I’ll have to deal with just one; “Christians are hypocrites, telling others to live a certain way while they themselves do not;” a stereotype fueled by the shameful, public sin of some prominent Christians.

The response is that Christianity is not primarily about us and how we live, but about Jesus and who he is and how he lived and died and rose again. True Christians never claim to be perfect, not even close, “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves.” Those who do claim that they are better than others have departed from Christianity, which is rather about how sinful people can be forgiven of their sin and made right with God through faith in Christ. Seeing a Christian fall into sin is not an excuse to call “hypocrite,” since we make no claims to a moral perfection, our claim, rather, is upon the grace of God.

Higher education is not explicitly encouraged or discouraged among the general membership. For those who pursue the ordained ministry, (e.g. pastors), things are a little different. Reformed churches believe that preaching and teaching the Bible is of such high importance that it should only be undertaken by men who are able competently to do so. Reformed/Presbyterian churches, therefore, require rigorous education of men preparing for the ministry, basically a Masters level degree (M.Div.), including training in biblical interpretation, knowledge of the original languages of the Bible (Greek and Hebrew) and specific theological instruction.

There is, in some sections of Christianity, an anti-intellectualism that assumes (falsely) that dependence on the work of the Holy Spirit is somehow negated or minimized by formal training and so they downplay its importance or explicitly eschew such education. The sad result is the plethora of errors and unbiblical teaching that can be seen in many churches today.