by Rev. Jack Barr

Hi XXXX;

Question:
Did Christ have a degree, did Peter and how did they learn the scriptures? I believe that higher religious Phd's and seminary degrees are against true Christianity of Christ's teaching.

Answer:
Yes, they did have degrees, in a sense. Every Jewish boy was taught from an early age the scriptures, that is, the writings of Moses and the prophets, but some went on to study much deeper, to become more educated. Jesus also knew the law of the scriptures better than anyone because he had the Spirit without measure, and Wisdom.

John 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

Luke 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

At the age of 12, Jesus was teaching the teachers in the temple.

Luke 2:46-47 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

As for the others, some had high education's. Paul, had as high an education as any man at the time and spoke and wrote in several languages.

Acts 22:3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

Paul, it is shown, in Acts 21:37 is speaking Greek to the Soldier, and in 21:40 is speaking Hebrew to the crowd. Although it does not say specifically, it is apparent that Paul probably spoke most, if not all of the languages of the countries that he traveled through. To sit at the feet of Gamaliel was to have the very best and the highest education possible at the time. Gamaliel was a Doctor of the Law.

Matthew (Levi) was a Tax Collector (Luke 5:27 = Publican, Receipt of custom) (Mk 2:14) This shows an education (in accounting) above the normal man.

Luke was a Physician, a doctor of medicine. (Colossians 4:14) He had a very good education.

There were four Apostles who were fishermen. While you may think of this as unskilled labor, it would not be true. They were business men and not just common workers, they all ran their own fishing companies.

This makes seven of the Apostles that had a better than average education. The other five Apostles has no information given concerning anything about them.

The men who translated the scriptures into the English, John Wycliff in 1380's was a university teacher (Oxford), ; William Tyndale, in the 1500's, was noted as a great scholar who also wrote and spoke several languages, Tyndale also worked with Martin Luther around 1525; Erasmus and John Froben were known as scholars, they translated the Vulgate; There was Myles Coverdale and John Rogers. Coverdale's English bible was printed on Oct. 4, 1535, and John Rogers translated the Bible into English in 1537, as the Thomas Matthew Bible. In 1539 Coverdale was commissioned to publish the "Great Bible". We could go on with each English Bible in turn and the men associated with it as it moved forward in time. There has been very little change in these bibles over many hundreds of years. God Does protect His Word. We do note in answer to your question that each and every one of these men were very highly educated men, Many of them taught at the universities of the time and all of them both wrote and spoke multiple languages. Of the King James Translators of 1611, there was not one of them who did not write and speak at least six languages, and several of them also taught both the Hebrew and Greek languages. So we can see that even by today's standards, they still stand above those so called PHD's today.

You will never find in the Bible, anywhere, where God, or Jesus Christ taught that Christianity was only for the uneducated. Instead, we are to study and to know the Scriptures.

I must ask and answer the Question: Do you have to have a high education to understand or to preach God's Word? The answer is no! For God Himself will anoint for service and understanding, those who believe..

Rev. Jack Barr