How was Paul an example of God choosing the weak to confound the wise at Mars Hill?
At Mars Hill, Paul appeared as a weak vessel and was dismissed by the philosophers as a babbler. Yet God used him to shake them up and to confound the wise, so that Paul is remembered there to this day while those philosophers are not.
Les explains that this fits God's pattern: God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things to confound the things which are mighty. At Mars Hill, Paul came as a weak vessel in the eyes of those philosophers; he was a babbler to them. Yet Paul shook him up, and Paul is remembered to this very day—there is a plaque at Mars Hill—while they do not refer to those philosophers. God was the winner once again. Les also connects this to God using the base things, things despised, things the world ridicules, and even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that God uses what the successful world counts as nothing to confound the high and mighty.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
How was Paul a weak vessel at Mars Hill, and who is remembered there today?
At Mars Hill, Paul appeared as a weak vessel and a babbler in the eyes of the philosophers, yet God used him to confound the mighty. Today Paul is remembered there; a plaque at Mars Hill commemorates him, not the philosophers.
Why does God choose the foolish things of the world rather than the wise?
God chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, rather than choosing noblemen or the highly educated. Before using Moses and Paul, He brought them down to nothing or a nobody, showing that His work does not rest on human position, education, or wealth.
More Questions
Why did God choose the foolish and weak things of the world according to 1 Corinthians 1:27?
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.