14. I'm thankful that I didn't baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius.
15. No one can say that you were baptized in my name.
16. It's true that I also baptized those who live in the house of Stephanas. Besides that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.
17. Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to preach the good news. He commanded me not to use the kind of wisdom that people commonly use. That would take all the power away from the cross of Christ.
18. The message of the cross seems foolish to those who are lost and dying. But it is God's power to us who are being saved.
19. It is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of those who are wise. I will do away with the cleverness of those who think they are so smart." (Isaiah 29:14)
20. Where is the wise person? Where is the educated person? Where are the great thinkers of this world? Hasn't God made the wisdom of the world foolish?
21. God wisely planned that the world would not know him through its own wisdom. It pleased God to use the foolish things we preach to save those who believe.
22. Jews require miraculous signs. Greeks look for wisdom.