From: One of the McKays (music@fl.net.au)
Date: Sat Feb 13 1999 - 20:36:45 EST
I really enjoyed the thread on "Why Study Biblical Greek?" and thought I
would compile a list of reasons that were given.
1. You are always subject to the choices of the translator(s) in doing
Biblical studies if you do not know the original languages.
a.. Even though you may trust those translators, nevertheless it is more
useful in doing serious study to know the language yourself.
b.. Unless you can read Biblical Greek, you have forever limited yourself
to low-level study aids. The inability to research commentaries and lexicons
that deal with the original language again means that you have decided to
let someone else tell you what the Bible says: commentaries that are not
based on the original languages are inadequate.
c.. It gives you access to the best scholarly journals and books in
biblical and theological studies.
d.. It gives you a greater independence as an interpreter of Scripture
2. It takes you a step closer to the people who used the language 2000 years
ago.
a.. It gives you a broader and deeper understanding of the linguistic and
cultural milieu in which the NT was written.
b.. It gives you a new appreciation of the richness and depth of the
sacred texts, which previously you have come to value even though you have
perceived them only through a veil, dimly.
c.. Studying the Bible in the original languages brings a new dimension to
the scriptures that simply does not get portrayed in English. It allows you
to interact with the scriptures in a new way.
3. Studying the Greek NT provides a way to get a fresh look at what the text
is actually saying. It may help to overcome some of our preconceived notions
of what the English text says.
4. Studying New Testament Greek should turn a good NT scholar into a better
one. [But it won’t turn a bad one into a good one!]
5. It helps you learn the grammar of your own language, and hopefully, makes
you a better communicator in that language.
6. It is great intellectual training.
7. But, most of all, it’s fun!!!!!!!
David McKay
--- B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu] To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-329W@franklin.oit.unc.edu To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:40:16 EDT