[B-Greek] ? - please respond

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Dec 5 19:24:16 EST 2003


I am forwarding this directly to the list because I have added the
requisite full-name signature in accordance with B-Greek protocol; I didn't
want to delay the message from reaching the list any longer than necessary.

Forwarded for: "Matthew Creeden" <charlottematt2 at hotmail.com>
Subject: ? - please respond
Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2003 19:08:42 -0500

For the last three months I have been studying NT Greek at the seminary.  I
have a final on Monday which I do not think I will do well on.  I have
found this endeavor, which I was very excited about at the beginning, to
truly be painful and almost wasteful in terms of time.

All I did for nearly four months was memorize vocabulary words (few if any
I remember) and paradigms.  I have been praying for God to show me (because
the prof certainly has not) how on earth I am supposed to incorporate this
tool into my pastoral life.  What books are essential to have?  How should
the language be used in sermon preparation?  What is the best way to go
about learning the language from a practical standpoint without becoming a
Greek scholar (clearly not my intention)?

I hope you understand my frustration.  I am not certain what the difference
is between linguistics, morphology, syntax, etc. and how much I need to
know of each before I can say I understand this language well.  I simply
want to be more efficient and productive with the time I spend studying the
language for it to be useful to my congregation.  I have always prepared
sermons from my NIV and a concordance.  Now I am being "sneered" at by the
intellectuals for they feel this methodology is for backwood preachers.

Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.  I would like to
know more about the language, but I simply feel it is out of reach.

Matthew Creeden in NC




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