Acts20.com

Yesterday I had the privilege of being present at the installation of a new pastor on our district. He is a great young man with a wonderful spirit. His new congregation seems so excited to have him and I'm happy for him. I wish him nothing but the best. I found the service somewhat strange however. He preached from the KJV (I assume that's his preference and that's ok!) but he spent half of the time explaining what the Olde English meant in modern terms. Furthermore, he referred to about a dozen Greek words during the sermon. Obviously the autographs were written in Hebrew and Greek and I can appreciate that. But I found him falling into exegetical fallacies that are common with those who only have a cursory knowledge of Hebrew/Greek.

Ah Strong's Concordance. ah 1 ah 2 ah 3 Ah 3 greek words

Thankfully he didn't descend into the spirit of Python or some other

In the pew, when I could hear well, it sometimes bothered me to be overwhelmed by the messenger who seemed to be 'changing' the meaning from what 'we' were taught to believe.Maybe today the messenger feels he has a more educated audience, since he is probably educated, and they can handle the revelations of the 'original Greek'.Many pastors can use the Word effectively, but us old folk get skeered when a preacher has the audacity to say, 'BUT WHAT IT REALLY MEANS IS THIS'.Folks don't realize us old folk know King James could write what he meant! It was King James who wrote it, right? I do get the point, and yes IMHO there can be too much Greek in many settings. Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/

I can't help thinking of Jerry Clower's description, educated beyond his intelligence. I remember hearing a guy appealing to Strong's for the definition of one or something like that in a passage such as every ONE that doeth evil. It made for some interesting, though not edifying, gymnastics.

The big fallacy of Greek/Hebrew...

Consider that our translations of the Bible were done by SCHOLARS who had intimate understanding of the Biblical languages.I consider it a FARCE to make students take Greek or Hebrew for Bible Studies UNLESS they intend to become a doctor in linguistics/languages, etc.Consider this too obvious scenario.... A minister who has two semesters of Greek gets up and has something to say about the translation of the Bible. He is basing this on his meager education in the languages, despite the translation having been rendered by lifetime experts in the field. So why take Greek? Do we not trust the translators? And if we don't, wouldn't we need Greek EXPERTS to take that on, and no those with only a cursory understanding of the language? Here's the deal, if you're going to contest the translation or provide some other understanding of the Greek, then you should be a Greek EXPERT...and not just someone with minimal skills in Greek.Of course, that has never stopped colleges/universities from requiring this cursory understanding. After all, hope springs eternal that some first year Greek student will find some stunning mistake in the KJV that will forever change our understanding and doctrine.

You make some good points Aaron. I'm one of those you speak of that has a few years of Hebrew and Greek under my belt but I am by no means a scholar. Having said that, I am thankful for the knowledge I do have and believe it has enriched my study of the scriptures. Much like the 4 semesters of Spanish helped me get the gist of a conversation in Spanish but makes me far from an expert in the language!!

Please know that I am NOT denigrating your accomplishment. Nor am I suggesting that knowing Greek is not worthwhile.

Did he have Moses interceding for Israel in tongues? Perry said ats why the dash is in exodus 32:32