¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel—and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.^(A)

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the testimony^[a] of God to you with superior speech or wisdom.^(A)

¹³ And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.^[a](A)

Eyewitnesses of Christ’s Glory

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.^(A)

⁶ Even if I am untrained in speech, I certainly am not with respect to knowledge; certainly in every way and in all things we have made this evident to you.^(A)

¹⁰ For someone says,^[a] “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible.”^(A)

² We have renounced the shameful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.^(A)

⁴ My speech and my proclamation were made not with persuasive words of wisdom^[a] but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,^{(A) 5} so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

² (although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized),

³ Indeed, we live as humans^[a] but do not wage war according to human standards,^{[b] 4} for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human,^[c] but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments^(A)