Thank you for an encouraging post. When Paul was Saul, prior to his conversion by instruction directly from The Lord, he was an educated man having passed through the formal education system of his day. He is quite open about this, as follows in his own words:
Acts 26:4-12 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests
The chief priests were satisfied with Saul's educational standard and granted him authority. They were highly "educated" in the sense of book learning but woefully ignorant when it came to identifying God among them. Saul had sufficient authority to imprison people which is pretty high up on the scale.
True instruction comes from God and then, as now, the established schools of "learning" had been thoroughly infiltrated. In Saul's case his education certainly includes all the prophecies relating to Christ and in minute detail to an extent incomprehensible for anyone outside the schools of pharisees, sadducees and the high priesthood as it was then. They ground it down to the meaning of individual letters (in words in a sentence) and argued among themselves to the nth degree. All useless.
III John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
When we see that degree of education promoting principles esteemed by the high priests of science and philosophy but contradicting everything of value presented by God, we can be sure that it's done by wretches who (like Saul) have never seen God. That makes it not only useless, but evil. That brings us to True Education, only available from God. Saul had a crash course which utterly changed his perspective, along with his name, but obviously he still knew what he'd learned before and could refer to ancient texts (Moses
’ writings for instance being ancient material even in Jesus
’ day) and could demonstrate how wrong the pharisees
et al. were in as much detail as they may desire. Paul (his new Christian name) did not regard all that as valuable and even if pharisees (or a Greek philosopher) were persuaded by his arguments, ultimately it's instruction from God that makes Salvation intelligible. Otherwise it would be seen as foolishness to the Greeks and blasphemy to the educational elite. After all, that's why they murdered Jesus and why Saul had arranged the murder of so many Christians. This is how he explains it:
PAUL'S ASSESSMENT OF FORMAL EDUCATION
Philippians 3:2-9a Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but..dung..that I may win Christ, and be found in him