Pastor
Koschmann Concordia Lutheran School
2300 Wilshire Road
Springfield, Illinois 62703
April 2010 Concordia Cares
Pastor
Koschmann
A Note from Pastor Koschmann
My first encounter with all things Greek (and Hebrew), wasn’t exactly love at first sight. I began my theological studies at a small, two-year Lutheran college in Mankato, Minnesota, where my first language course was an introduction to classical Greek. Had I continued in that system, I would have then had a year of Xenophon (more classical Greek), followed (finally) by a year of Koine (New Testament) Greek.
I was so put off by this format that at the end of my sophomore year I burned my Greek book page by page. (Such a rebel I was!) After all, I was studying to be a Lutheran parish pastor, not a classics professor, and I wanted to read the Greek New Testament, not the works of Homer.
I’m not sure if that college still teaches Greek in the same way, but I still believe that it did things "backwards." Get the students into the Word of God as quickly as possible, I say, and then if they want to and have the time, take them into classics.
That’s a parish pastor speaking, not a college professor. No doubt others would disagree with me, but the Word – specifically, the Greek word – is where it’s at. Not that the classics don’t help in understanding the New Testament; they certainly can and do, but again, I want John, not Josephus.
It is Koine Greek, the Greek of the New Testament that we are teaching the students of Concordia. Last year, they were able to read and recite the Lord’s Prayer and John 3:16 in their original language. (This year we are teaching Hebrew, in particular the Great Shema, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Deuteronomy 6:4; which the kids recited so well on March 7, the closing of Lutheran Schools Week.)
One may wonder why we spend so much time teaching students languages that look nothing like English. Long answer short: That’s how God gave us the Bible. And the more they know that, the more they may know about His wonderful work of saving us from sin. My thoughts on all things Greek and Hebrew will continue next month.
Pastor Koschmann