Degree- worth the paper?

This is true. God's call on each of his servants is different; each has a particular use that is for Christ's glory. Unfortunately, far too many people are interested in self-serving and self-congratulatory efforts. I can see no real purpose in this topic other than to try to pat oneself on the back. My suggestion is that we follow the Lord's lead and call and leave the rest up to him.

I am not F.F. Bruce or D.A. Carson, yet I understand how God has used them. I am also not a country preacher, yet I can understand how Christ is using them. To try to rank the contributions of such men based on their education is more than folly, I believe it to be sinful. God is not a respecter of persons and certainly not of degrees...if He has given you the opportunity to pursue a good education, we should do it for His glory, not for our own ego.

 

Is it easier? Yes. But in actuality both can get the job done when necessary. Some have not had the "thousands of dollars" to invest in theological training. Some have not had the opportunity. My grandfather was one of the most learned men I have ever known when it came to the Scriptures, and he only had an 8th grade education. I have had the benefit of theological training and I am blessed and thankful for it. But I don't believe it makes me any better than my grandfather who devoted himself to a lifetime of Bible study.

 

I see it the same way brother. And I wish this brothers eyes to be open to how he looks to the Lord in this, and to others, who are his brothers and sisters that love him and want him ulitmately to change and have humility. He is not broken.

I wish he were.

Thank you.

 

Much better said than what I put out there -- scripture much better than my opinion.

 

Until I started reading this thread I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you but now I am afraid of being labled as arrogant. In all seriousness though I believe that you asked the perfect question. "Isn't this exactly what we are supposed to be doing"? I fully realize that the Holy Spirit is the one who illuminates Scripture for the believers understanding. I am not in any way minimizing that. I do believe that those who would stand in front of a body of believers and exposit Gods Word can rightly be expected to know more than the average layperson that sits in the pews. I know that I expect my pastor to know more about the Bible than I do. How do you lead and guide if you don't have more knowledge? If the pastor is not an "expert" of sorts than how can he help someone with understanding a difficult passage or figuring out how it is to be applied. The reality is that we as laypeople fully expect that our pastors DO in fact have more knowledge than we do we just don't always like to admit it.

 

What we are not supposed to be doing is saying that because "we" are scholars we know "our" theology is the correct one because we have studied more and care more about scripture than you do. That is what this is all about.

Why can't a layperson dig out as much as a scholar? Is the Holy Spirit not the layperson's teacher? Can only a scholar know the deep things of God?

 

There...is that "better"?

 

If he were alive he would probably agree that I have had exposure to much greater theological training opportunities than he had...would he agree that I know more about the Bible than he does? No. My grandfather studied Greek and was a huge fan of reading about church history. I traveled a different path in terms of obtaining the knowledge I possess. A path that was not a possibility for my grandfather. But we both arrived at the same destination. Are there certain areas of strength in my theological studies that I probably have greater knowledge of than he did? Sure. But there are other areas in which he was far superior to what I am now or may ever be. Church history certainly being one of those. He devoured that kind of information while I forced myself to plod through what was necessary. I sat under some great theological minds in my seminary training and was blessed for it, but it also always brought a smile to my face when one of my profs would use a quote from someone who my grandfather had once quoted to me.

 

Sorry. But if you think that proves your point your wrong.

He had no formal training, just an intense desire to understand God's word. Which is something anyone is capable of whether they ever sit in a seminary class or not.

 

When you use the terms "scholar" and "layperson" how do you mean them? I believe that anyone who is willing to put in the time and effort of studying and learning and disciplining themselves for this can absolutely pull out the deep truths of Gods word. At that point though, in my opinion the layperson has crossed from layperson to scholar. I do not believe that a person that has not spent years in study and gaining of knowledge can go to the Bible and pull out the same amount of information that someone who has spent years of study can. I believe that it is a fallacy to suggest that. The bottom line is that anyone who is willing to dedicate themselves to fervently studying Gods word can learn the deep truths of it, but then that person becomes a scholar and not a "layperson".