Hello from Thom Chittom
Posted: February 1st, 2013, 7:14 pm
Hi, everyone,
My name is Thom Chittom. I'm a long-time lurker and now new member posting this from Nashville, TN. Thanks are already in store, as many of the points and posts in this forum have helped me understand difficult concepts or introduced me to new ideas.
I started with Koine in 1994 at Gordon-Conwell Seminary (Scott Hafemann, T. David Gordon), and advanced into what I think of now as second-year Greek. After graduation, I began a career in publishing. Greek wasn't exactly central to the demands of life. Yet, after years of on-again-off-again, a friend asked me to teach him, and so we went through Mounce's second edition. Since then, I've started teaching a few of the willing at my office using the third edition.
To be honest, I'm not the most brilliant student of the language. It would surprise my teachers to know I stayed with it, no doubt, and I have to work hard to retain and advance. But there's something about the language that keeps me, whether it is the innate beauty of the thing itself, the fun of picking apart a difficult construction, the wow of some new concept that clicks into place, or the awe and privilege of reading the New Testament in the original (and there is nothing like seeing someone realize they just read x for themselves!) Greek long ago ceased to be skill I knew and started to be a way of being in the world. I hope that this forum will help me reach beyond second-year skills into greater levels of mastery and ability. Thanks to everyone for creating this supportive community.
My name is Thom Chittom. I'm a long-time lurker and now new member posting this from Nashville, TN. Thanks are already in store, as many of the points and posts in this forum have helped me understand difficult concepts or introduced me to new ideas.
I started with Koine in 1994 at Gordon-Conwell Seminary (Scott Hafemann, T. David Gordon), and advanced into what I think of now as second-year Greek. After graduation, I began a career in publishing. Greek wasn't exactly central to the demands of life. Yet, after years of on-again-off-again, a friend asked me to teach him, and so we went through Mounce's second edition. Since then, I've started teaching a few of the willing at my office using the third edition.
To be honest, I'm not the most brilliant student of the language. It would surprise my teachers to know I stayed with it, no doubt, and I have to work hard to retain and advance. But there's something about the language that keeps me, whether it is the innate beauty of the thing itself, the fun of picking apart a difficult construction, the wow of some new concept that clicks into place, or the awe and privilege of reading the New Testament in the original (and there is nothing like seeing someone realize they just read x for themselves!) Greek long ago ceased to be skill I knew and started to be a way of being in the world. I hope that this forum will help me reach beyond second-year skills into greater levels of mastery and ability. Thanks to everyone for creating this supportive community.