.

Christian Objections

From a Jewish perspective, the objections to the Christian gospel are, in some ways, straightforward and understandable. Deuteronomy 21:22-23 states, “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.” Not only does God curse a man hanging from a tree, but if the man is left overnight, the dead man defiles God’s land. The Jews sought a messiah to overthrow their enemies and possibly triumph over the Roman Empire. They were not looking for an executed criminal as their Messiah. Trypho represents the Jewish perspective well when, in response to Justin Martyr’s apology for Christ, he states, “These and such like Scriptures, sir, compel us to wait for Him who, as Son of man, receives from the Ancient of days the everlasting kingdom. But this so-called Christ of yours was dishonorable and inglorious, so much so that the last curse contained in the law of God fell on him, for he was crucified.”[5] In light of the prophecy in Daniel 7 regarding the Messiah’s dominion and glory, for a Jewish Messiah to be crucified as a criminal was unthinkable. Often, the arguments of the ancient Jews focused on passages such as Daniel 7 without regard to other relevant prophetic voices, such as the messianic prophecy in Isaiah 53. The risk associated with interpreters closing their canonical eyes remains with modern exegesis, for it is easy to observe only what one is predisposed to see.

From a Greek perspective, the objections to the Christian gospel and, more specifically, to the crucifixion are more complex. A basic understanding of Greek wisdom is necessary before addressing the complaints and the resultant persecution of Christians by the Greeks. A relevant example of the origination of Greek wisdom arises from a powerful Greek religious institution called the Delphic oracle, which purportedly delivered prophecies from the Greek god Apollo. The Greeks would ask questions of the oracle regarding success, career opportunities, infertility, marriage partners, and health issues.[6]

Conflict and Community in Corinth

In other words, as Ben Witherington explains, what the Greeks sought from religion was “blessings in the present such as health, wealth, rescue from peril, or the promise of a good harvest or of a child.”[7] Upon reviewing the inscriptional evidence of paganism within the Roman Empire, Ramsay MacMullen contends that salvation to the Greeks had to do with health and other material matters rather than matters of the soul or eternity.[8] Accordingly, the wisdom of the Greeks consisted of following a path of honor and reputation from the broader society through health, wealth, achievement, and success derived from the blessings of their gods. As a result, Larry Hurtado highlights several ancient proponents of paganism who object to Christianity. For example, following the thought of Pliny the Younger, Emperor Trajan punished Christians for not worshipping their gods, Tacitus and Suetonius accused Christianity of being a superstition, and Lucian believed that Christianity’s great transgression is its refusal to engage in polytheism.[9] For the Greek pagans, Christianity risked angering their many gods and cutting off their pipeline of blessings that provided prosperity and esteem. Unsurprisingly, suffering and death on a cross, representing failure and shame, was considered folly to the Greeks, who saw the crucifixion as the opposite of mastering a life that brings honor.

In light of Paul’s argument against the worldview of the Greeks, it is possible that the Apostle also attempts to undermine the rhetoric of the Sophists. Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 1:20, “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” Witherington asserts that Paul references the Jews and Gentiles, the Jewish scribes, and the Sophists as the debaters of the age, respectively.[10] The Sophists had a long reputation dating back several hundred years as teachers to help people learn how to succeed. Although Socrates and Plato criticized Sophists for using eloquent words to manipulate, Jan Lodewyk de Villiers explains that the Sophists were best known as itinerant teachers who commonly taught public speaking and rhetoric, especially in areas of politics and the law.[11] Paul, similar to the ancient philosophers, was concerned with the Sophists using eloquent language to convince their listeners of an empty philosophy. In the Apostle’s case, he opposed a Sophist delivery that tickled their listeners’ ears and contradicted the gospel’s true wisdom. In light of the objections to Christianity by the Jews, the unattractiveness of Christianity to Greek paganism, and the empty philosophy of the Sophists, the interpreter is now prepared to utilize this historical background information to inform the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.

Interpretative Impact

For non-believers, the message, meaning, or λόγος of the cross is folly or foolishness (1 Cor 1:18). The Jews had a preconceived idea of the Messiah’s identity based on their understanding of the Torah and Old Testament prophets, and the Greeks had their man-made wisdom that served their illusion of security and self-sufficiency; thus, the word of the cross was folly to them. Paul then masterfully invokes the prophet Isaiah to further his argument in verse 19, highlighting that his message aligned with the Scriptures that the Jews hold dear. Paul’s rhetorical questions in verse 20 drive home the point that God’s significant reversal has made human wisdom foolish at the foot of the cross, while non-believers confuse God’s wisdom with folly. Thiselton captures the paradox well when stating, “Paul invites his addressees to say what is left of human wisdom which God’s saving acts have left high and dry in light of the cross. The cross places giving, receiving, and serving above achieving or ‘finding the right formula.’”[12]

At this point, ignoring how relevant Paul’s message is to modern society in light of its historical backdrop would be difficult. Humanity seems to constantly be moving toward either a Jewish or Greek worldview. On the one hand, modern believers often have a natural affinity to worship a preconceived notion of a Jewish God. For example, it might be easy to honor a living God but more difficult to worship a dying God. It might be easy to worship a strong God but more difficult to worship a weak God. It might be easy to worship a God who demands to be served but more challenging to embrace a God who serves. It is also likely much easier to image an alive, strong, and served God than a dying, weak, and serving God.

On the other hand, modern believers also seem to have an insatiable desire for a Greek God. Suppose one can please the deity or deities and obtain the blessings of health, wealth, prosperity, and recognition. In that case, humanity feels secure in controlling their lives and futures. In this view of things, God becomes the one doing man’s bidding. Alternatively, Paul exclaims that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor 1:25). God’s ways are not about the worldly standards of power, recognition, or noble birth (1 Cor 1:26). Instead, God’s ways turn humanity’s world upside down through the paradox of the cross, which undermines both the preconceived notions of the Jews and the dubious Greek notion that the value and worth of humanity rest in one’s health, wealth, and esteem.

Society desperately searches for meaning, but, as Paul explains, it will not come from political power or achievements. Instead, because of Christ and the cross, believers are placed “in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 1:30). The benefits of being in Christ solve humanity’s most significant needs of security and value. Ben Witherington appropriately suggests translating verse 30 as structured, “But you are – from God in Christ, who was made wisdom for us by God – righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”[13] In other words, Witherington continues, through the cross, “there is a sense in which believers are these things.”[14] Paul drives home the point that the only way that Jews or Greeks find real meaning, worth, and value comes from becoming a new creation in Christ, which provides the righteousness, sanctification, and redemption that non-believers so desperately seek outside of Christ to no avail. Accordingly, no manufactured efforts or accomplishments by humankind will satisfy; thus, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Cor 1:31).

Conclusion

The stumbling block Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 1:23 refers to an offensive event, the crucifixion. The Jews had a preconceived notion regarding the identity of the Messiah. They could not imagine a man crucified as a criminal under the Roman Empire. On the other hand, the Greeks could not fathom an incarnate God coming to earth to suffer and die an excruciating death in light of their religious tradition, where pleasing a pantheon of gods brought health, wealth, and esteem. Alternatively, rather than the illusion of man-made value from success, power, and recognition, Paul communicates a message of hope that provides access to real meaning, worth, and security in Christ Jesus’s weakness and suffering. The event that Paul refers to as the stumbling block was offensive to both the Jew and Gentile religious traditions. In response, Paul masterfully communicates the paradox of the cross where the offense not only trumps their perspectives but becomes salvation for all humanity.

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[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2000), 926.

[2] Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000), 122–23.

[3] Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 608.

[4] Ferguson, 609.

[5] Justin Martyr, “Dialogue of Justin with Trypho,” in The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, vol. 1 (Buffalo: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 210.

[6] Joseph Fontenrose, The Delphic Oracle: Its Responses and Operations (Berkeley: University of California, 1978), 39.

[7] Ben Witherington, Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1995), 111.

[8] Ramsay MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale University, 1981), 55–57.

[9] Larry W. Hurtado, Destroyer of the Gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World (Waco: Baylor University, 2017), 22–29.

[10] Witherington, Conflict and Community in Corinth, 109.

[11] J. L. de Villiers, “Philosophical Trends in the Graeco-Roman World,” in The New Testament Milieu, ed. A. B. du Toit, vol. 2 (Johannesburg: Orion Publishers, 1998), 563–66.

[12] Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, 162.

[13] Witherington, Conflict and Community in Corinth, 117.

[14] Witherington, 117. Emphasis mine.

Bibliography

• Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2000.
• de Villiers, J. L. “Philosophical Trends in the Graeco-Roman World.” In The New Testament Milieu, edited by A. B. du Toit, Vol. 2. Johannesburg: Orion Publishers, 1998.
• Ferguson, Everett. Backgrounds of Early Christianity. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
• Fontenrose, Joseph. The Delphic Oracle: Its Responses and Operations. Berkeley: University of California, 1978.
• Hurtado, Larry W. Destroyer of the Gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World. Waco: Baylor University, 2017.
• MacMullen, Ramsay. Paganism in the Roman Empire. New Haven: Yale University, 1981.
• Martyr, Justin. “Dialogue of Justin with Trypho.” In The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, Vol. 1. Buffalo: Christian Literature Company, 1885.
• Thiselton, Anthony C. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000.
• Witherington, Ben. Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1995.