13 Bible Verses about Worldly Wisdom

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness";

This wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to babes.

for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,read more.
and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do speak a wisdom among the mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away. But we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and which God destined for our glory before the ages. None of the rulers of this age understood it; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, "No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived what God has prepared for those who love him," God has revealed them to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit which is in him? Even so no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand the things freely given to us by God. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to human tradition, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will frustrate."

Yet we do speak a wisdom among the mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away.

For as many as are the promises of God, in him they are Yes. And so through him we speak our Amen to the glory of God.

These indeed have an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value against fleshly indulgence.