Devotionals are very popular today, more than ever. They come in all shapes and sizes and attempt to provide concise summaries of the Scriptures for the busy person. Many, if not most of the devotional books out there today are on the shallow side, seeking to simplify or contextualize the Bible in a way that it was not meant to be. One which does come to mind however which is good and grounded in the Scriptures is Morning and Evening by C.H. Spurgeon. I highly recommend this book.

But what about a devotional dealing with the Greek New Testament? Well Zondervan has come out with yet another book in their already extensive New Testament Greek series. Before judging this book by its cover, go ahead and visit the link over at amazon and let me know what you think about this idea. You can see the table of contents, and even go through the first two devotionals to get a feel for it.

What are your thoughts? I'll let you know mine at a later date.

Donald Guthrie wrote what is perhaps the most complete and comprehensive introduction to the New Testament. He offers a wealth of information, particularly concerning the Gospels, and apart from treating each individual gospel, writes nearly 100 pages on the Synoptic situation which is commonly called a "problem", which it is not.

I would not suggest buying the book new, at almost $30, when you can get it for just a few dollars at either of the sellers below. I got mine from Abebooks for $3 after shipping.

New Testament Introduction - Amazon
New Testament Introduction - Abebooks

Have you ever wondered why there are 3 Gospel accounts that seemingly say the same thing in many places? If they are saying the same thing, then why are there 3 of them? Why did there need to be 3 of them?  Matthew, Mark, and Luke are commonly called the Synoptic Gospels. There is no doubt that these 3 books are talking about the same person (Jesus), and generally telling the same story. But if they are the same, then do we really need all three of them? Of course! But why?

Then there is the issue of how they were written. Did the Holy Spirit speak to all 3 writers at different times in an isolated way? Or was one of the accounts used by the other two to compose theirs, all the while being led by the Holy Spirit? Luke 1:1-4 seems to tell us this. Which of the 3 was written first then? Mark or Matthew, because it couldn't have been Luke? If it was Mark first, then did Matthew use Mark as a basis to write his account?

You may think these are silly and overly critical questions of little or no importance, but I assure you that they are not. The way you view these issues will impact the way in which you view and understand the gospel accounts, either for the better or worse. These are age old questions, and ones that really do merit our study more than you may think.

If you have ever wondered why Matthew said it this way and Mark or Luke that way, among many other questions, then I encourage you to dive in to the study of these 3 Gospel accounts.

There has been a lot written on the topic already. May I suggest these resources as a good starting place:

Rethinking the Synoptic Problem - Dave Black
Jesus and the Gospels - Craig Blomberg
The Synoptic Problem - Dan Wallace (pdf)
Matthean Priority - Gary Derickson (pdf)
Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels - Scot McKnight

I cannot say enough good things about this little book. Whether you are a pastor or not, a teacher or not, a preacher or not is irrelevant. Even if you don't know Biblical Greek, don't let that stop you from reading this book. If you hunger to better understand and correctly interpret the Scriptures, then this book will be of immense help to you.

It is not only a guide for using Greek in life and ministry, but also a superb introduction to New Testament Exegesis. Dave Black takes the often complex and daunting work of exegesis and makes it seem fun and easy. I highly recommend reading this book before something like Gordon Fee's work.

Thanks John for lending me your copy!

The Bible and specifically the NT is filled with warnings to professing Christians. We are reminded of Paul telling the Colossians "do not be taken captive...", and to the Corinthians "do not be deceived..." In a day where teaching and preaching is so often sought after by men both old and young though, there is a warning to which we should give heed and is found in James 3:1.

UBS/NA
Μὴ πολλοὶ διδάσκαλοι γίνεσθε, ἀδελφοί μου, εἰδότες ὅτι μεῖζον κρίμα λημψόμεθα.

Translation
Do not (or let not) many (of you) become teachers, my brethren, knowing that stricter judgment we will receive.

As a Christian reading the Scriptures, I have understood this verse and passage to be a warning, but have not taken it any further than just that. I had never considered the question of whether or not this negative imperative is a suggestion or command though. That is, not until reading it in my GNT. In English I usually read the ESV which states, "not many of you should become teachers...".  In contemporary English this could be understood as a mere suggestion, at least that's how I understood it. The NAS says it this way, "Let not many of you become teachers..." which carries more of a command.

Buying individual commentary volumes, as opposed to commentary sets, can be quite expensive. However if you desire to have the best commentaries then there really is no way around buying individual volumes. I found some commentaries on Amazon that will be a little more buyer friendly, as they are used (there is one new volume however it's price is very low for such).

Buying used commentaries doesn't always work, it isn't always the best option. Some volumes haven't been out long enough for their price to drop. Others are now in the second or third editions. When they are in later editions/revisions, you can almost always find an earlier one for very cheap. Most of the time the later editions do not offer much more than the earlier ones, usually it has to do with a new cover design, updated bibliography, and maybe typeset. In those cases you can find the the older editions for very low. I have not been able to find anything significant which changed nor which should cause you to get the newest editions/revisions below. For Moises Silva's Philippians commentary, make sure you do get the second edition though, that is the one linked to:

Mark – William Lane (NICNT)

Romans - John Murray (NICNT)

1 Corinthians – Gordon Fee (NICNT)

2 Corinthians – Philip Hughes (NICNT)

Ephesians/Colossians/Philemon - F.F. Bruce (NICNT)

Philippians – Gerald Hawthorne (WBC)

Philippians – Moises Silva (BECNT)

Colossians & Philemon - Murray J Harris

1&2 Thessalonians - Leon Morris (NICNT)

Hebrews – F.F. Bruce (NICNT)

James – Peter Davids (NIGTC)

1 Peter – Peter Davids (NICNT)

1-3 John – Stephen Smalley (WBC)

Revelation – Robert Mounce (NICNT)

It is, or should be, our goal to gain reading proficiency in the Greek New Testament which is parallel to our English Bibles, if not better. I strongly believe that this is possible. I believe that given the time, determination, work, and with the help of the Spirit, we can arrive at a place where we pick up the GNT and read it with the same effort that we do so in English. Why can’t this be?

In the past I wrote a post called Learning & Keeping Greek – Practical Helps, where I discussed some things that we can do and incorporate into our studies with the hopes of gaining a more comfortable feel for Koine Greek. Being so far removed from the times of this culture and language, nearly 2000 years now, we need all the help we can get. As I spoke of in the last post on Language Learning, we will never obtain a comprehension of the language unless we get deep exposure into the minds and culture of the people (more on this later).

Reading Comprehension versus Translating & Decoding

Many of us think that we are reading Greek. We suppose that if we can pick up our GNT and read through a few verses or passages while understanding for the most part (as we translate into English in our minds) that we are indeed reading. I would like to suggest that this is quite far from the truth. There is a huge difference between translation-reading and comprehension-reading. The former is what we do when we really don’t know a language but are fumbling to get by, the latter is when we have a control of it and it becomes second nature to us. This is what we want, second nature comprehension of NTG.

There is so much confusion about the world of language learning and linguistics. Many people "want" to learn a language, but few do. Language learning is often viewed as something torturous and dreadful. In this article I will seek to explain and clarify the matter and hopefully bring some closure by way of discussing some misconceptions of language learning, excuses against language learning, and giving some hope for language learning.

Introduction & Clarification

First - From the outset I would like to state that this writer is not linguistically gifted by nature. That is to say that I don’t possess special language learning abilities, in that languages do not come easy for me. I have to work just as hard as the next person. I mention this now so that the following statements and ones like them are not made upon reading this post – “Easy for you to say, you are a natural linguist” “You have special language acquisition abilities, so it just comes easier for you than most”. When speaking about language learning, those who do not know a language and have not put in the effort to even try and learn one will often say such things as quoted above. Such statements are rarely true and I would like to suggest that there is a bigger picture to consider.

Second - The fact that I am not a natural linguist is not to say that I am ignorant of the field of linguistics or languages. By the Lord’s help, prayer, and much hard work I have learned to read, write, and speak Spanish fluently as well as acquired a small level of a native Indian language spoken in South America. My experiences and studies with learning living languages has carried over and influenced the way in which I view Biblical Greek.

Third  - I also realize that not everyone learns the same way. People are different and some learn differently. I am not trying to put everyone into a mold. I am also not the authority (if there is one) on the matter of language learning. I am still studying this field, not only from an objective way but also through personal experience. I will share some of my own experiences in the years that I have been exposed to foreign languages through living in another country and culture.

Fourth - The information in this post is not limited to learning Biblical Greek, but rather applies to “living” or spoken languages today as well. In most instances, you can swap the word Greek for other languages as the statements will often apply to languages in general. The issue of indigenous, developing, or unwritten languages is a slightly different issue, though not that much different. If you have questions about such languages you can write me and we can discuss it.

Fifth - This article is rather long, not by intention but by necessity. This is a deep and complex subject which merits discussion and detail, though certainly not everything is covered here.