When Paul writes to the Corinthians about the "foolishness of God" being wiser than men, he’s not talking about theology in the way religion often frames it. He’s describing a spiritual paradox: that the inner, imaginative life—which appears foolish to the outer man—is in fact the true wisdom and power of God.
Neville Goddard, the 20th-century mystic and teacher of imagination, consistently taught that Scripture is psychological drama, not secular history. Its characters and events represent states of consciousness, and its real subject is you.
1 Corinthians 1:18 — “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…”
To Neville, the cross represents the moment you fix an idea in imagination. It’s not about a physical crucifixion, but the internal act of assuming a state until it becomes subjectively real.
"To die means to become unaware of the former state. I no longer see it. I live in the new state.” – Neville Goddard
Those who are “perishing” are those who live entirely from the outside-in. They rely on facts, logic, and circumstances. To them, the idea that imagination creates reality sounds absurd. Yet Paul says, to the awakened, this “foolishness” is actually the power of God.
This echoes the ancient symbolic divide seen in the story of Esau and Jacob, or Cain and Abel. Esau, like Cain, represents the outer man—the man of effort, senses, and birthright by flesh. Abel and Jacob, however, stand for the inner man—the imaginative, spiritual self who receives the blessing by faith and inner knowing, not by right of appearance.
1 Corinthians 1:27 — “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…”
The world glorifies intellectual brilliance, strategies, and external might. But God—consciousness, imagination—uses what seems weak and silly (like inner assumption, prayer, stillness) to overturn the “wisdom” of the outer man.
Neville would say: you are never confined by what the world calls facts. If you can believe that your assumption is true, and persist in that state, the world must conform.
1 Corinthians 2:8 — “Had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
The “rulers” represent dominant mindsets: fear, doubt, reason. These states don't recognise imagination as divine. And so, metaphorically, they crucify it—they kill off the creative potential in you by denying it.
But the Lord of glory isn’t some distant deity. To Neville, this title belongs to your own wonderful human imagination, which is the only true creative power in the world.
1 Corinthians 2:9 — “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard… what God has prepared…”
Neville often quoted this verse to show that the greatest truths are not perceived with the natural senses. Your imagination is the womb of unseen possibilities. What you dare to assume, feel, and believe in the unseen realm is what God (your imagination) is preparing for manifestation.
You won’t find it by looking out there. You’ll find it by going within.
1 Corinthians 2:14 — “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God…”
The “natural man” is the outer self, operating purely from sense data. This man cannot grasp the inner law—that feeling is the secret, and assumption is the mechanism of creation. To him, imagining is daydreaming; assuming is foolish.
But Paul, like Neville, tells us that the spiritual man discerns differently. He lives by inner conviction, not outer evidence.
Paul’s “natural man” is Esau again—hairy, impulsive, grounded in appetite and the seen world. Abel is the one whose offering (his inner state) is accepted. It’s not about morality, but about awareness. The “natural man” cannot see the creative power of imagination because he lives by sight. But the “babe in Christ”—like Abel—lives by the invisible, and offers his assumption, not his effort.
The Babe in Christ: Awakening to Imagination
To be “a babe” in this context isn’t an insult. It means you're newly awakening to the truth that “I AM” is the name of God, and that your imagination is the Christ in you.
You’re learning to live from within. To fix your desire in consciousness. To ignore appearances. To walk by faith—not in doctrine—but in your own inner experience.
And yes, to the world this looks foolish.
But in that foolishness, you’ve found the real power.
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