In the Pentecostal church today there are some who place great value on the opinion of "scholars." If one has mastered the original biblical languages, some believe, they are better qualified to speak on all issues regarding godliness. Recently there is a debate about the use of intoxicating wine in the New Testament. "Scholars," it is reported, believe that according to the Greek when Jesus turned the water into wine, what he produced was alcoholic. If the scholars say it, it has got to be true.
I am not opposed to scholarship. Neither God nor society places a premium on ignorance. I have spent much of my life gaining an education, both formally and informally, to better serve the body of Christ.
Nevertheless, there are a few things I would like to say about the current trend. First, study of the biblical languages is very subjective. Calvinist go to the Greek and find predestination. Followers of Arminius go to the same text and find free-will. An Assemblies of God educator will go the Greek and find progressive sanctification; a Church of God in Christ scholar will find a definite work. Every student of the word, even every scholar brings their own prejudices to the study. No amount of scholarship will provide clarity to biblical subjects that are ambiguous in the text. In such cases, honest men will admit their conclusion is biased by their own opinions.
Secondly, when I was in seminary I took a course on prayer. The text we used had chapters written by theologians that did not believe in God. Atheistic theologians! Now that is an oxymoron if anything ever is. How ridiculous! My professor called these men scholars, God called them fools. I call them educated idiots.
Across the wide spectrum of "scholars" a vast majority do not believe in the baptism in the Holy Ghost or miraculous manifestations of God's power. I have seen four years olds receive the baptism in the Holy Ghost. Supposing themselves to be wise, these scholars can't even discover a simple truth that children often find. How can they be trusted to know so much about other things and know so little about God?
Finally, much is made over the fact that Paul was a scholar. Academia will often boast of how much more Paul accomplished than the unlearned fisherman, Peter. I am not sure that God will concur with that assessment and I am quite sure that Paul wouldn't.
Nevertheless, it is true that Paul was a highly educated man who did great things for God. One fact, however, must never be forgotten. Paul was a scholar who had a powerful salvation experience and a mighty baptism in the Holy Ghost. His education was buried under his experience. He even said that all that he had thought was gain in his life was rubbish. Today, we see men who early in their lives had a spiritual experience that has now been buried under a liberal education. There is a world of difference. So much difference that one would probably have to be a scholar not to see it.