I don’t know what sect of Christianity this pastor belongs to and what his own credentials are, but this is probably a pretty good place to point out the pastors from the Evangelical tradition are less likely to be formally educated in theology then their mainline Protestant peers.

In the Baptist tradition I grew up in, formal theological training for pastors was by far the exception rather than the rule, and from what my family in that world tell me today, little has changed.

As for those Evangelical ministers who do have post high school education, many of them received it from small “Bible colleges” that do little more than reinforce dogma and discourage critical or challenging thinking.

A student at one of those colleges who challenged teachings or dogma would be bounced out immediately.

That happened to one of my cousins just a few years ago, actually. He wasn’t even criticizing fundamental doctrine, just interpretation about drinking alcohol. He looked into the issue and wrote a paper saying the Bible probably doesn’t actually prohibit it. His Bible college expelled him after he refused to retract his position, even though mainstream theologians and biblical historians (obviously) agree with his position.

So it’s a little rich for this pastor to be criticizing critical thinking.