Treasure And Earthen Vessels

Ἔχομεν δὲ τὸν θησαυρὸν τοῦτον ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν, ἵνα ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς δυνάμεως ᾖ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μὴ ἐξ ἡμῶν. Ὀστράκινα λέγει σκεύη τὰς εὐτελεῖς λέξεις καὶ τὸ ἄπλαστον τῆς ἑρμηνείας. εἰ γὰρ οἱ κήρυκες τοῦ εὐαγγελίου κατ' ἀνθρωπίνην φιλοσοφίαν ἐπρέσβευον τῆς ἀληθείας, ὑπωπτεύθη ἂν ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνης τέχνης καὶ μὴ ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ κεκρατῆσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῇ σωτηριώδει παιδεύσει· ἀγραμμάτων δὲ καὶ ἰδιωτῶν ὄντων τῶν διακονουμένων ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν θησαυροῦ, ἐκ θεοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐκ θνητῶν ὑποληφθήσεται. τούτῳ συνᾴδει τὸ εἰ καὶ ἰδιώτης τῷ λόγῳ ἀλλ' οὐ τῇ γνώσει, καὶ τὸ ὁ λόγος μου καὶ τὸ κήρυγμά μου οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖς σοφίας λόγοις· εἶχεν γὰρ τὸν θησαυρὸν τῆς γνώσεως οὐκ ὢν κατ' αὐτὴν ἰδιώτης, ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν ἰδιώτης ὢν τῷ λόγῳ. Δυδύμος του Ἀλεξανδρέως, Εἰς Την Δευτεραν Ἐπιστολήν Προς Κορινθίους, Ἐκλογή

We have this treasure in earthen vessels, whence the greatness of its power is by God and not by us. 1 An earthen vessel he calls his common manner of speech and his simple diction. For if the preachers of the Gospel had announced the truth according to human philosophy, there would have been a suspicion that it was a matter of mere human artifice rather than the virtue of God by which men were brought to the teaching of salvation. But when unlettered and simple are the servants, the greatness of the power, according to the treasury of knowledge, is judged to be from God and not from mortal men. And this is consonant with: 'Even if unskilled in speech, not so in knowledge,' 2 and 'My speech and my preaching was not by the persuasion of clever words.' 3 For he had the treasury of knowledge, according to which he was not unskilled, and it was in earthen vessels, as much as his speech was unskilled. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on Second Letter to the Corinthians, Fragment 1 2 Cor 4.7 2 2 Cor 11.6 3 1 Cor 2.4