Editor's Note: The author, pen name: Toward-the-light, is a regular contributor to GospelTimes, who started her theological study in the Westminster Seminary this September. She'll write her experience of study, life and faith in the US.
Hebrew and Greek are two required courses in the Westminster since these are the original languages of the Bible. In fact, they are two priorities among all priorities, or your other courses, OT and the NT, will be affected.
I enrolled Greek in my first quarter, which took my 60% study time. Twice a week, in a tense atmosphere, it’s very interactive in the two-hour long class. There are tons of homework. I have finished 100 pages papers during just this one-quarter, which always reminds me of the math class in middle school.
Greek, for me, is like math. It was until one month later, to my surprise, I found it math, rather than a language. In fact, it was the language used in Greek peninsula in Jesus’ time, with extremely cumbersome grammar, which also went perfectly in wording and phrasing.
It’s said that God created a perfect language to reveal himself, which makes no ambiguity in each Greek Scripture.
As the basic course of the New Testament, the main training in class is translating, from Greek to English. Students are given one-year learning, from beginner to being able to read original Greek New Testament, which is impossible for any language learner. While the style of study in Westminster is that by God impossible becomes possible.
If English is addition-and-subtraction within 100, then the Greek is advanced mathematics, which is even harder for international students. I have to learn Greek in English, every time in the Greek class I seems to be learning two languages together. Actually I cannot even fully understand the teaching, so that I have to preview and review. While it turns out to be an acceptable grade. I’m felling lucky and the felling of “my cup runs over.”
It is a post-90s sister L, a young and promising PhD majoring in the New Testament, who taught us Greek. L used to be a drummer, gifted in many ways as other teachers in Westminster. We learned hard, yet her reaching was even harder, since she had her own study while teaching.
Teacher L is very responsible. Training and encouraging, instead of discouraging, is her basic attitude. I used to ask her questions, and always get responded timely, sometimes even early in the morning.
Her teaching style is also very humanized. Once in a test I forget the spelling of an English word, I told her that I know the answer but I forgot the spell, then she asked me to write down the Chinese. As a result, on a paper of Greek and English, I wrote down a Chinese character. Teacher L looked that Chinese up, unexpectedly, she count me right, and gave me a smile on my paper.
Each student on the class is older than her, while all of us highly praise her. Just like Paul wrote in 1 Tim 4.12: ”Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
Speaking of my classmates, the native and international students are about half and half, but the sex ratio is unbalanced, 3 sisters v.s. 16 brothers. And because of the extremely difficult of this course, students have built special bond throughout this course. I know the names of all the classmates of this course, different with other course. There was once a student being assigned to translate a sentence, which took almost 10 minutes while all class invariably applauded, since we all kept in mind that the learning of Greek is for serve God better and understand his word better.
Teacher L would pray for each student before class, so that each would be quipped by God. Sometimes I think that God’s guiding is so marvelous that people like us being called from all over the world speaking different languages yet studying the Bible together.
Each student is given a Greek Bible (NT), with initial name printed on the cover. I laid it aside and neglected at the beginning since the heavy academic. At the end of that quarter, I opened this me-customized Greek Bible because of a homework, I was so glad to realize that there are so many readable words and sentences. Sufferings are worthwhile. I fell so passionately for being able to read the original Bible in the near future.
To be continued.
Translated By: Alice Wang
