BIBLICAL LANGUAGES

By Michael Burer Edited by Russell Penny

There is a growing tension on many conservative seminary campuses that is affecting the whole direction of these schools. It is the tension between content and practice as it relates to the original languages of the Bible.

Traditionally, ministerial training in the United States was very rigorous academically. Ministers regularly knew Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and they were trained to use their minds in the ministry as much as their hearts. However, with the advent of the second Great Awakening, the emphasis upon ministerial training began to change. The educational changes in the secular world also affected the Christian scene as traditional theories of education gave way to ideas that emphasized process and practice instead of content. Through these forces a subtle anti-intellectual emphasis entered Christianity. These changes show up today in the tensions that are currently present on many conservative evangelical campuses.

Ministerial students everywhere, as a rule, no longer seek to learn the Biblical languages to the best of their ability. Instead they want to cut to the chase and learn how to do what they want to do with very little knowledge as a basis. First-hand knowledge of the Biblical text is left behind for the sake of practicality. They devalue the content of the Greek or Hebrew language because it does not quickly or easily lead to great sermons or flashy lessons.

This conflict has even affected the required courses in various departments. In the past students had to take six semesters of Greek and five of Hebrew. These extra semesters got cut when alumni surveys stated that those extra semesters were unnecessary because no one used it anyway. So even on the administrative level content has been sacrificed for practice, the “what” for the “how.”

Is the current trend toward an emphasis of practice over and against content good, especially when the content is the language in which the Bible was written? I would offer three arguments that say no: one practical, one ethical, and one theological.

Focusing primarily on practice when it comes to preaching, teaching, and ministering the Scriptures is not good. It is recognized in almost every field of study that solid theory must under gird any type of practice. If the theory and content that is supposed to back up a discipline is not there, eventually the one that practices that discipline will fail. When a minister decides that the original languages are not important enough to study, master, and use regularly, he is cutting himself off from the best source of content and theory that he can ever get. These are the primary documents of Christian faith and practice. If the original languages are ignored, the minister destines himself for a ministry of second-hand knowledge. And that certainly is not practical.

Second, as a person who professes to believe the truth of God’s word, a minister should do all he can to understand it and apprehend it. The last thing the world needs is ministers who simply preach and teach what they think they are supposed to preach and teach without knowing the accurate truth of the Scripture. A minister compromises his integrity when he proclaims or teaches something he doesn’t know or understand to the best of his ability. The original languages are the primary tools by which a minister can search the Scriptures and learn their truth as accurately as possible. The English Bible may help us understand with much accuracy the truth of God’s Word, but as ministers of integrity we should strive for a higher degree of accuracy. Greek and Hebrew provide the key for that. One might say that the English Bible gives us the black and white picture while the original languages will give us the color picture with much emphasis.

Third, when God made us as individuals, he made every part of us to love and serve him. We should love him with our hearts. We should love him with our strength. We should also love him with our minds. Loving God with our minds requires the full exercise of our minds in understanding and comprehending and probing the things of God. Since the Bible was originally written in Greek and Hebrew, the full exercise of our minds in his service requires the use of those languages. Most of the tension is found at this level. Students are unwilling to do the hard work necessary to use their minds as fully as they can. Yes, languages are very hard work. They demand much time and effort. However, the God who made us loves us, and brought his Word to us deserves no less.

Nowhere does God’s truth come through more clearly than through the original languages. Scofield Institute seeks to accomplish the task before us with every available tool, including Greek and Hebrew, so we will be ministers of complete integrity. We seek to teach the study of the Scriptures with the original languages so we honor the God who brought them to us.