Sarah Howell
Posted: June 13th, 2013, 4:36 am
Hello everyone,
I am hoping that this forum will answer a few questions that I have which require a working knowledge of Koine Greek.
I was raised in a strongly evangelical home, became a Christian as a child, and as a young person studied for three years at the Bible College of New Zealand. I started at BTh level. Unfortunately ill health prevented me from continuing at degree level after my first year. I continued to attend lectures with the other BTh students but did not sit the external exams. I took NT Greek in my first year only so have a very limited understanding of the language. I am ashamed to say that the declension of verbs got the better of me! My first year at Bible College was 30 years ago so what I learned then is very rusty. I have a copy of Stephens Interlinear and use the online version of Strongs quite a bit. I have looked at Codex Sinaiticus online at times too.
Throughout my childhood years through to early twenties I was a very strong evangelical Christian. From my mid twenties I
began to move away from evangelical belief and over a period of about 20 years finally came to a position of unbelief. Throughout this time I have continued to read the Bible and think about some aspect of Christian belief every day. I am interested in how the history of Palestine and the wider area influenced the biblical writers. I enjoy reading about customs of the period, writing styles, the use of Midrash etc etc
I participate in an online forum which has a mix of believers and unbelievers posting. We have vigorous discussions about the Bible. Whilst posting there I often wish that my knowledge of Greek was more extensive than it is. (None of the other participants appear to have any knowledge of Greek apart from a couple who demonstrate the ability to look up Strongs.)
My reason for wanting to join this forum is to ask a few questions in the Beginners section for clarification of syntax so that I can help others in this online group with the meaning of a few passages that we have been discussing recently.
I want assure you that, although I am no longer a Christian, I have no intention of mocking anyone of the Christian faith.
Thank you for reading this.
Sarah Howell
New Zealand
I am hoping that this forum will answer a few questions that I have which require a working knowledge of Koine Greek.
I was raised in a strongly evangelical home, became a Christian as a child, and as a young person studied for three years at the Bible College of New Zealand. I started at BTh level. Unfortunately ill health prevented me from continuing at degree level after my first year. I continued to attend lectures with the other BTh students but did not sit the external exams. I took NT Greek in my first year only so have a very limited understanding of the language. I am ashamed to say that the declension of verbs got the better of me! My first year at Bible College was 30 years ago so what I learned then is very rusty. I have a copy of Stephens Interlinear and use the online version of Strongs quite a bit. I have looked at Codex Sinaiticus online at times too.
Throughout my childhood years through to early twenties I was a very strong evangelical Christian. From my mid twenties I
began to move away from evangelical belief and over a period of about 20 years finally came to a position of unbelief. Throughout this time I have continued to read the Bible and think about some aspect of Christian belief every day. I am interested in how the history of Palestine and the wider area influenced the biblical writers. I enjoy reading about customs of the period, writing styles, the use of Midrash etc etc
I participate in an online forum which has a mix of believers and unbelievers posting. We have vigorous discussions about the Bible. Whilst posting there I often wish that my knowledge of Greek was more extensive than it is. (None of the other participants appear to have any knowledge of Greek apart from a couple who demonstrate the ability to look up Strongs.)
My reason for wanting to join this forum is to ask a few questions in the Beginners section for clarification of syntax so that I can help others in this online group with the meaning of a few passages that we have been discussing recently.
I want assure you that, although I am no longer a Christian, I have no intention of mocking anyone of the Christian faith.
Thank you for reading this.
Sarah Howell
New Zealand