Pastors or Scholars?

When I was accepted to Covenant Seminary, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I had been told by many people that it was a great school.  Every Covenant graduate that I met was extremely happy about the time they spent here.  When my wife and I visited the seminary, we came away very impressed.  Instead of "selling" the school during our admissions interview we were advised to confirm our calling to ministry before we decided to come.  In spite of these great endorsements, however, one never is quite sure if a move halfway across the country is really ever a great idea.  I have been here for about six months, and the question "was it worth it?" has been met by an emphatic, "YES!"  I am quite sure that God led me to the right seminary.


There are plenty of seminaries that will give you a good education.  Covenant is no exception.  A quick browse through the faculty shows degrees from Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, and so forth.  This is not exceptional.   Our professors write articles for journals, have books published, and speak at conferences.  In class we interact with the thoughts and writings of important Christian thinkers and ideas.  We talk about accusativus cum infinitivo in Greek, about Schleiermacher in systematic theology, about critical realism and speech-act theory in our hermeneutics class, and about Aristotle's "On Rhetoric" in homiletics.  All seminaries do these things.  With all of this academic rigor in any seminary curriculum, it is little wonder that many people jokingly call seminary a cemetery.  In fact, Google returned 3.7million hits in 0.36 seconds for the phrase "seminary cemetery."


This, though, is far from the case here at Covenant.  While Dr. Bayer did strongly hint at the existence of a cemetery on campus for students who died learning Greek (a situation that he made sound quite common), Covenant has been a place where one not only grows in knowledge, but in love and faith as well.  At our orientation we were told that the seminary's pedagogical goal was not to put facts in our heads (though they certainly do), but to make us closer to Jesus.  One imagines that many seminaries say this, but here, they mean it.  


Every class in every course is designed to help us not only know about God, but to show us why and how to love Him.  Our professors demonstrate this love of God everyday.  They preach the Gospel to us and show us how to help others understand it.  This is not just something they know in the abstract, it is something they believe and trust in.  Just this past week three professors in different classes were brought to the point of tears when talking about the beauty of the Gospel.  It is real and it is powerful.


The Gospel should change us.  It should change how we view God, of course, but also impact how we love other Christians, our neighbor, and the creation.  Here, at Covenant, one catches a glimpse of what lives transformed by the Gospel really look like in an educational setting.  Here is a community where the Gospel is the center and the effects are pervasive.  I am very thankful that I was led to this place, and I pray that my life will exemplify the change wrought in me by the Gospel.  If it is reflected in me even half as powerfully as it is reflected in my professors then the seminary will have met it's goal: producing people who love Jesus more.

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."

The UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader's Edition

I know full well that this book will be irrelevant to many who read this blog, but it is so helpful that I felt compelled to include it in my list of book reviews.  This is a very valuable tool, and one that, in the short week I have owned it, has helped me greatly.


So what, exactly, is it?  It as an edition of the New Testament based on the idea that reading a language is one of the best ways to learn it.  This edition uses the standard UBS4/NA27 text of the New Testament.  What makes this a reader's edition is what is below the text.  Any word occuring 30 times or fewer in the New Testament is defined.  Instead of giving the full range of meaning the UBSRE gives a gloss of what the editors feel is the most likely reading.  You would not want to do any exegetical with these definitions, but for reading the text this works rather well.  All odd verb forms (like strong aorists) are parsed with voice, tense, mood, person, number and lexical form.  Thus, a typical page looks something like this:  

This picture is of the bottom 2/3 of a page.  On a full page it is generally about 2/3 text, 1/3 tools.

What this edition lacks is any critical apparatus or cross-references, but there are other Greek New Testaments that give you that (NA27 probably the best).  This book's aim is not critical exegesis, it is extensive reading (ER).  I took a linguistics class at West Chester University and did a lot of work on ER.  The theory says that a reader in a second language that knows or has access to 90% of the vocabulary in a fairly long, continuous, and cohesive text will see great improvement in his language skills.  That is what makes the UBSRE such a great resource.


I have started using this little book on a daily basis, and I have already gotten a better feel for the language of the New Testament and how it works.  The tedium of switching from text to lexicon has disappeared and been replaced by the ability to read the text at length with little interruption.  This Greek New Testament does not suddenly make Greek easy, by any stretch of the imagination, but it does make the Greek text readable.  That is, after all, the goal.  Anyone who has worked through a beginning Greek grammar and wants to stay in the language should get this book.*

*The United Bible Society will be coming out with a 2nd edition of this book in the near future.  It will contain some cross-reference (most likely to direct quotations and allusions to the Old Testament) as well as limited apparatus.  This means that you can probably get this for a very cheap price (like I did).


"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere." 

Greek

It seems appropriate, in light of the exam that I took yesterday, to write about the experience of taking first year Greek in seminary.  It is a right of passage for all first year seminary students.  A crucible to refine and soften us.  I have no military background, but I think the analogy of boot camp for your brain would be appropriate.  


It is a frustrating process.  The majority of the task is relentless memorization.  Memorization of vocabulary.  Memorization of noun declensions.  Memorization of verb inflection.  Memorization of rules.  Memorization of when to break the rules.  And worst of all, memorization of principal parts.

On the surface, this seems like a mere academic endeavor.  Sure, you get to know the feel and meaning of the New Testament more fully, but you don't need it to understand the Bible, especially with the many language tools available.  In fact, I imagine at some seminaries and graduate schools, Greek is mere academic exercise.  Here, though, things are different.

Two weeks ago I met with Dr. Bayer to discuss preparing for the exam.  While we talked about learning the language I mentioned how much I appreciated his exegetical insights and his wonderfully devotional prayers.  He responded by sharing the motivation that he and his colleagues share in the language classes.  Greek, he said, is not just about learning a language, but about building community as we study and struggle together.  It is about learning humility.  It is about managing stress and time.  It is about relying on God.  It is about our sanctification.

As much as I enjoy being able to read a Greek New Testament, and as valuable as that will prove in my ministry, the process of sanctification that I am going through and the peers who share that experience with me are the real benefits of learning the language.  I have made some very good friends as we study, struggle, and learn together.  These are relationships that will be with me long after the fourth principle part of ἐρκομαι has been lost somewhere in my memory.

I am truly blessed to have professors who see their task of getting facts into our heads as secondary to growing Jesus in our hearts.  I am blessed to have classmates and friends who encourage me when I'm down, motivate me when I'm tired, commiserate with me when I'm frustrated, and celebrate with me when I manage to pass a quiz or test.  Most of all, I'm thankful for a God who is my Father.  A Father who has graciously put people in my life who can help me see the spiritual benefit of a seemingly "academic" task.

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."