Lookie here! Today we're covering the Greek participle in class.
They say that "Greek is a participle-loving" language. That's probably an understatement. There are 7,941 verses in the Greek New Testament. 4,277 of them contain at least one participle. 1 Cor. 7:30 has 6 of them! Now we can FINALLY discuss the grammar of the Great Commission of Matt. 28:19-20. Note that there is only one main command and three participles that describe how we should go about doing it.
The English might read:
Going
Make disciples!
Baptizing
Teaching
The first participle -- "going" -- undoubtedly has an imperatival force. But that doesn't mean it's the main command. It's not. "Make disciples" is. I love what Stan Porter says.
He discusses in detail the grammar of Matthew's Great Commission.
His conclusion? Read it for yourself.
So, then, how shall we go about rendering all this in English? One suggestion might be:
As you go to the people in every nation, train them how to become my followers. Immerse them by the authority of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then instruct them to obey all the commandments I have given you.
There are 195 nations in the world today. How many is your church helping to reach for Christ? Is mine?
Incidentally, the tense of the verb "Make disciples" doesn't mean "once and for all action." Not at all. What the tense does imply is urgency. Do it! Get 'er done! Don't dilly-dally! Don't procrastinate!
As I sit here writing this post I am convicted. Am I a Great Commission Christian? What more can I be doing to reach the nations for Christ? The "retired" part of me says, "You've done enough, Dave. It's time to rest." That's stupid. I need to practice what I preach. I need to take the Great Commission more seriously than ever.
I write all this simply for what it's worth. Everyone is different. One thing I have definitely realized is that obeying Jesus' command takes both time and effort. But one thing is guaranteed. If you put in the time and make the effort, great things can happen.
Like many a marathoner, a few years ago I decided to sign up for my first 50K ultramarathon. I've now completed three of them. I'm still learning, and I love to share what I'm learning with others.
The ability to complete a 32-mile race isn't based on your ability to run a marathon. The biggest milestone en route to running an ultra comes when you are able to run a 5K comfortably. That's only about 3 miles. Once you can run a 5K, you can run a 10K -- then a 10-miler, then a 13.1-mile half marathon. Once you've established a foundation of health and fitness, you can run a marathon successfully. If you can complete a marathon, chances are you can complete a 50K race.
I'm not saying that everyone should run an ultra or even a 5K race. Find an activity that's comfortable, energizing, and fun. Even low to moderate levels of exercise can improve your health. The goal here has nothing to do with time or distance. It's about health and well-being. Walking is a great place to start. It's also a great place to circle back to time and again.
Fitness is not a destination. It's a fun, relaxing journey. Try it and see where it takes you!
MYTH: The Sturzian method employs an oversimplified and mechanical approach to textual criticism.
FACT: The Sturzian method includes ALL of the basic tenets of both external and internal evidence.
Gal. 5:21 is a great example!
There can be no doubt that the word phonoi ("murders") is original here. It's ridiculously simple. Phonoi enjoys early and widespread external attestation, which is corroborated on the basis of internal evidence -- a copyist simply passed over phonoi due to an error of the eye.
This isn't rocket science.
In this regard, I give the THGNT a lot of credit for breaking with the Critical Text here and printing phonoi in their text.
It's a hopeful sign. The ECM needs to do the same.
His name is Reuben. He's my grandson. He turns 1 today.
It is wonderful to watch him grow and reach new milestones. It feels like he's growing right before our very eyes. I can't believe a year has already passed.
Hey Reuben! Happy birthday from Papa B! I love you!
So I've been working furiously on a revision of my book on textual criticism.
A volume that's been in print for 30 years probably could use an update, don't ya think? Which reminds me of the 6 things Chief Justice John Roberts wanted the graduates to remember when he spoke at their commencement ceremony:
1) From time to time I hope you'll be treated unfairly so that you'll come to know the value of justice.
2) I hope you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty.
3) I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you will never take your friends for granted.
4) When you lose, as you will occasionally, I hope every now and then your opponents will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship.
5) I hope you will be ignored so that you will learn the importance of listening.
6) I hope you will have just enough pain for you to understand compassion.
So I've been doing a lot of listening. Among other things, I've been watching tons of Youtubes on the subject -- not only those by scholars but also those by Bible-believing pastors and lay people who love the subject of textual criticism. Dwayne Green (whom I mentioned yesterday) and Stephen Hackett are two of the best.
Anyhow, in a recent interview with Dwayne Green, Drs. Maurice Robinson and Peter Gurry were asked, "Are text types still useful?" In his response, Dr. Gurry made it clear that the Sturzian approach to text types "is exactly what you should never do with text types, because that requires text types to be independent entities." Since they are not independent entities, he argued, you simply can't count "two against one."
Similarly, in a print interview that Dr. Robinson did at the Evangelical Textual Criticism website in 2015, he wrote:
What should not be done with the texttype concept, however, is to utilize a "majority of texttypes" approach as some solution presumed to determine the autograph (cf. Sturz in this regard) -- such becomes merely another form of "nose-counting" and should be rejected solely on those grounds.
I had to chuckle when I read that statement by Dr. Robinson since "nose-counting" is precisely the accusation many opponents of his Byzantine Priority position have leveled against him!
Robinson merely counts manuscripts.
Sturz merely counts text types.
Both statements are, at best, caricatures.
Anybody who has read Maurice Robinson knows full well that he insists that a theory of textual transmission is essential not only to his view but to any text-critical endeavor. Based on his own reconstruction of that textual transmission through scribal history, he argues (convincingly to some, unconvincingly to others) that the Byzantine text is the only universal Greek text of the New Testament that ever existed. Reasoned Eclecticism, on the other hand, ends up preferring "a regionally localized minority texttype, only sporadically transmitted in history in contrast to the vast majority of Greek MSS consistently perpetuated over the centuries in the primary Greek-speaking region of the Eastern Mediterranean world (modern southern Italy, Greece, and Turkey)" (source).
Similarly, the Sturzian method is equally committed to recovering a transmissional history of the New Testament text. Did you know that? Dr. Sturz summarized his conclusions in a chart found on page 131 of his book The Byzantine Text-Type & New Testament Textual Criticism.
Clearly, this is no mere case of "nose-counting." It represents as much of a commitment to reasoned transmissionalism as does the Robinson-Pierpont approach. Put simply, researchers can no longer ignore the fact that Sturz himself considered his views as ultimately deriving from transmissional and historical considerations. If the extant documentary evidence for any reading enjoys wide geographical support from the second century onward, an assumption of preference for the more universal reading is a logical concomitant. As Bruce Metzger indicated on page 209 of the third edition of his book The Text of the New Testament, external evidence involves three major considerations (bold added):
1) The date of the witness.
2) The geographical distribution of the witnesses that agree in supporting a variant.
3) The genealogical relationship of texts and families of witnesses.
In short, if Sturz is correct, then there is no reason why all three of the traditional "text types" should not be considered to have at least second-century roots, especially if one agrees with E.C. Colwell and G. D. Kilpatrick that virtually ALL significant readings were in existence before the end of the second century. This is precisely why at the time of his death Harry Sturz was engaged in the editing of a Greek New Testament (The Second Century Greek New Testament) in which he was employing the two-against-one method that Drs. Robinson and Gurry so adamantly reject.
Of course, I realize that the usefulness of the term "text type" is being questioned by many today. That's why Pastor Green brought up the subject in his interview. For what it's worth, my own view about the term "text type" is summarized perfectly in a statement Dr. Robinson made in the above-mentioned interview at the ETC blog. When asked, "The current editors of the Nestle text have argued that our NT witnesses cannot be meaningfully grouped into text-types (Western, Alexandrian, etc.). Assuming you disagree with this assessment, how do you distinguish one text-type as over against another?" Dr. Robinson replied:
Contrary to the prevailing concepts currently expressed, I see no reason to abandon the basic texttype designations as providing a convenient grouping terminology for MSS that associate more closely with each other than with those that associate within other grouping situations. This does not mean that I view the concept as representing "recensions" per se -- a term that implies a formal revision process at some particular place and time; rather, I view texttypes in John G. Griffith's sense of "near-neighbor clusters," that is, MSS that by their agreement in a reasonable pattern of readings are recognized as somewhat but not entirely related to one another.
Sturz himself could have written that statement. Dr. Robinson adds:
I have no real difficulty in recognizing as texttypes either an "Alexandrian" (or "Egyptian," or whatever term might be preferred), a "Western" (even with limited Greek support, but bolstered by various Old Latin and Syrian sources), and even a "Caesarean" type of text, based upon a particular pattern of readings reflected in its respective clusterings.
These words, as I said, were written in 2015. Later, in a book published in 2023 after the 2022 Clearview Apologetics Conference (which Abidan Shah and I co-edited), Dr. Robinson wrote (p. 57):
The Sturzian method is further obviated by the current observation that the theory of texttypes associated with geographical location has generally been rejected, replaced by acknowledged textual "clusters" sharing certain patterns of readings to varying degree (even if still termed by the older names), putative geographic location no longer maintaining a central role.
As a Sturzian, I have no objections to continuing to refer to the text types by their "older names." But "clusters" works as well. I do hope, therefore, that those of us who believe that we are much closer to the words of God in the NKJV than in the ESV will pause before rejecting the traditional nomenclature.
Sheesh! This post is way too long! More on text types in the revision of my New Testament Textual Criticism. I am open to changing my mind on the subject. But until I'm convinced otherwise, I think I'll continue to advocate an approach that suggests that if a reading appears in the majority of centers of growth in the early church it should probably be considered more likely to be original than its counterparts.
The other day someone asked me if the ECM of Mark still places Mark 16:9-20 in double square brackets. Well, I checked, and sadly the answer is yes. Whereas 1,643 Greek manuscripts support the inclusion of these verses, only 3 lack them. Not to mention all the versional and patristic testimony in favor of the longer ending. Until this changes, I see no end to the continuing interlude in the field of New Testament textual criticism. The guild seemingly remains content with the predominantly Alexandrian-based reasoned eclectic method and its resultant UBS/NA/ECM texts. True, an occasional Byzantine reading is preferred, but not to the degree that would significantly change the Alexandrian-ness of the critical text.
Dwayne Green's latest livestream on the text of Acts 8:37 is a MUST SEE!
There are many things I could say about this fascinating discussion, but one of the first things you'll notice is how important and relevant in the discussion are the ancient versions (including the Armenian) and the ancient church fathers. So I decided to write this post to remind everyone who produces an edition of the Greek New Testament to PLEASE include in your apparatus the leading versions and fathers. If you do, I will thaw into a gratitude puddle.
Now, I will give credit to the ECM that many versions are listed. But hey, why not include the Armenian as well? I like the Armenian version because it is a very literal translation. It's also early. It dates back to the 5th century and was made from both Syriac and Greek texts. According to Bruce Metzger, Armenia was the first kingdom to accept Christianity as its official religion in the late 3rd century.
That's earlier than Constantine did! You may not also realize that Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, predates the founding of Rome. Amazing.
I hope one day to return to Armenia. It has an awesome Museum of Ancient Manuscripts, which I've had the privilege of visiting on three different trips to that country.
I obviously had to peruse their New Testament manuscripts. Whenever I see a textual variant in my Greek New Testament, I always like to see what the Armenian version reads. Interestingly enough, it frequently agrees with the Byzantine text. Below are major textual variants I've written about in such journals as New Testament Studies and Novum Testamentum.
The readings I argued for in those essays are given in black. Notice that only in one case does the Armenian go with the Critical Text. Oh sure, the Armenian version isn't as ancient as Coptic or the Old Latin ("Itala"), but it's still a very old translation. I hope one day its readings will be included in the ECM, but what I think probably doesn't matter very much.
By the way, I LOVED teaching in Armenia. No words can describe the rejoicing in my heart when students get excited about the study of God's word!
My class in Yerevan. Half of these students were from neighboring Iran.
Church peeps, let's try and stay away from the corporate mentality in the way we do church, okay? The church is not a corporation. So stop calling it an elder board. A corporation has a board of directors. But a church will have a body of elders. Stop distinguishing your "senior pastor" from your other elders. That's a distinction the New Testament never makes. A pastor is an elder and an elder is a pastor. Besides, the title "senior pastor" is reserved for Christ (1 Pet. 5:4). And how I wish we could get rid of the term "church." I love how Tyndale rendered ekklesia as "congregation." He was simply following the lead he found in Martin Luther's translation of the Bible into German, in which Luther avoided the term "Kirche," preferring instead "Gemeinde." The equivalent in English would be "community." You see, an ekklesia is a group of people that have come together and have something in common, as opposed to a group of people that have come together and have little to nothing in common (that's an ochlos, or "crowd"). In Germany, you can drive into, say, "Gemeinde Lörrach" (the municipality of Lörrach) and then attend "die Baptistengemeinde Lörrach" (the Baptist church of Lörrach) on Sunday. Beautiful!
And when we will ever stop referring to the pastorate as "the" ministry. Remember, those who served tables and those who taught the word in Acts 6 were both engaged in "ministry" (diakonia)!
I am 72 years old. I should be in my warm bed on a cold day like today, not shivering while running on a trail it took me over an hour to drive to. But, see, that's the point! We do these things because they get us out of our warm beds and into the crazy world all around us. That's exactly why I've signed up for another 32-mile ultra in December and why I got in a training run today. It forces me to be active and thus it prevents complacency and boredom.
I got in a 10-mile run today. I ran from downtown Farmville to the High Bridge, crossed it, then turned around.
Guess what? It's beginning to look like fall. This place will be knock-dead gorgeous in a few weeks once all the leaves have changed their colors.
One thing I love about training on a trail is that you can leave behind the gym rats, the car exhaust, and other distractions and clear your head. Race day is always a big crap shoot. You can train endlessly and on race day wake up to a torrential downpour or even a snowstorm. You have to have the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual fortitude to go that far. The will to run 67,000 steps. The guts to cover 164,000 feet. The stamina to be out on the course for up to 9 or 10 hours. Even with good weather, there aren't any guarantees. So you train and hope for the best.
The great thing about running is that there are always risks. Lots of unknowns. In other words: ADVENTURE. And that's exactly why we do it.
I'm thinking about doing another 50K ultramarathon trail race in December. It would be my fourth race at that distance (32 miles). I recall that before my first ultra someone told me, "Every time I always think I can't do this. But then I just start." That's kinda stuck with me. It is hard! And it hasn't gotten any easier. But by focusing on what you will have accomplished at the end, I've learned to enjoy the toughness more. Having a mantra can help. I sometimes use these:
"Remember, you paid to do this."
"This isn't something I have to do. It's something I get to do."
"The body can achieve what the mind believes."
"Don't think about it. Just do it."
"Don't worry about getting to the last mile. Think about getting to the next one."
Here's a final (weird) piece of advice. Pay attention to what your face is doing. Are you always grimacing? Try to relax it or even go for a slight smile during the hardest parts. You face doesn't just show your emotion. It creates it too.
I guess the point I'm rambling about is that consistency and patience are the biggest factors to seeing positive growth in your life. Find a style of exercise that you enjoy. Then just stay consistent with being active. One quote I like is, "It never gets easier. You just get better."
Today I wanted to bring a brief word of encouragement to those of you who might have experienced a significant loss in your life, be it a spouse, a child, a job, and the like. This is not an academic subject. One day things will happen to you that will cut your legs out from under you. As Paul writes in 2 Cor. 4:7, "We are like fragile clay jars" (NLT). That's all we are. I'm just as fragile today as when I lost Becky 11 years ago. I'm just as human as when we first got her diagnosis. I'm just as given to discouragement now as I was then. By the grace of God I've stayed on my feet, but there've been times when I wondered if I could stay the course. Why? Because I'm a clay jar. Clay jars make it clear to all that their power "is from God, not from ourselves." Thus Paul adds, "We are hard pressed on every side but not completely cornered or without room for movement, embattled but never driven to surrender, bewildered but not at our wit's end, at a loss but never totally at a loss, hounded by the foe but not left to his mercy, knocked to the ground but not permanently grounded." That's life. That will happen. And in the midst of it all, God will still use us in all our brokenness.
So let people see the cracks in your life. Let them see the pain. In the midst of your loss and grief, just keep your equilibrium. Don't give in to despair. You say, "I've come to the end of my strength." That's a good thing. God's sovereignty allows us to believe that he's bigger than our loss and will make our lives better because of it.
After a long day of work in Wake Forest I come home to this? Nothing could be better.
They work SO HARD. Farming is such difficult work. But it's good work. It puts you to bed with a good tired, if you know what I mean. It brings me indescribable joy.
Guess what I'm going to do some day? Grow old. Wait a minute. To my grandkids I'm not just old. I'm VERY old. Yes, I'm almost three-quarters of a century old. But my heart feels about 30.
Getting older has its downsides for sure. But here's one thing I've really enjoyed about aging. And that is that I care much less about what others think about me. I am comfortable in my own skin. It wasn't always like this. I used to have really thin skin. What you thought about me MATTERED. No longer. I don't say this disrespectfully. But it just doesn't. I am less and less concerned about what people think and more and more concerned about living the life that I think pleases the Lord. Friend, it's about living YOUR life (within reason, of course).
"Would you be happy for the rest of your life doing anything but teaching?"
I ask that question often to students who are seeking my counsel about going on for their doctorate to become a full-time professor of New Testament and Greek.
I've loved all 48 years that I've served the Lord as a teacher. It's like I was made for this. The 3 years I studied in Basel were the best years of my life. My profs believed in me. They set an example of what a great teacher looked like. I've never lived up to it. But it's been a great ride.
What has God created you to do and to be? When you find out what that is, pursue it with all your might.
Today's sermon at church from Daniel 4 on the danger of pride really hit home. And it was delivered with such great power. When I listen to a piece of music, if I'm not pleasantly surprised within the first 8 bars, I've stopped listening. I've switched off. Likewise, a great sermon will always speak into your heart in the first 5 minutes. This one did. It left me with so much to think about.
This afternoon I plan on continuing my work outdoors since the weather is so lovely. In so many ways I consider myself to be most blessed among men. I thought deeply about that this past week. Not only about the things that God has blessed me with, but about the things in my life he has withheld or taken away from me. I rehearsed in my mind all the sincere prayer requests I offered him to which he answered no. Looking back, I realize that he had a good purpose for me in all of these experiences. I'm a better man because of them.
With Thanksgiving only a month away, I've decided to do something I've never done before. Beginning today, I will take some time during my morning Bible study to list ways God has blessed me in 2024. I am going to give thanks not only for what he provided but also for what he withheld. Beginning today, I plan to hit the pause button each morning and allow myself to remember the blessings of the past 10 months. He's forgiven me every sin I committed as I confessed it -- EVERY one. He granted me many occasions of fun and laughter with family and friends. He gave me the joy of wave riding and weight lifting and classroom teaching. He saw me through challenges with my eye and gave me such wonderful doctors and nurses. He was always there when I experienced loneliness, dark days, and sleepless nights. He reminded me over and over again that the God I love has experienced pain and therefore understands my suffering. In Jesus I've seen God's tears and witnessed the power of his suffering. I have found comfort knowing that no matter where I go or what I do I will find him there.
In the end, I don't think I'll ever be able to thank him enough. His goodness transcends the mind's capacity to fathom it. Still, I want to say thank you to him, in small ways at least. I want to spend the rest of the year finding my way back to the Father's arms, where I can listen to his Spirit tell the story of Christ.
Each of us who shares the loss of a spouse has a similar wound. Each of us is left to figure out what our healing and moving forward look like. On Nov. 2, I'll be 11 years out. If your loss is more recent, I assure you you'll be okay. Most of us hit that "okay" crossroads at a year. That's the "normal" time frame for picking up the major pieces and making something new for yourself, whatever that may look like. Some manage to do it sooner, others later. You can have a life, but it's not going to be the life you planned before. It's going to be something completely different.
Be sure to make both short-term and long-term goals for yourself. Then check in on yourself from time to time. You will be amazed at how much positive change you've made. But you have to keep at it. Be gentle with yourself. It seems like an impossible task. There's a massive hole in your existence. In some ways I'm still trying to find my equilibrium. Everything is different. Everything is quiet. You don't ever have to forget about your spouse, but I hope that you can at some point forget about the pain. Let him or her be a part of your thoughts and memories. Keep your family close no matter how much you feel alone. On Nov. 3 I'll be celebrating Becky's life by going to the North Carolina symphony. They will be performing a piece that Becky and I loved -- Horst's The Planets. My daughter will fly in from Alabama to join me. Nothing soothes the soul like music. It will be a wonderful time. We'll also go out for Ethiopian food. We will triumph because we are numbered among millions of people who in suffering nevertheless believed that God is God.
Brokenness and love will be joined at the hip. We will find healing in community and in the God who sustains community for broken people like me.
This morning the weather continues to be ideal. I plan on working outdoors all afternoon. Earlier I had a great workout at the gym. As you can see, it went by fast.
Prior to that I began to pour over my copy of the Editio Critica Maior of the Gospel According to Mark. I spent 2 hours in it today and 2 hours yesterday morning.
And I can tell you: I am VERY impressed. I chose Mark because I've taught this book about 15 times in my career. I absolutely love this Gospel, not least because it poses many interesting questions about its text.
The way the field of textual criticism is evolving is interesting. The ECM of Mark represents the best in modern academic scholarship in that it employs the latest method of textual criticism (CBGM). If you're a Sturzian like me (or, for that matter, a Byzantine prioritist), your approach to textual criticism will differ from the one used here, but there is still much to be grateful for. Already I have about 3 pages of notes I want to share with you based on my preliminary reading of ECM/Mark. For example, the editors are to be congratulated for removing the square brackets around the words "son of God" in Mark 1:1. It's about time! Let me assure you, there are many other improvements over the NA28 as well.
ECM/Mark comes in three volumes. The second contains various supplementary materials. The third volume, which I found to be most interesting, presents a number of helpful studies that shed light on the methodology used in ECM/Mark. The first of these essays, by Klaus Wachtel (one of the editors), is by the far the most important. It's called "Notes on the Text of Mark." I highly recommend that you read it if you're at all curious as to how the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method has been used in the production of the ECM. Wachtel, of course, wants to dispense with the idea of "text types" altogether -- even the use of the expression "Byzantine text." It's obvious that this point of view represents a major departure from more traditional approaches to New Testament textual criticism (as espoused, say, by Bruce Metzger).
Let's get practical. How you approach the text of the New Testament will color everything you do when you try to resolve a variant. Pastors especially need to be aware of the current debate over text types because it's their job to prepare God's people for works of service by their devotion to "prayer and the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). May I again point out something obvious? Prayer is to be the first priority. Never begin to do any kind of scriptural study without pausing and asking God to help and guide your studies. But in addition to prayer, the word of God alone remains our guide for life and godliness. This includes how we approach places of textual variation in our New Testament. Our dedication to the word of God is not just rooted in the reading of it. Addressing error is also part of the pursuit of unity in the church. Reasoned Eclecticism and Byzantine Priority both can't be right. But they can both be wrong. Ditto for Sturz's view. So we need to stay on our knees. Prayer is the means by which God grants power and insight to those who rely on him. Reading ECM/Mark is giving me something I greatly lacked: a deeper insight into how the modern guild approaches the text. Rather than ignore it, I need to become conversant in it. In the body of Christ, we need each other's encouragement, wisdom, example, and accountability. I seldom open my Greek New Testament without trying to picture myself as a believer in the first two centuries of the church as he encountered the New Testament in the copy available to him. He read the New Testament because it was Scripture. And so should we today. However, let me quickly add that the canon isn't closed on textual criticism. The discipline continues to change and grow even though the truth of God's word never changes.
If you surf and want to visit Oahu in the summer, you'll definitely want to catch a few waves at Waikiki. You may have heard that some of the locals there can be a bit "territorial." It's true. So here's some advice from somehow who grew up surfing in Waikiki.
The whole southwest side of the island is VERY local, and the locals often feel they deserve the waves all to themselves. However, if you're respectful, no one is going to hassle you. You will definitely have to give up a few waves and wait your turn before moving up in the lineup. As long as you give some extra face to the locals you'll be alright. If you do make a mistake and drop in on someone, a sincere apology is usually all that's needed to make amends. I surf there every time I go to Hawaii (yearly). Even though I'm a kamaaina, I still have to give up some waves. No problem. Just keep spreading the aloha and take it as it comes. Last June a local pushed me in the lineup. I didn't take it personally. The guy was probably just unloading his personal problems on others. This happened at Queens. If you don't mind really shallow water, you can just paddle over to Publics. People there are much more chill. I think the biggest thing to keep in mind no matter what spot you go to is to mind your Ps and Qs and respect your fellow surfers.
Waikiki is a fabulous place to surf, even if you're a beginner. Don't be afraid to give it a try the next time you're vacationing in Paradise.
Unless the waves are over 5 feet, you'll definitely need a longboard!
I can't wait to get back to Greek class on Monday after our Fall Break is over. The class has been translating from the Greek New Testament. Obviously a great number of interpretive decisions, including some pretty weighty theological ones, can be made on the basis of words, phrases, clauses, and single verses. If you're going to navigate the lexicographical issues on the table here, it's necessary to have a pretty good working knowledge of the language. You also need to situate various constructions in the context of larger syntactical tendencies. Knowing Greek is simply one less layer of mediation between you and the New Testament author. If you're also working on another language (say, German), you can get a New Testament with Greek on one side and German on the other and then use the Greek to work on the German and vice versa. Translations are inevitable, but it's regrettable when we have to rely too much on them. Of course, you have to have a realistic expectation of what you're going to get out of the course. In my opinion, a little goes a long way in helping you do your own research, but learning to read the New Testament in Greek fluently is going to take a lot more time and diligence.
So is the juice worth the squeeze? Judge for yourself. Only you can decide what you wish to do with your intellectual faculties. You absolutely should embrace the Scriptures as often as you can and in as many ways as you can. Even if by the end of the class you're not able to read your Greek New Testament even with the use of helps, it will still have value in giving you the ability to ask the right questions of the text. And even a fairly rudimentary knowledge of Greek will help in reading the commentaries.
Suffice it to say that time learning a foreign language (any language) is never time wasted!
Here are few random pics and vids from today's run.
I picked up running about 4 years after my wife died. For some reason I've stuck with it. It's two things for me: exploration and fitness. I can use my legs to transport myself to beautiful places that I would otherwise never see. Marathoning got me to St. George, UT and Mesa, AZ. I was able to visit the great city of Cincinnati. Then came Baltimore and Dallas and Fort Worth and Chicago. I also use this exercise to keep me healthy. It's wonderful having a better understanding of my own body, its needs, and how I should be respecting it.
For something as simple as just moving your feet, running has really taught me a lot about life, perseverance, and health. And because of that it has greatly improved my life. It's the few minutes I have to myself uninterrupted by the distractions of my phone, work, and everything else going on around me. It's just my feet hitting the ground and realizing there's a whole world out there that I have to discover.
Even though I may take the same route time after time, the way the air smells or the wind hits me is different every time. And it's an exercise in gratitude. I am grateful to God for every step I am able to take on my run.
My 15-year old grandson jamming. He made his own banjo from scratch.
Oh my! Right in my heart!
And here are two of my Alabama grandsons.
Last Saturday their band had a competition in Talladega. They got "Best in Bands."
So proud of you two!
Music adds so much to life, doesn't it? It's always played a huge role in our family. Music is one of the things that makes me truly happy. I listen to it all day long.
Pass it on from generation to generation. It's a great gift.
Someone asked me recently why I'm studying Spanish. I'm not exactly sure. Anyway, who says that learning a language has to be useful? The fact that you enjoy doing it should be enough. I'm learning Hawaiian, and it's not even useful in Hawaii because so few speak it. Enjoyment has its own value. Of course, it's a nice bonus if the language you're learning happens to be useful to know. That's why I encourage people to study Spanish rather than German, even though I love the latter language and am fluent in it. The fact is, in the U.S. you'll get a lot more use out of learning Spanish than you would German.
Even if you live in rural America you'll quickly see the utility of learning Spanish. I can now communicate with Spanish speakers in my area, not fluently of course, but adequately. The people I meet usually really appreciate my efforts because it's not the norm for a non-Latino to bother learning Spanish. Aside from that, I just like the way Spanish sounds. I also find it a useful language in terms of New Testament studies since there's a great revival of learning in Spain these days when it comes to the New Testament. I fell in love with Spain years ago when I was invited by the Greek Department at the University of Madrid to give a lecture on John's Gospel during a summer school session on the Costa del Sol. I had the audacity to give it in Spanish. (You can read it here in case you're interested.) The students loved it. At that time I was living in a very Latino-populated city (Los Angeles). I don't know where you live, but where I live (in Southern Virginia) there are tons of opportunities to interact with Spanish speakers. German is a great language, but the only chance I get to speak it nowadays is when I run into an Amish farmer at Bojangles. I never regret having mastered it. But for most of us, there just isn't any good reason to study it.
For some, watching sports is seen as a huge waste of time. Sports is "a singular example of mental perversion, an absurd and immoral custom .... From every aspect it's bad," wrote George Howard, a 20th century sociologist.
I agree. Partly.
Sports are not an unmitigated good. The ugly side of sports rears its ugly head time and again. This includes NFL football. Yet millions of us are drawn to it every weekend at least partly because of the passion, skill, and bravery it takes to play the game. The apostle Paul constantly borrowed imagery from the games of his day.
He expects his readers to run the race so as to receive the prize. He applies the illustrations to himself and says that he runs looking intently at the goal. And like every athlete, he disciplines himself so that he won't be disqualified.
It seems that Paul enjoyed Christian freedom when it came to sports. I suppose we can too.
