When Paul first came, they could not be addressed as spiritual, even though they were "infants in Christ." Being in Christ, would that not indicate that they are already saved? But even this argument is unnecessary, as Paul states that they are "not yet ready." These same Corinthians who are repeatedly called brothers, who are being rebuked as Christians, are not yet ready to receive the "things of the Spirit of God" Paul spoke of in 2:6-16.
So, either we must conclude that the Corinthians were unsaved, and that Paul was in error for rebuking them for failing the body of Christ, or that 1 Corinthians 2:14 isn't speaking about the gospel. It is painfully obvious that the latter is the case, which means we have to conclude that the use of this verse by the article above is improper, because it is not properly exegeted.
Er, no. One needs to unpack Paul's particular word choices carefully.
Paul’s “
wisdom for the mature” (see 1 Cor 2:6) calls upon a metaphor commonly employed in the ancient world to refer to
elementary versus
advanced teaching, an image that depicted progression in
knowledge. In the New Testament the metaphor carries this apparent sense in Heb 5:12-14 (see also 1 Pet 2:2 and forward). Now
if the same holds for 1 Cor 3:2, then
milk represents Paul’s initial missionary preaching centered on the cross and
solid food portrays more advanced teaching, God’s wisdom that unveils the meaning of the cross.
But this meaning is difficult to maintain contextually in 1 Corinthians.
In other words, the view that Paul’s initial instruction in the gospel (
milk) proclaimed the cross and that the Corinthian’s behavior prevented him from moving to more extensive,
advanced instruction misses Paul’s intention. Clearly, the Corinthians failed to make progress, but it was not a failure of
knowledge but a failure to comprehend and take upon themselves (
receive it) the wisdom of the cross. The evidence for this was their strife and jealousy.
It helps to note that some NT translations give no distinction to two different Greek terms as “
worldly” (1 Cor 3:1,3), adopting the position that there is not a significant discernible difference in meaning between the two. Other translations do distinguish the terms, such as the NASB, rendering
sarkinos in 1 Cor. 3:1 as “
men of flesh” and
sarkikos in 1 Cor 3:3 as “
fleshly,” which follows the common suggestion that
sarkinos carries the idea of “
made of flesh,” that is, human, and
sarkikos means something a wee bit different, such as “
characterized by flesh.”
This can be seen from a few comparisons (emphasis added):
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NKJV)
1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to
carnal, as to
babes in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able
to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still carnal. For where
there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not
carnal and behaving like
mere men?
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NASB)
1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to
men of flesh, as to
infants in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able
to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,
1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not
fleshly, and are you not walking like
mere men?
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (ESV)
1 Corinthians 3:1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as
people of the flesh, as
infants in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not
of the flesh and behaving only in a
human way?
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (HCSB)
1 Corinthians 3:1 Brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as
people of the flesh, as
babies in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready,
1 Corinthians 3:3 because you are still fleshly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not
fleshly and living
like unbelievers?
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (ASV)
1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto
carnal, as unto
babes in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able
to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able;
1 Corinthians 3:3 for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not
carnal, and do ye not walk after the
manner of men?
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NLT)
1 Corinthians 3:1 Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk
as though you belonged to this world or
as though you were
infants in the Christian life.
1 Corinthians 3:2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready,
1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are
controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living
like people of the world?
Surprisingly, the NLT actually captures the points I have made above a bit more clearly than the other translations. Then again, the NLT is more of a commentary than an actual translation, but makes the preceding translations more clearly understood as to Paul's inspired intentions behind his word choices. (Using the NLT 2007 or 2015 versions is not a bad thing for someone seeking an inexpensive
commentary on the whole Bible in one volume. Yes, it fails miserably at times, but it is quite handy for some of the more difficult traditional translations of particular passages. Using the NLT this way, you can often get the sense of these more tricky passages and then return to your chosen translation for more digging from the hints in the NLT renderings.)
Returning to the passage in question, we can now see that the term “
infant” used by Paul carries a negative connotation in many contexts but not always. There is nothing blameworthy in being an “
infant in Christ” at the beginning stages of Christian experience, yet when Paul claims in 1 Cor 3:2 that the Corinthians are still not ready for
solid food, Paul's use of the term “
infant”
becomes pejorative in the context of the passage. Note that the “
infant” and “
adult” metaphor occurs two more times in the letter, at 1 Cor 13:11 and 1 Cor 14:20. Accordingly, the use of "
infants in Christ" is Paul's use of a pejorative to highlight the synthetic substitutes which the Corinthians have preferred.
It is not that Paul does not or cannot give them wisdom in the form of solid food; it is that they do not recognize what he gives them to be wisdom.
Paul wants them to abandon their present behavior so that they can appreciate the milk for what it really is, “solid food.”
AMR
