In Ecclesiastes 12:12 we learn, “Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” This verse has been misused here in Alabama to defend the idea that intellectualism is bad for the soul.
It seems that proponents of the idea that scholarship is bad for people and unnecessary for Christian life has a very difficult time reading and accepting what is written in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
There is absolutely no reason to believe that book writers are anti-God or that people who are formally educated are less than those who simply read the word of God. In addition to the former, “much study wearers the body” is too vague of a verse for a dispensationalist Christian to use as a biblical weapon to diminish the value of education among the beliefs of highly educated believers of the way.
You can certainly be an intellectual and a follower of Jesus Christ. You can write a book too, think critically… go to school and be a Christian. let’s not forget that knowledge isn’t blasphemy but a gift given by God as we learn from 1 Corinthians 12:8.
The Holy Spirit equips us with what we need to know and nowhere in scripture we read that God can’t equip the brethren with academic knowledge. Intellectualism is excellent for the soul.
Those who choose to write books on end, ignore or mock God don’t represent the many of us who love God and use the gift that the Lord has given us to defend the faith. Don’t be small minded or support an ideology of ignorance for the sake of religion without critically thinking about what the Lord can do in our lives.
Celebrate the creator by being reasonable and always remember, the Lord loves you.