Started My Journey To Learning Greek

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by rdp

*The main thing is remaining consistent & making up your mind that quitting is not an option (trust me, this temptation will come when you get into verb forms, participles, etc.). I completed 2 full university semesters of Koine' Greek (which is different than modern Greek) with a 95% in 7 weeks this year - equivalent to approximately 6 credit hours. But, I was averaging 4 hours per night in an on-line class .


*The paradigms are overwhelming - esp., for example, when many noun forms decline identically (e.g., 2nd declension neuter singular nominative & accusative)! Then, there are times that Greek just goes off on it's own erratic behavior...after you've drilled your mind to learn how they act in the paradigms !


*My professor has been both studying & teaching Greek on the university level for over 10 years now & he told me that he still has to use his paradigm charts at times!


*Greek is inherently layered. That is, it's impossible to go to the next level if you don't have a firm grasp on the levels behind you (e.g., you'll never grasp participles if you don't understand noun forms & the functions they play in syntax). Take it slow & don't try to absorb too much at one time.


*Learning Greek will greatly increase your understanding of the original intents of the various biblical authors...as well as your faith! Also, you're not at the mercy of others - or even translations - who proclaim, "The Greek says___________!" (Be prepared to be shacked at the ignorance of many preachers who make claims about the Greek.)


*Funny thing is, you'll even catch Mounce making a few errors as you progress in your understanding (no professor or grammarian is flawless). I also took several classes from him on-line prior to taking full-force university Greek. I have quotes from Mounce's dictionary where he specifically misidentifies the adjectives translated "one" in more than one instance.


*Finally, learning Greek-proper greatly increased my confidence in the Oneness messages of (i) the Godhead (my professor made some staggering confessions when not attending to fighting us Oneness), (ii) soteriology, (iii) external holiness (I started to share many lexical quotes & grammatical facts on the "uncut hair" thread, but figured it would be an absolute waste of time on here), etc.


*I try to read a little bit of Greek each day inasmuch as it's a truism that, "if you don't use it, you lose it!" Also, if I were you I would join the B-Greek Forum (see here: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/). It's run by Greek specialists who are extremely technical in the language, the LXX, Bible tools software, etc.


*A word of warning, if they (i.e., the B-Greek moderators) even suspect that you're pushing a doctrinal discussion they will not approve your comments. You must keep your comments/questions to the finer nuances of Greek text itself.


*Regarding Greek tools & supplements, personally, I use Olive Tree since I get the same academical works that are on Accordance, Logos, etc. for a fraction of the price. I price match them very often & find Olive Tree to be the hands-down cheapest of Bible softwares (Olive Tree sends out weekly sales deals)....& it also synchronizes with the rest of my library when I pull up a word, form, etc. (just like Accordance, Logos, etc.).


*Hope this helps a wee-bit...I could discuss the Greek language all day! God Bless.

Have you used Accordance?