Learning my wife had written a book someone asked, "what are her qualifications?” I wondered why she would ask that? What were her reasons for asking this question? Did she really want to know? Did she want to be assured she could safely consider what my wife wrote? Was she jealous? Did she wonder why my wife should have any valid point? Did she want to block out my wife’s ideas? Was my wife in opposition to her own views?
What has to happen to establish a qualification? Does it take a higher authority to bless you and therefore qualify you? Must the entity that qualifies also to have been qualified? Who has qualified the qualifier and who has qualified him? How far back must the chain of qualification go?
There are some legitimate qualifiers. The state establishes laws and agencies to test if you can safely drive a car. If you prove you can via some testing the state will therefore issue you a driver's license. Your license is a certificate thereby signifying your qualification to operate an automobile on the public roadways.
A seminary can offer training to certify that you have learned certain skills like church administration and ancient languages.
What if you do not meet the expectations of the one who asks for qualifications? If you read an English version of the Bible can you understand it for yourself, or must you be qualified to understand it by a seminary professor or by a pastor or elder? Did not the Translators to English have the qualifications to properly render a good meaning in English? Who is judging the qualification of the translators?
Does not God have the power to place in your mind the meaning and intent he has for you in the way you understand the English? Does he expect you to know Hebrew and Greek? Does not God say he places his spirit in you as he said he would do? If he did that than he can speak to you personally, individually, directly. God does not ask you to produce a license or diploma or certificate before you can read or teach the Bible. I believe God is happy for you to share with others what you believe he has told you.
