Thelogical Expedition
A Further update for ya'll (2nd person plural): Greek continues to destroy what little sanity I had left. I have spent what few minutes of remaining time getting the house sold/ bought. We are trying to take advantage of a down payment gifting program which is a bit hard to explain but is completely legit. I have made the application and am waiting for word. This would provide a few thousand bucks for the first year at the expense of a few extra on the mortgage each month. It makes sense to me and we're just trying to get everyone on board. The most revealing aspect about Greek grammar is not learning the natural development of the Greek language but rather how the text and modern interpretation don't always tell the whole story. Prof. Gieschen likes to take us on "theological expeditions" (he even wears his holy land dig hat) to demonstrate the "pay off" for these 10 weeks of near torture. For the benefit of all, I will briefly highlight some of them. In some cases these vary radically from my previous understanding of the text. In most cases I have forgotten the entire gist of the discussion but to give you a taste, follow.... Ex. A - In Galations 4:4-7, the specific use of male gender "sons" which has been replaced with children in some translations is appropriate. Otherwise the traditional understanding of inheritance described in verse 7 would loose its meaning. (Of course Dr. Gieschen went into more lengthy detail which I cannot remember!) Ex. B - The greek for "glory" (sorry no greek, not a font installed yet) is used to describe the full brilliance of God in heaven. We we speak of the Glory of Christ it has come in the form of Christ on the cross only. The connection is missing in my mind but that is the gist of it. Ex C. - 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 continuing - A significant discussion happened in relation to "spiritual gifts". The author is addressing love so prominently to follow up in pointing in subsequent verses how gifts of tongues or prophecy are insignificant to the gift of love. We talked at length about "spiritual gift inventories" (never heard of) and their bogus nature. Ex. D - Logos, used in the new testament "The Word" is a proper name referring to the God of the Old Testament. The Word is mentioned in the Old Testament in reference to dwelling in the tabernacle during the day (God). "The Word made flesh" was of special significance to the Jews as they recognized the name of God from the OT and to the Gentiles there wasn't anything more revolting for God to become than flesh. The Greco-Roman world viewed the flesh as a prison to escape. Ex E. - Finally, when we sing "Holy, Holy. Holy" in our liturgy we are singing with the disciples, all saints, and the angels of heaven. We are singing in unison or in communion with them. We could just leave this bit out and forget to join in with angels of heaven... I don't think so. Well that isn't too bad from memory? Oh well... In any case, he tries to make it more interesting than "how do I find the loo?" Al-righty, back to studying. I hope the closing goes well tomorrow. My lawyer is doing all the work. I get a nice fat check on Friday. Tentative move in date is July 9th using seminary friends (motivated by beer and pizza.) That is, if this whole down payment thing works out! Chris
