April 22, 2008...5:17 am
In the beginning was the Word…
This is how the seminary experience begins for most Lutherans who hope to one day become ordained ministers. Although the method and curriculum for learning New Testament Greek may vary from one seminary to another, Greek proficiency is a requirement for ordination, and the first academic hurdle that must be cleared. In this instance, the Summer Greek program serves as somewhat of a boot camp for pastors.
At LTSS, Summer Greek is an eight week immersion into the Koine Greek language of the New Testament. Five days a week students spend at the very least six hours in classroom instruction, and another eight to ten hours in individual study. Learning how to translate God’s word as written in the original manuscripts of the New Testament canon takes time and patience. The only study aids allowed are classroom notes and a small Greek to English lexicon with only the most basic of entries. Other seminaries allow students to use computer aids such as Bible Works for translations. Not so at LTSS. Such programs and study aids are forbidden until after the student passes the final comprehensive exam.
Like most of my classmates, I spent hours upon hours translating Bible verses and studying flash cards for the daily quizzes and weekly exams. At first it came rather quickly to me, but after a few weeks I began to appreciate those who translated the text for the church so many years before. Before long I was up to my ears in parsing verb tenses and genitive absolutes. If ever there was a first person middle passive, it was me!
The other aspect of the Summer Greek program is that it is where the community is formed. Not only did our class study together, we worshipped, prayed, and played together as well. For the eight weeks of Greek instruction, I lived in the dorm along with several others. We shared almost everything from cooking duties to the last bottle of an otherwise empty twelve pack. Several of us became great friends and I am sure that our relationships with last well into the future.
Then, as soon as Summer Greek is over the fall semester begins and it is time to further demonstrate what was learned over the summer. It is also time to begin learning Hebrew. Just as it was with Greek, in Hebrew classes the information comes fast and there are daily quizzes and weekly exams. Thankfully, students have two semesters to learn Hebrew.
With graduation looming in the not too distant future, all of the fun and frustration of Summer Greek and learning Hebrew seems like a life time ago. Yet in many ways it seems as though it was just yesterday. Time flies when you’re having fun and staying busy. I wish I could say that my Greek and Hebrew skills are as sharp as they were after my first year of seminary. The truth is that they are not. But I do try to keep up with the languages and I still have all of my hundreds of flash cards. Some things are just too important to let go.
Until next time, ~H ca,rij tou/ kuri,ou h`mw/n VIhsou/ Cristou/ meqV u`mw/nÅ (The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.)
11 Comments
April 22, 2008 at 7:57 am
Your Greek class sounds like it was a good community builder. Who would have thought? My daughter took ELCA college Greek but it wasn’t the same as sem Greek. I don’t remember her telling me what the sem (non-Lutheran sem) Greek was like. I suppose there was some carry-over. She said that the older students struggled more with the languages in sem.
When she attended the Lutheran sem later, she was buzzing in two days/week for classes, just for a year, so she never felt any sense of community because of her circumstances. Too bad, really.
April 22, 2008 at 8:57 am
And also with you, David. I would love to study Koine in an academic setting but I’m afraid Hebrew would do me in!
April 22, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I actually found Hebrew a little easier to grasp than Greek. Both were challenging in their own way, but there was less pressure in Hebrew. Without Greek, one can’t begin the regular curriculum in seminary so there is intense pressure to pass the final comp exam.
Hebrew is also required, but the pace is much slower.
April 22, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Hard to believe the “fond” memories will be things like summer Greek, but you are right - that is where we began and is a memory that will be hard to forget.
Down to 3 1/2 papers!
April 22, 2008 at 10:37 pm
and two less library books at the house!
April 23, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Ah yes, summer Greek. We too did the live in the dorm, intensive program in the summer in two weeks before the regular fall term. No software until after the final. I used to take my flash cards and walk out on the battlefield here at LTSG. At the end of our sojourn there was a party, and we got shirts that had all of our signatures on the back and the Greek spelling of a verb conjugation on the front of “hellifIknow” I will also always remember it.
April 23, 2008 at 7:05 pm
I did four semesters of Greek in college, so I got through seminary without “suicide Greek,” as we called it. But Roy Harrisville, Jr., longtime professor of New Testament at Luther, once took an interlinear New Testament from a student and threw it out the window. Into a June thunderstorm, no less.
I, too, found Hebrew much more palatable - most likely because it seemed like it followed the rules better. I remember Greek being a “we follow the rules until we don’t” language, which I never liked much.
April 24, 2008 at 8:03 am
LTSP gave up summer greek and January Hebrew with my class. We took both as a semester long class.
After reading your post I was really thinking that as glad as I was that I did not have to do that- I can see that our class is not as close as a class as others have been. I don’t know if that is part of it.
We did have a week and a half of “prologue” where we sat around in a room learning basics about seminary life and theology. But the experience was not the same.
April 25, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Well you’re nearly done,
there’s no way to explain all that will come next. My prayer for you tonight is that you be as open, as you were, that first class in Summer Greek to the work of the Spirit who takes the word and imprints it in our hearts, minds, and lives. Congratulations on the promising interview. They aren’t always so smooth as that one went.
pax,
unlikely
April 25, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Greek was easier for me, as it is a little more similar to English. I did well in both, but I have forgotten a lot of Hebrew now, sadly. I still have a pretty good grasp of Greek.
I didn’t take summer Greek, but it was still a good community builder. We had study/translation groups.
April 29, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Back again to ask, are you in the video to “Thine is the Glory?” that is posted on YouTube?
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