Whose basis is the statement 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise' spoken from?
The statement is spoken from God's own basis. The context explains that "it is written" points to the Old Testament, and the Old Testament speaks from God’s own basis when it says He will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Les explains that verse 19 is introduced by "it is written," which signals the Old Testament. The Old Testament statement is made from God's own basis: He will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Les connects this to the end time, when Christ returns and sets everything straight. That setting straight will not be based on intellectuals, academia, or scientific achievement, but on His absolute righteous rule, and all these things will come to their end. In verse 20, Les says this hits the Greek philosophers head-on, asking where the wise or philosophical man and the disputer of this world can stand, and whether God has not made foolish the wisdom of this world. The context then turns back to Romans chapter 1, verses 21 and 22.
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.