When I arrived in Basel in 1980, nobody at the University asked me if I knew German. They could immediately deduce that from the way I talked. With Latin -- well, that was another story. I had taught myself Latin before arriving in Switzerland. I knew that any self-respecting New Testament teacher would need to acquire a good working knowledge of that tongue. Latin is actually not all that hard, not when you already know ancient Greek. After all, even drunks in Rome in the first century could speak fluent Latin. As I saw it, the whole goal of learning Latin was to be able to become fluent enough to read texts direct from the page with no translation.
After 50 years of teaching and learning some 6 languages, Latin was the easiest for me. I love the syntax. I love the sentence structure. I love the conjugations and declensions. If you already know ancient Greek, Latin is not difficult to learn at all. There is not a day that goes by when I do not consult the Vulgate. Latin isn't dead. It's immortal. That said, I don't believe that students should be studying Virgil or the Aeneid as one of their first texts. I think there's actually more joy (and benefit) in reading Augustine or Tertullian or Jerome. So yes, I put a high premium on studying Ecclesiastical Latin instead of Classical Latin. You want to read the Vulgate and Augustine, not Cicero.
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| John 1:1 in the Latin Vulgate. How beautiful! |
Of course, if you know Latin, it is easier to learn Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. So pick up an Ecclesiastical Latin grammar today and start learning. No tongue is easy to master, but again, if you've had Greek, Latin will not be too difficult.
P.S. Here's the textbook you want:
