Why Greek?

[Verity]

Today my 5th grader and I were watching our Primer A dvd for Latin for Children together for the first time. I think he was enjoying that the other two boys were outside while we did this together and he commented that he would like to learn Greek as well. I am guessing this is strongly related to the fact that he is reading Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series but I was glad to hear that he was interested in just about anything academic.

 

I mentioned this off-hand to my mom at dinner (she lives with us) and she scoffed at the idea and asked why anyone would bother to learn Greek. She could just barely understand why I was pursuing Latin (root words and connection to romance languages) but learning Greek seemed like a total waste of time.

 

I responded that learning any language was a good mental discipline and also he would be able to read some classic literature (the Bible, the Aeneid for instance) in the original text and not rely on someone else's translation. She wasn't convinced.

 

Any other good arguments out there for learning Greek? Latin was an easier sell - I'm curious about what the Hive thinks on this.

[Carol in Cal.]

Also, in general, although I don't know Greek my pastor has convinced me that reading the New Testament in Greek makes it far richer. Apparently the nuances of the various words for things that are common in English, and the various tenses that are mushed together in English make for a far more precise understanding of God's Word.

[Donna T.]

I like this explanation from The Institute of Biblical Greek.

 

As Christians we testify that our Holy Scriptures are our only rule of faith and the only foundation upon which we may construct a true education. All else is shifting sand. Unfortunately, many Christians only learn to read the Bible secondhand from varying translations. Our online classes offer a unique program to equip you to understand the New Testament firsthand, in the language in which it was written. Learning Biblical Greek will establish the solid foundation for your Christian education.

 

In addition to enabling Christians to read the actual words of the New Testament, learning Greek provides an essential element of a broader classical education. The Greek language of the classical age (roughly speaking, from Homer to Alexander the Great, or about the eighth to the fourth centuries B.C.) gave to western civilization the great myths, fables, plays, prose and poetic forms, philosophies, scientific and medical studies, political ideas, and histories which have informed our culture beyond calculation. Think of the Trojan War, the tragedy of Oedipus, Socrates' dialogues, Plato's philosophy, Aristotle's science, and Plutarch's biographies. The very similar Greek of the Hellenistic age (Alexander to Constantine, or about 330 B.C. to A.D. 330) was the language of an equally wide variety of literature, including especially the writings of the New Testament and Church fathers. Greek again became part of the common education in the western world from the Renaissance onward until less than a hundred years ago. A student of Greek will have direct access to the great literature of the ancient and early Christian world unimpeded by translations.

 

"I have become convinced that of all that human language has produced truly and simply beautiful, I knew nothing before I learned Greek...Without a knowledge of Greek there is no education." --Leo Tolstoy

 

"Learn Greek; it is the language of wisdom." --George Bernard Shaw

 

 

We're studying Koine Greek for those reasons that are stated above.

 

Also, my husband and I believe that the Greek New Testament, the Textus Receptus, is the Word of God (with the Hebrew texts that make up the OT). We believe it is the incorruptible seed that the Bible refers to.

 

1 Peter 1:23 (KJV)

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

 

We love the English Bibles that have been translated from the TR and we think they are trustworthy, but there is no doubt that understanding Greek would help our minds to feed on the nuances of meaning with a depth that just is not possible in the English language. Honestly, we'll never get there in our lifetimes but we want to put our children on that road. Perhaps their children will be the ones to have the ability to read & understand the Bible in a way that we doubt we'll ever be able to. It's just one of many things that we desire to give to them to help them along in their Christian faith. And, we believe both will eventually attend Bible colleges when they leave our homeschool and once there, they will definately have to pursue Biblical Greek.

 

Plus, they think it is fun and interesting because it's different. They are young enough that we can take breaks when it gets hard!

Edited September 1, 2009 by Donna T.

[dragons in the flower bed]

How about, "Oh, that's like asking why chocolate cake, or why swimming at the beach! Because learning is so much fun and Greek is hard, which makes it even more fun."