{"id":15093,"date":"2013-01-30T13:08:47","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T21:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=15093"},"modified":"2013-01-30T13:08:47","modified_gmt":"2013-01-30T21:08:47","slug":"uneducated-bible-scholars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SaintIt is popular among the elite Bible scholars and academy-trained theologians to sneer at the uneducated lay person who seeks to teach Scripture and theology to others as being “untrained” and therefore, unable to accurately teach others what God is like, what He says in Scripture, and how to live life in light of what we learn.<\/p>\n

It is often taught to know the Bible, to teach others, and to truly understand theology, you need a Ph.D. from a leading seminary and expert knowledge of Greek and Hebrew.<\/p>\n

We Need Professionals<\/h2>\n

The argument from these professional theologians and scholars most often goes like this:<\/p>\n

If I had a brain tumor, I would not go to my neighbor to fix it. I wouldn’t even go to a neurosurgeon who had just received his MD. If someone is going to be operating on my brain, I want the best neurosurgeon there is. I will research the available doctors in my area, and find the one with the most experience. And if I cannot find one that is suitable, I might fly across the country to get help from someone who is suitable.<\/p>\n

So also with theology. We cannot get help on Scripture and theology from just anyone. We need to find the best and most\u00a0knowledgeable — the ones with the most training and experience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s true. We need a doctor when we have a brain tumor. But thank goodness we don’t all get brain tumors!<\/p>\n

To the contrary, most of our day-to-day health issues do not require a professionally-trained doctor at all<\/em>!<\/p>\n

From a very early age, we learn that when we are sick, the first thing to do is “go to mom” who may not have a single hour of professional medical training, but can nevertheless help us better and more quickly than any doctor. As we grow up, we learn to help ourselves, and get input and advice on medical issues from friends and family members. We learn to read the labels on medicines at the pharmacy, and follow the commonly-known health advice of society and culture.<\/p>\n

For probably 99% of the health issues we face in life, we don’t need a professionally-trained doctor. For most of our health issues in life, going to a doctor is a a waste of time and money, and may actually make things worse.<\/p>\n

So also with theology.<\/h2>\n

For most of our spiritual needs, we don’t need the professional, academic theologian or Bible scholar.<\/p>\n

\"GreekI have even read a few theologians recently who have been pining for the good old days when the average person in the pew couldn’t read the Bible for themselves!<\/p>\n

Some modern theologians are actually advocating a return to a church-sanctioned professional class of clergy who do all the Bible reading, teaching, preaching, and\u00a0theologizing. The Reformation put the Bible back in the hands of the people, and there are some scholars and theologians today who think this was a mistake, and want to take the Bible back from the people.<\/p>\n

Without fail, these Bible scholars and theologians use this “if you had a serious sickness you would go to a doctor” analogy to defend their view.<\/p>\n

Have you ever heard pastors, scholars, and theologians use this argument?<\/em><\/p>\n

The Logical Fallacies of the Professional Bible Scholars<\/h2>\n

Ironically, this argument just proves why we need theologians and Bible teachers who are NOT academy trained. The absolute nonsense of this argument is evident to everybody except the academy trained professional whose mind has become so impressed with their own knowledge and training that they cannot see the immense logical fallacies of their own arguments.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, what it comes down to is a question of power and control. The professional theologian is tired of being challenged by the unprofessional. It is just like when you go see a doctor and tell him what you read on WebMD about your condition. They will roll their eyes, sigh, and ask you to stop trying to diagnose your own diseases.<\/p>\n

And truth be told, they are correct… about 1% of the time.<\/p>\n

The rest of the time, the information you get on WebMD and from talking to friends and family is going to be just as good–if not better–than the information you get from the doctor. Your friends and family know your history, your issues, your background, your problem, and what you are dealing with. They will listen to you, offer advice, and sit with you through the thick and thin of your problem. The doctor — most of them anyway — just wants to get on to his next appointment.<\/p>\n

Seminary Training is Good<\/h2>\n

Do not misunderstand: I am not opposed to higher education and formal seminary training.\u00a0<\/strong>I have eight years of it myself. I can put letters after my name if I want to. I appreciate and value the advanced training I received. But just as with a doctor diagnosing a disease, the “expert opinions” of the Bible scholars are only needed about 1% of the time, and even then, a person would be wise to get “a second opinion” or even a third or fourth.<\/p>\n

\"ReadThe\u00a0rest\u00a0<\/em>of the time, the average Christian can do pretty well in their life simply by following a few generally accepted spiritual heath rules:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Read the Bible as you would any other book; not as a magic book full of secrets and mysteries.<\/li>\n
  2. Discuss the Bible in a community of other people. Maybe this will just be a friend or your spouse.<\/li>\n
  3. Based on the values you discover in the Bible, try to love and serve other people as much as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    That’s it! 99% of the time, these three general heath principles of following Jesus will not lead you astray.<\/p>\n

    Will there occasionally be a need for the trained Bible scholars, the academic experts, the Greek and Hebrew experts, and theological masters? Of course there will be, just as in life, we occasionally go need to see a doctor. But most of the time we will be just fine with what we can learn on our own with friends and family around us.<\/p>\n

    Have you ever had someone discredit what you say about Scripture because you don’t have as much education as they do? Have you ever thought, “If only I knew Greek?” Do you ever feel like a second-class Christian because you don’t have a Master’s in Theology or a Ph.D. in New Testament?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Let us know about these experiences in the comments below.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Bible scholars and academy-trained theologians often sneer at the uneducated lay person who seeks to teach Scripture and theology. This is wrong! For most of our spiritual needs, we don’t need the professional, academic theologian or Bible scholar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[12,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-15093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-bible-study","8":"tag-theology-general","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nIn Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bible scholars and academy-trained theologians often sneer at the uneducated lay person who seeks to teach Scripture and theology. This is wrong!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bible scholars and academy-trained theologians often sneer at the uneducated lay person who seeks to teach Scripture and theology. This is wrong!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1224\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/\"},\"wordCount\":1095,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bible Study\",\"Theology - General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/\",\"name\":\"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"Bible scholars and academy-trained theologians often sneer at the uneducated lay person who seeks to teach Scripture and theology. This is wrong!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1224,\"caption\":\"Saint Jerome\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\",\"name\":\"Redeeming God\",\"description\":\"Liberating you from bad ideas about God\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Myers\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars","description":"Bible scholars and academy-trained theologians often sneer at the uneducated lay person who seeks to teach Scripture and theology. This is wrong!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars","og_description":"Bible scholars and academy-trained theologians often sneer at the uneducated lay person who seeks to teach Scripture and theology. This is wrong!","og_url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/","og_site_name":"Redeeming God","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_published_time":"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1224,"url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeremy Myers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@redeeminggod","twitter_site":"@redeeminggod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Myers","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeremy Myers","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"headline":"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars","datePublished":"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/"},"wordCount":1095,"commentCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg","keywords":["Bible Study","Theology - General"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/","name":"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg","datePublished":"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-30T21:08:47+00:00","description":"Bible scholars and academy-trained theologians often sneer at the uneducated lay person who seeks to teach Scripture and theology. This is wrong!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StJerome.jpg","width":1000,"height":1224,"caption":"Saint Jerome"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/uneducated-bible-scholars\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In Defense of Uneducated Bible Scholars"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/","name":"Redeeming God","description":"Liberating you from bad ideas about God","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c","name":"Jeremy Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Myers"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15093"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}