[B-Greek] Greek for laymen

Troy Koelling Troy.Koelling at colorado.edu
Mon Mar 8 11:00:44 EST 2004


> I just finished reading an interesting article by Dr. Rod Decker called
> "How Do We Use the Biblical Languages?" (cf. his web site).  In a
> section on "Minimalism vs. Maximalism" he gives Wuest -- "The King of
> Maximalism" -- as an example of how an exegete can give too much
> significance to the grammatical elements of a language, so much so that
> the "exegesis" actually becomes eisegesis.  Anyway, what struck me was
> the seeming possibility that a scholar can know *so much* Greek (at
> least I assume Wuest knew a lot of Greek) and yet not know how to use
> it properly (at least, according to the "minimalists")!  So, maybe it's
> not just a question of knowing a little Greek or knowing a lot of
> Greek.  Maybe something else is necessary to use the knowledge to
> understand the Greek Text properly.  Perhaps what is needed is a "feel"
> for the language? ;-)  I just wonder how there can be such a thing (an
> error?) as "Maximalism".  Where did the scholarly world go wrong?  I
> still remember how I was first convinced of "cessationism" -- it was
> through hearing a very interesting and convincing sermon on the
> significance of PAUW being in the middle voice in 1 Cor 13:8...
>

I don't know much about the Greek scholar world, but I am an undergraduate
student in Computer Science and I can see how this applies there. Most of the
professors have worked in the field and have "a feel" for how computer science
relates to the application of it. The others are pure theorists who write
papers and books and whenever you talk to them, you realize that the vocabulary
they use is the product of inbred thinking. They only talk to other theorists
and so their ideas bounce back and forth until outsiders can't really
understand without a 4 year intensive degree.

Learning a little programming can cause your computer to crash or you might
loose all your data but I hardly think that is a reason to restrict it to the
people who have studied. You get errors, people correct you and you have
learned a great deal more.



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