Graduate or Grace

I had an interesting discussion recently over how much education is required/necessary for someone to teach God's word or to be a lead pastor. I don't have experience doing either. Here are the two sides of the discussion.

One side of the discussion says that everyone that God used to write the bible had extensive training. Plus, someone that is continuing their education (through college courses) must commit an abundant amount of time to those courses. As such, one cannot be a pastor or teacher effectively while taking college courses because the community that they are leading will be short changed. On a side note, this side says there's no one with motivation enough to study God's word independently to the extent necessary to teach sound doctrine; thus, official training is required.

The other side says that it's the same Holy Spirit that revealed the word to first century Christians. Consequently, anyone that is gifted by God for this work should have the support of the church to use that gift. The claim from above that there is no one with motivation enough to learn independently is refuted as hypothetical and not real life. This side also claims that the bible is inexhaustible in its wisdom and teachings. Therefore, only a strong foundation of basic, essential doctrine is necessary for one to begin teaching. Which doctrines those are is another subject.

So which do you believe to be true? Must teachers of God's word be professionally trained (i.e. bachelor's, master's, or doctorate's degree) or can they get by with the Holy Spirit's teaching? Perhaps a little of both...

Check out the poll on the right.