TRUE AND FALSE WISDOM AND CORINTHIAN FACTIONALISM, 1:10–4:17
When sophists came into a city, they broadcast their own repute, extemporized in impressive oral displays, and used persuasive rhetoric with great flair. The “spin doctors” of their day, the sophists tried to inspire a particular commitment and zeal for themselves among their disciples. He (Paul) warns that rhetoric would empty the cross of its power (1:17) because sophistic methods would overshadow the message itself. - Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner