John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 3:19

"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He that taketh the wise in their craftiness:" — 1 Corinthians 3:19 (ASV)

For the wisdom of this world: This is an argument taken from opposites. To maintain the one is to overturn the other. Therefore, since the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, it follows that we cannot be wise in the sight of God unless we are fools in the view of the world.

We have already explained (1 Corinthians 1:20) what he means by the wisdom of this world. For natural perspicacity is a gift of God, and the liberal arts, and all the sciences by which wisdom is acquired, are gifts of God. They are confined, however, within their own limits; for into God’s heavenly kingdom they cannot penetrate.

Hence they must occupy the place of a handmaid, not of a mistress. Moreover, they must be regarded as empty and worthless until they have become entirely subject to the word and Spirit of God. If, on the other hand, they set themselves in opposition to Christ, they must be regarded as dangerous pests, and, if they strive to accomplish anything of themselves, as the worst of all hindrances.

Hence, the wisdom of the world, in Paul’s understanding, is that which assumes authority for itself and does not allow itself to be regulated by the word of God, or to be subdued so as to yield itself completely to Him. Therefore, until matters reach the point where the individual acknowledges that he knows nothing except what he has learned from God and, giving up his own understanding, resigns himself unreservedly to Christ’s guidance, he is wise in the world’s account, but he is foolish in the estimation of God.

For it is written, He taketh the wise. He confirms this from two Scripture proofs, the first of which is taken from Job 5:13, where the wisdom of God is extolled on this ground, that no wisdom of the world can stand before it.

Now, it is certain that the Prophet speaks there of those who are cunning and crafty. But as the wisdom of man is invariably like this without God, it is with good reason that Paul applies it in this sense—that whatever wisdom men have of themselves is reckoned of no account in the sight of God.

The second proof is from Psalm 94:11, where David, after claiming for God alone the office and authority of the Instructor of all, adds that He knows the thoughts of all to be vain. Hence, however highly they may be esteemed by us, they are, in the judgment of God, vain. Here we have an admirable passage for bringing down the confidence of the flesh, as God from on high declares that everything the mind of man conceives and contrives is mere vanity.