The Bible was not written to be hidden in backwoods monasteries. It was written to be read by the poorest widow in Israel, heathen Gentiles, children, and slaves. It was not written with the lofty wisdom of the world, but with the clear language of the truth.
With the inordinate attention given to institutions offering advanced degrees, there is a tendency to think that the Bible should be left to the hands of the “experts”. Yet, the experts repeatedly prove that they have been educated to doubt the Bible.
My favorite example is this story a few years back of an oceanographer who suggested that Jesus walked on ice instead of water. Ice is water, technically. Give me a break.
“… your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” – 1 Cor 2:5
You Don’t Need No PhD
You have the words inspired by the mouth of God on your bed stand. You do not need a PhD to read and understand your Bible. Right division is proof of this. When you learn how to rightly divide, people think you went to seminary. Instead, you simply understand the Bible as it was intended. He inspired it for your every day use, not for archiving in a museum or to have its word forms catalogued for linguistics departments worldwide.
The best and most important use of the Bible is when you pick it up and understand its teachings about God, the world, and salvation. This seems to be lost in the halls of academia. Mere Bible belief is foolish to the “scholar” who must confirm, verify, and explain its truths with their own libraries of knowledge.
“But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;” – 1 Cor 1:23
We need more of Tyndale’s “plough boys” to respond to the strained doctrine of the scholars.
You Can Comprehend
Holding a perfectly preserved copy of God’s words, we are in the position to study for ourselves. Gone are the days when it is illegal to read the Bible and its words can only be spoken in another language by a priest class.
Nothing separates you from attaining God’s wisdom except a little bit of work (2 Tim 2:15). An ounce of faith and God’s words are worth more than a thousand degrees of authority. Don’t ever let a scholar or self-proclaimed expert stand in the way of your faith in the Bible. They have no more authority than you give them.
Article Index Published: June 19, 2010
Last Modified: September 6, 2016