Interlinears, Analyticals and E- Bibles

Marilyn Phemister mphemister at kscable.com
Fri Jan 5 20:32:02 EST 2001


At 01:39 PM 01/05/2001 -0600, you wrote:

>hardly think that we can reject the computer revolution and nod our heads
>and assert to all the world that it is surely a sad day for New Testament
>scholarship and serious biblical study; I rather think it's exciting.
>
>Carl W. Conrad

I'm a little late getting into this thread and haven't read all the posts, 
but I am truly surprised that anyone -- especially anyone using a computer 
to discuss Greek with Greek scholars -- would look with disdain upon the 
computer as a tool for learning the language and studying the Bible in Greek.

I learned Greek the hard way before computers came into vogue.  Frankly, I 
see no great virtue in turning pages of a lexicon to try to find a Greek 
word when you don't happen to know the meaning or the root, or chasing 
cross references or looking up entries in a concordance when you can do the 
same thing with a click.

Somehow this makes me think of the difference between harvesting wheat with 
a sickle and harvesting it with a combine.  Isn't the important thing 
getting what you need to make bread?  Isn't a combine obviously the most 
efficient way to do that?

When it comes to Greek, I think the important thing is learning the 
language to be able to use it to study the Bible.  If we are honest about 
it, we will have to admit it is a struggle to get to the place where Greek 
is a language to us and not a series of a word puzzles.  I think Bible 
software and all the wonderful tools to help us get to that place can take 
YEARS off the time it takes to become truly comfortable with the Greek New 
Testament and LXX.

Since I have difficulty seeing at times, I am grateful for the computer 
because I can turn on my Logos software and enlarge the print to a size I 
can read on the screen when I can't see a thing on paper.

I don't mean to add fire to the debate.  I simply had to speak my piece and 
say I thank God constantly for the technology that makes so much 
information as close as a mouse click away.  Yes, we must learn to use it 

wisely.  But isn't it wonderful that it is there?

Marilyn Phemister

--------------------
Marilyn Phemister's
Greek New Testament audio files:
http://windpoet.bigfreepage.com




More information about the B-Greek mailing list