Λόγος
In the beginning was the λόγος and the λόγος was together with the God, and God was the λόγος. This same λόγος was in the beginning together with the God. All things through him came to be, and without him came to be not one thing. What came to be in him was life, and […]
Thoughts on Galatians (Part II)
Galatians 5:1 as I would translate it reads, “For the sake of freedom, Christ freed us. Stand therefore and do not again let yourselves become entangled by the yoke of slavery.” The imperative “Stand” is they key here. Action on our parts is required to retain the freedom Christ gave us for the sake of […]
Thoughts on Galatians (Part I)
Today many religious institutions are promoting the same kind of witchcraft today. Things like the Prosperity Gospel, the growing movement to promote Centering or Contemplative Prayer , and the belief that simply saying “The Sinner’s Prayer” is assurance of salivation are just some examples of the other gospels about which Paul warned…
Poetry
Recently I spent a few days looking into a section of the first chapter of Luke called the Magnificat or the Song of Mary. I’ve always wondered exactly what features of a Greek New Testament passage cause it to be considered verse instead of prose. One thing I had already discovered was that it was not the […]
Fulfillment
In the second chapter of Luke the accounts of Simon and Anna at the dedication of Jesus are often seen with the heading “The Prophecy of…” attached to them. I think the real purpose of the author was not to record prophecy but to illustrate that Jesus, even as an infant, was the means by which […]
Dogma
And it came to pass in those days a δόγμα (dog-ma) went out from Caesar Augustus. Luke 2:1 Dogma, according to Webster, is “something held as an established opinion especially : a definite authoritative tenet.” It wasn’t an opinion or a tenet that went out from Augustus, of course. It was a demand. Anyone who did not compile was in peril […]
One Virtue of the Internet
While reading the Gospel of Luke in Greek I came upon the passage where Joseph and Mary go to the temple to offer the sacrifice required for the firstborn: a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. τρυγόνων (tru-gon), the word for turtledove was new to me, used nowhere else in the New Testament. […]
Blue Jays and Pregnant Women
Since I came to a basic understanding of the classical languages, I’ve also become interested in the Linnaean (some say Scientific) names of birds. A Blue Jay crashed our feeder today, scattering the Passer Domesticii (Sparrows of the House). I’d never learned his Linnaean anme so I looked up and found it is Cyanocitta cristata. Kύανος (ku-an-os) is ancient Greek for […]
Wishing to Want
θέλω (the-lo) was one of the first Greek words I learned. This came to pass because a well-meaning Greek friend (upon learning that I was studying Attic Greek) told me that the ancient language was too hard to learn so I should start with Modern Greek. He presented me with this book: Greek Made Easy by […]
Fulfillment
My Greek mentor once told me he was initially inspired to study the language because some pretentious British author ended a novel with the words: Τὸ Tἐλος (to tel-os). As you might imagine this means, “The End” in ancient Greek. My mentor guessed that was the meaning but he took the time to look it up. […]