Comparing spiritual with spiritual; soulish and spiritual; milk and solid food (1 Cor 2:13–3:2)

Spirit is to be understood from the apostolic words: “comparing spiritual things with spiritual”—by examining this wording with that wording and gathering like with like, the mind of Scripture is uncovered as it were. In this way I understand the things of God and become taught by the Spirit: not only by having learned the things of the Spirit that moved Isaiah, but also by having the same Spirit that shut and sealed Isaiah’s words; for unless the Spirit opens the prophets’ words, what is shut cannot be opened. And since he said these things, he necessarily adds that there are some people who do not receive the things of the Spirit of God—not because of nature, as the heterodox suppose, but because they have not prepared themselves. For the soulish person does not receive the things of the Spirit—he was soulish; but when he inclined toward piety and received the Spirit, he became spiritual. And the soulish cannot know that he is examined spiritually; therefore he does not know, about what he hears, that it is examined spiritually; and when the power is tested it convicts the fool—as when I speak taught by the Spirit and speak with power, and the hearer testing the power thinks otherwise and does not assent: the power being tested convicts the fool. And it is not so much that he has rejected what is said as that what is said has rejected him; for “wisdom will not enter a soul that devises evil, nor dwell in a body in debt to sin.” “The spiritual person examines all things, yet he himself is examined by no one.” The one who no longer walks according to flesh but according to Spirit, and always by care grows it and kindles more the gift of God, prepares for himself to become spiritual; and having become so he is able to examine all things—the Greeks’, the barbarians’, the wise’, the senseless’; and no one can examine him because of the greatness of his understanding and of his reasonings. And if you want to recognize the spiritual person, “by their fruits you will know them.” What then are the fruits of the Spirit by which one must know who is spiritual? Hear the apostle: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self control”; where these are, there is the Spirit, and that one is spiritual; and where any of these is missing, that one is not yet spiritual.

On 1 Corinthians 3:1–3a: “And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to fleshly, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able; but neither are you able even now.” Origen: of hearers some are perfect—the spiritual, of whom we were also speaking earlier; and those who are not spiritual yet believe in Christ are, as the apostle says, infants in Christ and fleshly in Christ—for I hear “in Christ” as common to both. So those not yet more perfect and not yet exercised in the sacred Scriptures need lesser lessons, which the apostle named milk: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able, but neither are you able even now.” And I think there is a scale among spiritual foods: milk, food, true food, solid food, flesh of the Word, and spiritual vegetable. And I dare to say this persuaded by the Scriptures; for he did not say every spiritual food is true food when he says, “My flesh is true food.” What then is not solid food? The more ethical teachings and whatever among ethical matters is weaker—said by way of concession, not by command, stewarded because of the hearers’ weakness. But whatever more perfect teaching among ethical matters belongs to eager and hardworking hearers—these I would call solid food among ethical teachings: teaching about perfect chastity, about virginity or temperance, about martyrdom; these are solid food. And solid food in mystical matters is teaching about Father and Son. So also the law sometimes hands on solid food, sometimes lesser. For example we come to the word about the snakes that killed the sons of Israel because of murmuring: if we read more simply, we say, “Let us not murmur, as some of them murmured and were destroyed by the snakes.” But if the hearer can hear a mystical word, we say who the snakes are and who the snake hung upon the wood, and how one is saved by looking to that snake—and so with each spiritual Scripture. And who those given milk to drink are, Peter will show in the