Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I've been interviewitized again

If you like, you can read it here.

If you don't like... well... have a nice day!

27 comments:

Kim said...

Already read it!

Good interview, Mr. Greek!

DJP said...

Σε ευχαριστώ.

JackW said...

Nice Daniel (= judge of God)

I've always been drawn to teaching elders that study the original languages. I'm still working on English myself.

I do wonder to what degree a teacher or elder can rely on others who know the languages if they do not?

The Squirrel said...

OK, now I'm under conviction to resume my studies of Greek. Thanks, Dan, like I needed more to do! :-)

I remember reading that football player and pastor Reggie White was just beginning to learn Hebrew when he passed on to his reward.

The Squirrel

DJP said...

Not to be Miss Pickle, Jack, but it's "God is my judge." (c:

Well, that sort of reliance is where you're stuck if you aren't a student of the languages yourself. I know I've written on this, but I'm very hardcore on the subject. In this day and age in America, there is no excuse why 99.999% of pastors can't be students of Hebrew and Greek.

Otherwise, as I've opined countless times, they're like professors of French literature who don't read French.

And using Strong's or interlinears doesn't count.

JackW said...

You make a strong argument for it, but just to be clear, you are not saying that lack of expertise in Greek and Hebrew disqualifies someone from being a pastor, are you?

DJP said...

I'm getting as close to saying that as I can without actually saying it.

LanternBright said...

I LIKE. A lot, actually.

I've saved it in my RSS feed. Another excellent challenge from you, Dan!

Aaron said...

I want to learn Greek and Hebrew, but I'd also like to finish learning Spanish...


When I get home from work my mind is usually too tired to do either.

DJP said...

Anyone who's learned English has already learned the harder language.

I often said, sincerely, that I'd rather teach Hebrew or Greek — which I've done — than English as a second language.

Truth Unites... and Divides said...

I'm a middle-aged dude with young kids, job, and family responsiblities. I go to church, lead a small group, and help out with various ministries (homeless, special needs kids) when I can.

Reading the Word of God in Greek would be wonderful. How do middle-aged lay people ever find the time and are they too old to start?

DJP said...

I understand. But I'm a great believer in two great horizontal principles, OTBE:

1. Where there's a will, there's a way.
2. Something is better than nothing.

So if all you did were to buy a grammar and a Greek NT, and learn the alphabet and start reading some passages, that'd be something. Read the first lesson, and do it. That'd be something more.

Keep rinsing and repeating, a step at a time.

LanternBright said...

is there a grammar you recommend? didn't see one mentioned in the interview.

DJP said...

I mentioned two in the interview: Machen, and Wenham.

I've heard Mounce is good. Honestly, I'm not up on new intro grammars. Pray God gets me back into fulltime ministry soon, and I'll catch up on all that stuff and be more use to more people.

LanternBright said...

I mentioned two in the interview: Machen, and Wenham.


so you did.

d'oh!!!

DJP said...

Well... I was speaking quietly when I said it.

The Squirrel said...

Mounce is what I have. Don't know enough to rate it, but it was recomended to me by a Bible professor I know. Now, where did I put it... Mumble, mumble, rumage, rumage...

The Squirrel

DJP said...

Dude, before our Spelling Police get you, you're about 3 "m's" short.

REM said...

You read in any other languages and how do they compare to learning NT greek?

Jeff said...

There's a fine line between preachin' and meddlin'.

I've been fighting this for about 5 years now. My son wants us to work on German together, a refresher for me, but ground floor for him. Perhaps this might be a better choice. Ya think?

The Squirrel said...

DON'T LOOK, JULIE!!!

LOL

The Squirrel

Terry Rayburn said...

Dan,

I understand Wenham has no accent marks. Has that not been a problem?

DJP said...

You're right, and not to me, respectively.

His thinking (as I recall) was the same as mine: we're reading Greek, not composing it. The accents are given, they're there. So the time it takes to grasp all the rules for why what is accented when isn't really worth it for most readers.

Stefan Ewing said...

More than one sermon at our church has turned on a key point that is evident in the original language (Hebrew or Greek, as the case may be) but is lost in translation.

***

I have a Hebrew OT (bilingual) and Greek NT (USB 4), but to my shame, only look at them when I'm trying to get at the exact underlying wording of a particular verse—and then only with the generous help of dictionaries!

For someone like me—who can sight-read, but with extremely limited comprehension—Greek is definitely easier to read than Hebrew, given its alphabet is closer to ours (and written from left to right!), and the many cognate words. Hebrew, though, would be a treasure to be able to read with understanding, and I stand in awe of the many Gentile scholars who have excelled in their study of that language.

threegirldad said...

I figured that Dan would mention the online tutorial that he referred to at his "Do You Know Greek" website. But since he hasn't, I will. So far, I've really enjoyed working my way through it.

Kim said...

I took NT Greek in university, as a married woman with a small child. In trying to "re-acquaint" myself with it now, I wish I had a buddy to work with.

Anonymous said...

To show that it's never too late to try:

Tolstoy began to study Hebrew, from a rabbi, when he was 54, in order to better understand Scripture. Don't know how successful he was.