Fathers

1 Corinthians 2

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And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

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What the Fathers say

1 Corinthians 2:6

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"Howbeit we speak wisdom among the perfect:" for when I, accounted foolish and a preacher of follies, get the better of the wise, I overcome wisdom, not by foolishness but by a more perfect wisdom; a wisdom, too, so ample and so much greater, that the other appears foolishness. …

Homily on 1 Corinthians 7 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Above he called the preaching foolishness, because that is what the Greeks called it. But, having proved by the deed itself that it is true wisdom, he finally boldly calls the preaching about Christ wisdom and salvation through the cross; for to destroy death by death is truly a matter of the greatest wisdom. He calls the faithful "perfect"; for they are indeed perfect, because, having despised all earthly things, they strive toward the heavenly. …

Commentary on 1 Corinthians ↗

Clement of Alexandria

And was it not this which the prophet meant, when he ordered unleavened cakes to be made, intimating that the truly sacred mystic word, respecting the unbegotten and His powers, ought to be concealed? In confirmation of these things, in the Epistle to the Corinthians the apostle plainly says: "Howbeit we speak wisdom among those who are perfect, but not the wisdom of this world, or of the princes of this world, that come to nought. …

The Stromata Book 5 ↗

Western Saints

Jerome

[Daniel 10:13] "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days." In my opinion this was the angel to whose charge Persia was committed, in accordance with what we read in Deuteronomy: "When the Most High divided the nations and distributed the children of Adam abroad, then He established the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God" (Deuteronomy 32:8). …

St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TEN ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, We impart wisdom, he shows with whom he uses the loftiness of spiritual wisdom: first, he states what he intends; secondly, he clarifies it (v. 6b). He says, therefore: Among you I have only preached Christ crucified, but we impart wisdom, i.e., profound doctrine, among the mature (perfect). Now men are said to be perfect in two ways: first, in regard to the intellect; secondly, in regard to will. For among all the powers of the soul these are peculiar to man. …

Commentary on 1 Corinthians ↗

Bonaventure

The fourth face of wisdom is the most difficult, for it is without form. Thus would it seem to destroy the preceding faces, and yet it does not. The Apostle speaks of it in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: "Wisdom, however, we speak among those who are mature, yet not a wisdom of this world. But we speak the wisdom of God, mysterious, hidden, which eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man. But to us God has revealed it through His Spirit. …

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2 ↗