Foolish Wisdom

   Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:10–25 (NKJV)  

Since the so-called Enlightenment, rationality has reigned as a the final arbiter of truth. And indeed our science and understanding has made great strides under this model. We have advanced in a few hundred years more than in the previous few thousand. But it should be noted that this appeal to the natural and material rational understanding of the world can only be valid to the extent that the world is natural, material, and rational.

What if that underlying presumption is wrong? The Scripture says that it is. The Scripture says that God exists above nature. That He is not material. And that His rationality is above ours. In such a world, using only that limited tool box would result in some wrongly answered and unanswered questions.

The Gospel proclaims a message beyond what is natural, material, and rational. The Supernatural God and His Divine Son, Savior, and Redeemer. His Sublime life and sacrifice. His Miraculous Resurrection. A Gospel standing on human reason will sway and fall with human reason. But a Gospel standing on God's Wisdom must stand forever. This is not new for our modern age. It has always been what divides those who rely on God for Salvation from those who are resigned to perishing.