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Question 5
Chrysostom is quoted saying Paul repeats the Jews’ “pompous language” (“guide to the blind… teacher of babes”) as an accusation because they treated proselytes with disdain; where do you see similar spiritual condescension in Christian discipleship or apologetics today, and how does it end up proving the opposite of what we boast?
Another way to ask: Where do you see Christians today talking down to others in discipleship or apologetics, like “guide to the blind” and “teacher of babes”? How can that kind of bragging end up proving the opposite of what we claim?

Direct Answer The transcript’s point is that bragging about being a “guide” or “teacher” can expose pride and blindness, especially when we treat learners with contempt. In that pattern, our boasting becomes evidence against us—showing we are not actually enlightening others but displaying the same darkness we claim to correct.

Support from Transcript:

  • Paul lists what the opponent boasts about: “a guide to the blind, a light… an instructor… a teacher of babes.”
  • Chrysostom’s observation: Paul doesn’t say “you are a guide,” but “you are confident that you are”—meaning “you are merely boasting.”
  • Jesus’ diagnosis is invoked: their leaders were “blind guides” who “strain out a gnat and swallow a camel,” and “If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
  • Chrysostom (quoted) says Paul repeats “their own pompous language,” because they “treated their proselytes with disdain and called them blind, foolish, and babes.”
  • The reason this becomes accusation: Paul “dwells at length” on their supposed praises because it “furnished a greater accusation against them.”
Discussion Follow-ups When we correct someone, what signals show we’re aiming to serve them versus using them to display how “right” we are?

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