[B-Greek] Fwd: "Why do we make pastors translate?"

Brian Mitchell mikamimitchell at hotmail.com
Mon Dec 14 02:41:48 EST 2009


Greetings,

 
        Although, I too have much to say on this subject here are two men who have answered this question far better than I can articulate:
        (Note: despite the similarities of their article/book titles and subject matter they are not related)  


"The real New Testament is the Greek New Testament. The English is 
simply a translation of the New Testament, not the actual New Testament...

We excuse other men for not having a technical knowledge of the Bible. We do not expect all men to know the details of medicine, law, banking, railroading. But the preacher cannot be excused from an accurate apprehension of the New Testament. This is the book that he undertakes to expound. It is his specialty, and this he must know whatever else he does or does not know. Excuses for neglecting the New Testament are only
 excuses after all...

    The doctor does not complain at the details of his science.He has to know the minutiae
of nature's handiwork. Nothing is too small for his investigation. He must know the laws of life, the ways of the cell, the habits of the bacilli and 
microbes that help and endanger human life, the value of all kinds of medicine, the idiosyncrasies of the individual, the wonders of the ductless glands and their influence on personality. Nothing is too small in order that one may save life. Surely the life of the soul is as important as that of the body. Scientists have high regard for the ways of nature.The microscope has done more for the prolongation of human life than has the telescope. Astronomy has become a science of grandeur and glory, but disease has been conquered largely through the revelations of the microscope. Generalities are the peril of the 
preacher who has a fine scorn of technicalities. One must be able to make the proper generalization out of a mass of details, but he is no theologian who is not first a grammarian...

    Thus there are all sorts of pitfalls for the preacher as the
 exponent of the message of the New Testament. If the blind guide leads the blind, they will both fall into the ditch. One simply has to know his parts of speech if he is to keep out of the ditch and avoid dragging his followers after him. Schisms have arisen around misinterpretations of single words. Grammar is a means of grace. One may, indeed, break grammar if he can break hearts, provided his grammar smashing concerns unessential details not vital to 
the sense.Theological and philosophical crudities have always played an important part in the history of heresy."
                                  A. T. Robertson, The Minister and His Greek New Testament 
                                  (http://faculty.bbc.edu/rdecker/roberts1.htm)
                                        
                                 

"If,...the minister is a specialist—if the one thing that he owes his congregation above all others is a thorough 
acquaintance, scientific as well as experimental, with the Bible—then the importance of Greek requires no elaborate argument. 

    In the first place, almost all the most important books about the New Testament presuppose a knowledge of Greek: the student who is without at least a 
smattering of Greek is obliged to use for the most part works that are written, figuratively speaking, in words of one syllable. 

    In the second place, such a student cannot deal with all the problems at first hand, 
but in a thousand important questions is at the mercy of the judgment of others. 

    In the third place, our student without Greek cannot acquaint himself with the form as well as the content of the New Testament books.
 The New Testament, as well as all other literature, loses something in translation. But why argue the question? Every scientific student of the
 New Testament without exception knows that Greek is really necessary to his work: the real question is only as to whether our ministry should 
be manned by scientific students."

       The Minister and His Greek Testament J Gresham Machen     
       (http://www.opc.org/machen/MachenGreek.html)

                                              Salutations,
                                                       Brian K. Mitchell
                                                       mikamimitchell at hotmail.com
                                                       


                                             


 		 	   		  
_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live: Make it easier for your friends to see what you’re up to on Facebook.
http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/windows/windowslive/see-it-in-action/social-network-basics.aspx?ocid=PID23461::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-xm:SI_SB_2:092009


More information about the B-Greek mailing list