Can a person be called to preach the gospel in a Christian church without having read the entire Bible? Is it enough to be spirit filled and called to assume the title of pastor?
Answer
The Bible does not put any restriction on preachers as far as how much of the Bible they have read. One would hope that if they have not read the whole Bible at least once they would have at least a working knowledge of it, and would read it through soon. After all, there are all sorts of schedules to allow one to read the entire Bible in one year, or even six months, without serious effort.
It would be up to the needs and abilities of the congregation, whether they would require a man to have more than a basic knowledge of the scriptures and a desire to teach them. A congregation that is well established in scripture would probably not benefit from such a man. Also, a man who has not read the entire Bible but is eager to teach and to learn would certainly be better than an agnostic who has read the entire Bible, like the lawyer Clarence Darrow in the 1920s.
Since the title of pastor, in the New Testament, is the same as an elder or bishop, (and not used for an evangelist or preacher who is not an elder) there are specific qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. These include an ability to teach, as well as not being a recent convert, which would imply a long familiarity with scripture. It does not specifically say that one must have read the entire Bible, but most congregations would consider a man who had not done so to be too young in the faith to fill the office of pastor/bishop/elder.