SCHOLAROLATRY

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Updated November 27, 2000 (first published July 24, 1996) (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Many who fancy themselves ãintellectuals,ä look down in their pride upon a man who does not have a list of letters after his name, implying that he is unlearned and ignorant because he does not fit the mold of what they think a scholar must be. Many of the letters I receive reflect this attitude. Dr. David Otis Fuller called this phenomenon ãscholarolatry.ä

Learning is important, and I do not despise any effort a man can make to learn the Word of God more perfectly. Get all the degrees you can if your goal is the mastery of the Holy Bible. I refuse, though, to respect a man who is puffed up with his own conceit. I am not against seminary training in principle, but it is a fact that the bulk of seminary education today is the philosophical study of fallible man which results in uncertainty and foolish questionings instead of the practical study of Godâs infallible Word which results in confidence in the Bible, holiness of life, and zeal for the truth.

I see two problems with the broad use of credentialed titles among preachers. First, too often the title is meaningless. What sense is it to have Dr. before your name if you canât even write a proper paragraph in the kingâs English? Second, too often the title is a matter of pride. The late Evangelist Lester Roloff said it well when someone wanted to bestow upon him an honorary degree. He commented, ãIt would be like tying a pretty ribbon on a hogâs tail.ä Brethren, if we will be honest, all of us are mere hogâs tails. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty; letâs not act pretentious, not with our honorary degrees, nor with our earned degrees.

The wisdom commended by God is a practical wisdom, not a theoretical one. The late J. Vernon McGee, who made it his lifeâs aim to take the Word of God and explain it and apply it, said the Bible had to get down to ãwhere the rubber meets the road.ä Sadly, Dr. McGee compromised in some matters, but I like his saying. Godly wisdom is a skill in understanding and applying the truth of Godâs Word to the needs of life and the work of God.

WAS JESUS CHRIST A SCHOLAR?

The Lord Jesus Christ did not submit Himself to the popular religious schools of His day, and He spoke in such a way that the common man could understand Him. His proud detractors stumbled at this Wisdom. They exclaimed, ãHow knoweth this man letters, having never learned?ä (Jn. 7:15). Jesus Christ was not a scholar.

WERE THE APOSTLES SCHOLARS?

For the most part the Apostles were common men who were called by Jesus Christ to write the last chapters of the Bible and to establish the first churches. The Lord Jesus put these men through an intensive course in knowledge and wisdom, but it was not in a classroom; it was not theoretical. It was not ãivory towerä or ãarm chairä theology. He taught them a practical, spiritual wisdom. Jesus Christ did not establish a seminary; He established a church. He did not grant degrees; He taught them how to do the work of God in this wicked, Hell-bound world. The Apostleâs proud detractors did not recognize nor understand the wisdom God had given them. In their enemiesâ estimation, they were ãunlearned and ignorant menä (Acts 4:13). The Pharisees were consumed with ãscholarolatry.ä My friends, I contend that the Apostles of Jesus Christ were some of the wisest men who have ever walked this earth. They were wiser even than the mighty prophets of Old, because they had greater Revelation. They were common men, but God gave them eternal wisdom. They were not scholars, though.

WERE THE PASTORS OF THE EARLY CHURCHES SCHOLARS?

The qualifications for pastors is given in 1 Timothy and Titus, and I donât find anything there about the necessity of having a D.D. or a Th.D. or even an M.Div. The qualifications have to do with spiritual living and practical application of the Scriptures to life and the work of God. Could the pastor, then, be ignorant? Indeed not. He has to be skillful in handling the Word of God--no small feat. The pastor has to be ãapt to teachä (1 Tim. 3:2). In Titus we see that the pastor must be a man who holds ãfast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayersä (Tit. 1:9). Thus he must have a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures and of sound doctrine and he must have the ability to use this knowledge to edify the saints and to deal with false teachers. This is not a theoretical knowledge. This is ãrubber-meets-the-roadä knowledge. The pastors of the early churches were not scholars.

Consider the men who have been greatly used by God through the centuries. Were the mighty prophets of Israel raised up through the prophetsâ schools, for the most part? No, God individually called and anointed them. What about Charles Haddon Spurgeon? He had no degree, yet he wielded vastly more influence for God in this world than hundreds of his titled compatriots combined. He maintained a Pastorâs College, yet the goal of that college was not to award titles, but to grant men a practical knowledge of Jesus Christ and of His Eternal Word.

Please donât misunderstand me. I am for education and learning. I have been a diligent student all my Christian life. I have studied the Bible and associated material for an average of probably six hours a day for more than 27 years. I fear there are a great many men in the ministry today who are disqualified because they are too lazy to study. The possession of a degree does not make one a student. I am not exalting ignorance; I am exalting Godâs way of education over against the worldâs way. And I am rebuking the pride of man which is behind the phenomenon of ãscholarolatry.ä

ãStudy to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truthä (2 Timothy 2:15).