<p>2:2 <i>For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified- </i>See on :1. The &quot;determined&quot; reflects Paul's struggle with the temptation to make the message of Christ crucified somewhat respectable in secular terms.</p><p>The letters to Corinth must have been very difficult to write. Paul was walking an absolute minefield. Therefore he&nbsp; says that his attitude to Corinth was that he wanted to know nothing among them, saving Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2); he wanted to keep his mind fixed upon the Lord Jesus and the intensity of His passion, rather than get sidetracked by personality issues and ecclesial politics. And his letters reveal this. They contain many unconscious allusions to the suffering and death of Christ. Paul refers to Christ as &quot;Lord&quot; throughout all his letters about once every 26 verses on average. And yet in Corinthians he does so once every 10 verses on average. The Lordship and suffering of Jesus were therefore very much in Paul's mind as he wrote. His Christ and cross-centred perspective is a real example to us, living as we do at a time when the body of Christ increasingly distracts us from the central object of our devotion: the Son of God who died for us, and was raised again for our justification.</p><p>When Paul faced Corinth, the ecclesia whom he had loved and brought into being with great labour pains, yet now riven with carnality, fabricating the most malicious rumours against him, bitter at his spirituality... he determined to know nothing among them, saving Christ, and Him crucified. The antidote to ecclesial problems and selfishness is reflection upon the cross. By insisting on our rights, Paul says, we will make the weak brother stumble, &quot;for whom Christ died&quot;. 'Think of His cross and sacrifice', Paul is saying, 'and the sacrifice of self restraint <i>you</i> are asked to make is nothing at all'.</p><p>Despite &ldquo;the offence of the cross&quot;, Paul preached it. &ldquo;I determined not to know i.e. &lsquo;teach the knowledge of' any thing among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified&quot;. Paul didn&rsquo;t accommodate his message to the ears of his hearers. There are times when God&rsquo;s revelation <i>is</i> accommodated to us, but not when it comes to the basic message of Christ and the demands which His cross makes upon us.</p>