Thank you for your responses to the poll. I read interesting points of view and reasons.
I personally agree with option 3. I do not trust the interpretation of scripture by most pastors/preachers/ priests, but I do listen to their sermons. My choice was based on what I read in the bible and what happened during the Protestant reformation and sermons I have heard from different churches. Here are the reasons for my choice:
I do not agree with option 1 that says I only trust in their interpretation of scripture, if they have graduated at a Theology institution
The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law knew the bible scriptures and were the religious elite. However, they could not tell that Jesus was the Messiah despite the fact that he fulfilled everything that was written in the Old Testament. Still today, it baffles me that people who knew the bible more than anyone else and were highly educated in scripture could not see that Jesus was the Messiah.
Sadly because the Pharisees did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the majority of Jews rejected Christ and are lost. Even today, many Christians misunderstand certain parts of the bible because they trust the interpretation of pastors because they are educated and have been preaching for many years.
Furthermore Jesus chose fisherman, tax collectors etc. to be his disciples and preach the gospel. So God does not need “educated” people to spread the gospel, but only a willing and an obedient heart.
However, I am not saying that it is not good for pastors to have attended a Theology institution and I am not downplaying the value of pastors having a degree. It can be beneficial for a pastor to have a degree and it can give them advantage when it comes to understanding the bible, but I do not think a theology degree is necessary. However, trying to understand and interpret the bible without the help of the Holy Spirit, even if you have studied at a Theology institution, is useless and could result in the incorrect understanding of the bible.
I do not agree with option 2 that says I trust some pastors interpretation of scripture and distrust others
When Christ was on earth, there were different religious groups within Judaism. The main two groups mentioned in the bible are the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees, unfortunately both could not discern that Jesus was the Messiah. Therefore whether you chose to trust in the interpretation of either Pharisees or the Sadducees you would still be lost.
I have gone to different churches and listened to sermons from different preachers and have released that different churches specialize in understanding of certain parts of scripture and tend to misinterpret the rest.
The Lutheran church understands righteousness by faith very well, but they do not have a good understanding of sanctification.
The Methodist church understands sanctification very well, but does have a good understanding of baptism.
The Baptist church understands baptism very well but do not have a good understanding of the end times. And I could go on.
So every church has a bit of truth and a bit of misinterpretation. Another problem that I have also identified is that churches tend to focus on certain parts of the bible and never address the rest. They also tend to focus on certain bible verses on a subject and ignore the rest resulting in them having a one sided view about a certain subject and do not look at the full picture.
I have watched sermons, where the pastor spoke truth in the first 20 minutes and spoke an incorrect interpretation in the next 10 minutes and spoke truth again in the last 20 minutes. I have also had situations where a pastor preached a sermon that was 100% biblical and was quite impressed and decided to listen to him the following week and have been disappointed because their sermon was not 100% biblical in the second week.
Therefore because pastors and churches have both truth and misinterpretation, I am unable to favour one above the other. It is not easy for me to say that a certain pastor has a better understanding of the bible than another since I have not come across any pastor who has the correct understanding about everything.
I do not agree with option 4 that says I do not trust their interpretation of scripture and do not listen to sermons & do not go to church
Because no matter how corrupt the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were, Christ did not tell anyone to stop attending synagogues or the temple or stop listening to the Pharisees or Teachers of the Law.
Overall
Preachers/Pastors/Priests get their income from our tithes and offerings. Therefore the larger the congregation, the higher their income. This causes the temptation for pastors to not be objective in their interpretation because a favorable interpretation that appeals to the majority will result in a larger congregation and a higher income. I have also noticed that churches tend to avoid certain subjects in the bible. These types of subjects are the ones that cause people to feel uncomfortable, and will make them to want to leave. Therefore I find that preachers are not entirely trustworthy and I do not trust in their interpretation because they are more likely to tell us what we want to hear so that we may keep coming every week.
When you look at the bible it is sometimes the minority that have the correct understanding of the bible and the will of God and the majority do not. I see this in the Old Testament. Noah was alone, Jeremiah was alone, Elijah was alone (other than the 7000 who did not bow down to Baal) etc. in proclaiming the truth.
I also think of the Reformers like Martin Luther, John Wesley, John Knox, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale and many more who were alone in preaching the truth during the period that they lived and stood up to the Papacy by themselves.
Looking at the Old Testament, New Testament, and Reformation, it looks like the trend is that the majority is wrong when comes to biblical truth, understanding and interpretation.
I definitely believe that it is possible that minority or even 1% of the Christian population could have the correct interpretation of certain subjects in the bible. I believe that it is possible that even on the CC forum; there is a possibility that the minority could be correct about certain subjects and the rest of us could have the incorrect interpretation.
Over the years I try not to immediately dismiss anyone who disagrees with me, but I read my bible again and ask the Holy Spirit if maybe my interpretation was incorrect, before thinking that the other person’s interpretation is wrong even if they are part of the minority.
