“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #14
“And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that you faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:3-5).
Paul wanted what he preached to have a transforming effect, but he did not want the transformation to be explainable by appeals to a “slick orator.” If the success of his preaching were to be grounded on his adherence to the rules of ancient oratory, which was quite refined, then Paul confesses that the whole thing would have been a failure. When Paul got up to speak, he was characterized by weakness, fear, and much trembling. But he is not talking about butterflies before giving a talk at Toastmasters. He is talking about the weight of the message threatening to collapse the rickety cart of his words. There was power there, but the power was much greater than the sum total of power to be found in his eloquence. If it had been any other way, Paul would have been making, not Christians, but Paulinists.