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| Norma A. Boeckler |
Hi Dr. Jackson,
The Greek class on Romans is great. I'm back to proficient in the language. I use for sermon prep starting with Gospel, then Epistle, and then the LXX for the Old Testament in that order, depending on the amount of time I have. Not to mention Bible study prep. But the Romans class is something I look forward to each week. Thanks. Also, I usually go on a long walk on Sunday afternoons after preaching, teaching, and some visits. I listen to your Sunday service on that walk. Thanks for that too.
Blessings to you and Chris,
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GJ - I look forward to the class, just as much as the students do. After all, it was our congregation's attorney, Glen Kotten, who asked me to teach it. Our volunteer editor for Luther's Sermons, asked me to offer more in Greek, so I picked Romans as the follow-up.
The idea is simple - we learn a language by hearing it and reading it. No one taught me the fine points of English grammar until high school, but we learned grammar intensively in high school Latin and college Greek.
Roland Bainton taught me the basic method, which is reading the Gospel of John in the language to be learned. That actually works for Greek too - easy vocabulary, easy grammar.
Many pastors are merely taught to recognize and look up one Greek word at a time. That is so limiting for Biblical studies that the schools involved should be sued for negligence.
I have taught writing to hundreds of students. The ones who had no trouble with grammar were the readers. If they read all the time, they know instinctively what is correct.
Naming the grammar rules is guaranteed annual income for language teachers, but it fails to recognize one thing. I believe Krauth pointed it out. A shelf of literature books will teach grammar, but a shelf of grammar books will not teach anyone how to write.
So the Romans class is mostly English, using the Greek text. We are moving slowly.
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| Luther's Sermons teach more theology and more Biblical knowledge than entire faculties. Perhaps that is why the Lutheran seminaries despise Luther - he gets in the way of their nefarious agenda. Many seminaries - one agenda. |
