Third semester Greek is a challenging place to be for our seminary students. Many of these folks are doing well just to hang on to what they learned back in Greek 1-2. Learning intermediate grammar finds our students negotiating a sharp turn deep in the tunnel of language acquisition. The proverbial light at the end of this tunnelwhere knowledge of Greek pays significant exegetical dividendsgets almost snuffed out for a season by Wallaces thirty-some categories of the genitive case.
Students often ask me about a saying from Jesus Sermon on the Mount: if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness (Matthew 6:22-23). Its an interesting saying to study, because it requires us to look carefully at the context, at the Old Testament background, and at some unusual Greek and Hebrew idioms. More importantly, once the passage is understood clearly, it illuminates a key kingdom principle.
Dont gimme no theology. Just gimme the Bible! Ever heard someone say that? Well, at times theology comes in handy. That might sound like a no-brainer coming from a pastor/seminary professor, but as a historian I much prefer interpreting a biblical passage in its historical and literary context (my task as a New Testament scholar) to systematizing various portions of Scripture around a single theological truth (the task of a theologian).
51勛圖窪蹋