One thing I've been thinking about is the need some of us have to be challenged to do spade work. Not everyone is equally skillful in the languages. Accountability and encouragement along these lines goes a long way.
I was reminded of the Exegetical Society organized by a group of students at Edinburgh University on November 19, 1831. This was a student society which met together for the study of the Bible, exercise in the Septuagint Greek and Hebrew original, and for prayer. The original group included Horatius and Andrew Bonar, William Laughton, Thomas Brown, Henry Moncreiff, William Wilson, John Thomson, Walter Wood, John Millar, Robert Hamilton, John Burne, Patrick Borrowman, Alex. Somerville, and Robert Murray M'Cheyne. You can view a photo of an agreement drawn up by Robert Murray M'Cheyne in 1838 here. The agreement reads as follows:We the undersigned members of the Exegetical Society hereby declare our intention to read during the course of next year the Books of Isaiah and Jeremiah or one or the other of them in Hebrew - and one of the books of the New Testament in Greek.
Edinburgh
24. May 1838.
Henry Moncreiff
Andrew A. Bonar
Rob Kinnear
Thomas Brown
Walter Wood
John Thornton
Alexander Somerville
George Smeaton
Robert Murray M'Cheyne
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Note: I found the picture over at the Logos blog. I can't take any credit for it but thought it fit well with the subject at hand. Please pay them a visit. If you don't have the Libronix software package you may want to give it some thought. They offer a lot of language tools, not to mention tons of commentaries, theological works, and reference works to add on.
Something to think about: I wonder if a way to do that today would be to have an agreement to go through a beginner's text, like Mounce for Greek, on a particular schedule, and hold each other accountable for that?
ReplyDeleteOne of my goals is to learn enough to opt out of elementary Greek in seminary, and I realize learning a language is often facilitated better by interaction with others. In this particular instance it would also be an opportunity to encourage one another to learn and maintain a working knowledge of the languages so that we can be better students of God's Word so that we can better minister to His people.
Doug,
ReplyDeleteI think that this would be a great idea for a group of those interested in learning Greek and for those interested in a refresher.
I've been looking through my copy of Mounce's BBG this evening and like the layout. I could benefit from reading through this, using it as a refresher. I'm sure that I'll relearn much that I've forgotten. I wonder if there are others who would benefit from a study group like this. Have you begun reading Mounce?
Jason,
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since I looked at my Mounce, but I think it would be good to dust it off and go through it. I'd be interested in some kind of every-two-week or monthly accountability if another guy or group of guys is interested. I have had some teaching from Machen, but we went all the way through it having only mastered the first few chapters (so I was drowned!).
Doug