Very impressive credentials, and the self-discipline is commendable, especially for a drop-out, ....like myself.I was a high school dropout and left school without any qualifications. But when I became a Christian, I did exactly how you described - read all the men and women of God who were known as great soul-winners, to find out what they believed in comparison to those who appeared to be all talk. I also read every devotional and theological work by the Puritans and learned my theological foundations that way. It was not until my late 30s that I gained a degree in English Literature and became a school teacher; and I gained my M.Div at the age of 68. So, in terms of formal education I was a bit of a late bloomer.
I don't think I was self-taught in the sense that I had just the Bible and drew my own conclusions from it. I brought a set of Spurgeon's Treasury of the Bible and through his written sermons he became my pastor and teacher for a number of years when I was in a small home fellowship without a pastor. While doing my post-graduate degree in English, I learned the techniques of scholarship which was of great assistance to me, and when I did my research paper for my M.Div, I obtained (from my favourite Christian second hand book shop) every book I could on the divine healing ministry (the good, bad, and the ugly) so I could get a good overview of the Scriptural, historic, and current views and practices of the divine healing ministry. I gained 95% for that research paper, from a non-Charismatic on-line Bible College no less! I published it under the title "The Divine Healing Ministry, Then and Now".
So, when I told our fine feathered friend that in order to gain satisfactory knowledge about a theological topic or issue, one must read every available book and article on it, I was telling him to do something that I have done myself. To be able to find the precious nuggets, one must do a lot of digging, or as I tell my 28 year old daughter who has just broken up with her current boyfriend - "To meet your handsome prince you have to kiss quite a few toads first!"
Yes, once one becomes introduced the Gospel and God's Word, there's a natural zeal to learn more and to get other opinions, especially from the scholars. I haven't come close to researching and familiarizing myself with as many theological works as you have, but the mutual recognition of the need to reach out beyond our own understandings, is quite apparent.
There was a time when i stopped reading the Bible for a while, just to read commentaries and related works, in order to keep my views in check and possibly expand on them, or consider other options of interpretation.
So, I do have faith that a self-taught education is a viable education, provided that it's thorough and well researched.
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