Thomas Aquinas Commentary 1 Corinthians 2:8-12

"which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory: but as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And [which] entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. But unto us God revealed [them] through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God." — 1 Corinthians 2:8-12 (ASV)

Having explained the wisdom he speaks among the perfect, the Apostle now gives the reason for that explanation. He does this first as it relates to unbelievers, and second as it relates to believers (1 Corinthians 2:10). Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he states his proposition, and second, he proves it (1 Corinthians 2:8).

He says, therefore: I have said that the wisdom we speak is not the wisdom of the rulers of this world, for this is the wisdom that none of the rulers of this world understood. This is true regardless of which class of rulers is considered. Worldly rulers did not know this wisdom because it surpasses the principles of human government: He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless waste (Job 12:24). Philosophers also have not known it, because it transcends human reason; for this reason, Baruch 3:23 says: The searchers for understanding on the earth have not learned the way to wisdom. Finally, the devils have not known it, because it surpasses all created wisdom; therefore, Job 28:21 says: It is hid from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

Then, with the words for if they had known it, he proves his point. First, he proves it with a sign indicating that the rulers did not know God’s wisdom as it is hidden in Him. Second, he proves from scriptural authority that they did not know this wisdom as it was prepared for our glory (1 Corinthians 2:9).

He says, therefore: I am correct in saying that the rulers of this world did not understand God’s wisdom. For if they had known it, they would certainly have known that Christ is God—who is contained in this wisdom—and knowing this, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The Lord of glory is Christ the Lord, who gives glory to His own people: The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory (Psalms 24:10), and he brought many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). Since a rational creature by nature desires glory, it is inconceivable that the human will would choose to destroy the author of glory.

It is certain that the rulers crucified Jesus Christ, if by “rulers” we mean those in human power, for it says in Psalm 2:2: The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed. In Acts 4:27, this is applied to Herod, Pilate, and the Jewish leaders who consented to Christ’s death. But the devils also had a part in Christ’s death by their persuasion, for John 13:2 says: The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him. Furthermore, the Pharisees and scribes, who were versed in the law and students of wisdom, brought about Christ’s death by instigating and approving it.

Two difficulties arise here. The first concerns the statement that the Lord of glory was crucified, for Christ’s Godhead, according to which He is called the Lord of glory, cannot suffer. The answer is that Christ is one person existing in two natures, the human and the divine. Therefore, He can be described by names drawn from either nature. Furthermore, no matter which name is used to designate Him, it can be predicated of Him, because there is only one person underlying both natures. As a result, we can say that the man created the stars and that the Lord of glory was crucified. However, it was not as man that He created the stars, but as God; nor was it as God that He was crucified, but as man. Therefore, this phrase refutes the error of Nestorius, who asserted that there is one nature in Christ, composed of God and man; because if Nestorius were correct, it would not be true to say that the Lord of glory was crucified.

The second difficulty is that the Apostle seems to suppose that the Jewish rulers or the devils did not know that Christ was God. Regarding the Jewish rulers, this seems to be supported by Peter’s statement in Acts 3:17: I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. This, in turn, seems to contradict Matthew 21:38: But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ Furthermore, in explaining this, Chrysostom says, “By these words the Lord proves clearly that the Jewish rulers killed the Son of God not through ignorance but through envy.”

This difficulty is answered in a Gloss, which states that the Jewish rulers knew He was the one promised in the Law, although they did not know the mystery that He was the Son of God, or the sacrament of the incarnation and redemption. But this seems to be contradicted by Chrysostom’s own statement that they knew He was the Son of God. Therefore, the answer is that the Jewish rulers knew for certain that He was the Christ promised in the Law (although the people did not), yet they did not know for certain but only conjectured that He was the true Son of God. However, this conjectural knowledge was obscured in them by envy and by a desire for their own glory, which they saw was being diminished by Christ’s excellence.

There also seems to be a difficulty concerning the devil, for in Mark 1:23 and Luke 4:34 it says that the devil cried out: I know who you are—the Holy One of God! But lest this be attributed to the devils boasting to know what they did not, the evangelists assert that they did have knowledge of Christ. Mark 1:34 says, And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him, and Luke 4:41 says, But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. This is answered in the book of Questions of the New and Old Testament: the devils knew He was the one promised by the Law because they saw in Him all the signs foretold by the prophets; nevertheless, they did not know the mystery of His divinity.

Opposed to this, however, is Athanasius’s statement that the devils called Christ the Holy One of God because He is uniquely holy—He is holy by nature, and all others are called holy through participation in Him. Therefore, it must be said with Chrysostom that they did not have firm and certain knowledge of God’s coming, but only conjectures. For this reason, Augustine says in The City of God that Christ was recognized by the devils not by that which constitutes eternal life, but by certain temporal effects produced by His power.

Then, with the words But as it is written, he proves from Scripture that the rulers of this world did not know God’s wisdom regarding what He prepared for the glory of believers. He says: what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him. Our version has: From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him (Isaiah 64:4).

That this glorious vision is unknown to man is shown in two ways. First, it is not within the range of the human senses, from which all human knowledge begins. He mentions two senses: vision, which is used when a person discovers things for himself, and hearing, which is used when a person learns from someone else. Regarding vision, he says, what no eye has seen, for the bird has not known the path, nor has the eye of the vulture seen it (Job 28:7). The eye is of no use because the object of inquiry is not something colored and visible. Regarding hearing, he says, nor ear heard that glory, because it is not a sound or an audible word: His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen (John 5:37).

Next, he excludes the intellectual discovery of this glory when he says, nor the heart of man imagined. In one sense, whatever is known by humans in any way is said to “ascend into the heart of man”: Let Jerusalem come into your mind (Jeremiah 51:50). In this sense, “the heart of man” refers to the heart of a carnal man, as in his statement later in 1 Corinthians 3:3: For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving like ordinary men? The meaning, therefore, is that such glory is not known by the senses or even by the heart of a carnal man.

In another sense, something is said to “ascend into the heart of man” when it reaches the human understanding from a lower state, for example, from existing as something perceived by the senses. Things exist in the understanding according to its own mode; therefore, lower things exist in the intellect in a higher state than they exist in themselves. As a result, when they are grasped by the intellect, they “ascend” into the heart of man. But things that are more excellent than the intellect exist in a higher state in themselves than they do in the intellect; therefore, when they are grasped by the intellect, they somehow “descend”: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17).

Therefore, since knowledge of that glory is not obtained from perceptible things but by divine revelation, he says quite significantly, nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared—that is, predestined—for those who love him. This is because the essential reward of eternal glory is due to charity: If anyone loves me, he will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him (John 14:21), for the perfection of eternal glory consists in this. And Job 36:33 says, He shows his friend concerning it, that it is his possession. The “it” here refers to the light of glory. The other virtues, however, play a role in meriting eternal life only in that they are enlivened by charity.

Then, with the words but God has revealed to us, he applies the explanation of divine wisdom to the faithful. First, he states his proposition, and second, he proves it (1 Corinthians 2:10b).

He says, therefore: I have stated that none of the rulers of this world knew God’s wisdom, but to us God has revealed it through the Spirit, whom He sent to us. As it is written, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things (John 14:26), and, The breath of the Almighty gives me understanding (Job 33:4). For since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth—in that He proceeds from the Son, who is the truth of the Father—He is sent to those to whom He imparts the truth. As Matthew 11:27 says, No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Then, with the words For the Spirit searches everything, he proves that wisdom has been revealed to believers by the Holy Spirit. First, he shows that the Holy Spirit brings this about; second, he proves that He brought this about in Christ’s disciples (1 Corinthians 2:12). Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he states his proposition, and second, he proves it (1 Corinthians 2:11).

He says, therefore: I have stated that God reveals His wisdom through the Holy Spirit. This is possible because the Spirit searches all things—not as though He learns them by searching, but because He fully knows even the most intimate details of all things. For this reason, it is stated in Wisdom 7:22 that the spirit of understanding is holy, overseeing all things, containing all spirits, intelligible, pure, and subtle. The Spirit knows not only created things perfectly but even the depths of God. These “deep things” are those hidden in God, not those that are known about Him through creatures, which are, so to speak, on the surface. As Wisdom 13:5 says, For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.

Then, with the words For what person knows, he proves his point about the Spirit of God by a comparison with the human spirit. He says: For what person knows another's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? The thoughts hidden in the heart, that is, are known only by the person’s own spirit, which is the intellect. Therefore, the things that lie within cannot be seen by others. But he says significantly, what person, so as not to exclude God from knowing them. For Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, because God alone knows what lies in another’s heart.

The reason a person cannot know what lies in another’s heart is that human knowledge begins with the senses. As a result, a person cannot know the thoughts in another’s heart unless they are manifested by perceptible signs: For man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Furthermore, not even a good or an evil angel can know what lies in a person’s heart, unless it is manifested by particular effects. The reason for this can be taken from the Apostle’s statement that a person’s spirit knows what is in the heart because it is in him. But no angel, good or evil, can enter the human mind to exist in a person’s heart or work from within it. God alone can do this; therefore, He alone is aware of the secrets of a person’s heart: My witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high (Job 16:19).

He then applies this comparison to the Spirit of God, saying: So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. The “thoughts” are the hidden things of God. As Job 36:26 says, Behold, God is great, and we know him not. But just as the thoughts in one person’s heart are made known to another by perceptible signs, so the things of God can be made known to humanity by their effects in the created world: For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator . However, the Holy Spirit, who is in God Himself and is consubstantial with the Father and the Son, sees the secrets of the Godhead directly. For “in her”—that is, in God’s wisdom—is the spirit of understanding, holy, having all power, overseeing all things .

Then, with the words Now we have received, he shows how knowledge from the Holy Spirit is obtained. He says that we who are filled with the Holy Spirit have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God. By the word “spirit” is understood a definite vital power, both cognitive and dynamic. Therefore, the “spirit of this world” can mean the wisdom of this world and the love of this world, by which a person is driven to do worldly things. This is not the spirit received by the holy apostles, who rejected and despised the world.

Rather, they received the Holy Spirit, by whom their hearts were enlightened and inflamed with the love of God: But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things (John 14:26). This is like Caleb, of whom God said, But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went (Numbers 14:24). The spirit of this world can err, as Isaiah 19:3 testifies: And the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel. We, however, received His divine Spirit so that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God—that is, so we may know the divine things God has given to each of us: But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift (Ephesians 4:7).

These gifts are unknown to those who do not possess the same Spirit, for it is written: To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna... which no one knows except him who receives it (Revelation 2:17). From this it can be gathered that just as no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him, so no one knows the things of the Father and of the Son except the Holy Spirit and the one who has received Him (Matthew 11:27). This is so because just as the Son is consubstantial with the Father, so the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Father and the Son.