Basic Information

What: 8 Week Short-Course introducing Greek as a Spiritual Discipline (this is not academic Greek)
When: Once a week for about 1 to 1.5 hours
Format: Video-based through a private website (you’ll have login and password codes)
Content: Very basic Greek overview with practical applications for English Bible readers
Who Should Take: Anyone who would like to improve their Bible reading experience
Registration: You can register and take the class at any time.
Cost: See description below

Not Greek “As Usual”

How do you take “reading the Bible” and turn-up the flame so that your reading-time becomes a white-hot spiritual experience?

In this 8 week video-based short-course, you’ll be introduced to an approach that can revolutionize the way you read the Bible. Naturally, it all depends on you. But the door will be opened . . . . all you have to do is walk through it.

Learning to read Greek as a Spiritual Discipline is not Greek “as usual.” It is not about becoming a Greek scholar, arguing with people over Greek words, or taking expensive and grueling college classes.

Now there is definitely a place for college Greek. But how Greek is normally taught in college is like getting a root canal! Or maybe a root canal every single day for 10 months! When students take college-level Greek classes, it is not uncommon for 50%-75% of them to drop out, feeling like a failure. Most of those who are left, once they get their grade, praise God that the pain is over and never look at it again! Of those who started, only a few of them go on to further study. (When I began Greek, about 35 of us started 1st year Greek together; about 10 of us finished. In 2nd year Greek, we had about 6. In 3rd and 4th year Greek I sat in the teacher’s office, one-on-one.)

The dirty little secret is that some Greek programs are actually designed to blow people out the back door!

Learning to read Greek as a Spiritual Discipline is something entirely different from that. Throughout this course you will focus on the reason you are learning it to begin with: not for a grade, not to disprove anybody else, not to show off . . . . but to get closer to the text of Scripture, and in this way, closer to God.

My Own Experience

For me personally, even though I took about 12 years of academic Greek, and then taught it in college for 15 years on top of that, two things in my life rise to the top that totally changed the way I read the Bible:

A 3-week archaeology tour in Israel
Learning to read Biblical languages as a spiritual discipline.

After those things, my Bible reading life was never the same, and I have to tell you . . . I wouldn’t go back for anything in the world!

That is what this class will share with you. The study of Greek is much more than an academic subject to me. Actually, I regard it in my own life, not only as a spiritual discipline, but as one of the most important spiritual disciplines I have ever pursued: equally important with prayer, or with singing, or with fasting, or with any other, for it puts me in touch with the very words and language with which the earliest Christians both read Scripture and wrote Scripture. I have often made the statement to others that I never feel closer to God than when I am neck-deep in a Greek NT text.

Get Your Ox Out of the Ditch

Many people are intimidated by the thought of learning Greek. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard statements like:

“I couldn’t learn Greek! It’s too hard,”
or “I didn’t go to college,”
or “I don’t want to be a scholar.”

Well while you’re at it, don’t forget to add these: “I can’t fly,” and “I can’t make myself disappear.” They are just as relevant.

Look at it like this: Would you rather hitch-hike everywhere you go and be dependent on others? Or would you rather drive your own car and be in control of where, when, and how you go places? Reading the Bible in “English-only” is sort of like being a hitch-hiker.

The beauty of this 8 week short-course is that it allows you a nice overview of the language and to get some very practical use from it. If after that you want to go further, you can.

And by the way: To anyone who has the attitude that Greek is totally useless, and in fact stands in the way of proper spirituality: grow up.

What This Class Won’t Do

Ok, let’s get some things out of the way . . . .

You don’t need to know Greek to go to heaven. You don’t need English, either.
Learning Greek will not make you better than anyone else or some kind of “super Christian.”
Knowing Greek won’t answer all of your questions.
Knowing Greek will not likely make you more popular at church. Depending on how you use it, it might make you the opposite.

How Greek as a Spiritual Discipline Can Help You

It can help you be less dependent on others for how you read and understand the Bible.
It can help you appreciate and better evaluate the variety of English translations we have.
It can help your private prayer life.
It can give you a new energy for the study of Scripture.
It can allow you to answer some questions for yourself that you could not answer before.
It can help you ask some new kinds of questions.
It can give you more opportunity to explore the Bible in ways you did not know about before.
It can give you more responsibility in how you handle texts.
It can help you become more confident about Bible study.
It can help you become a better teacher.
It can help you learn English better.

Description of the Class

Course Title: “Alpha and Omega: New Testament Greek as a Spiritual Discipline.” This course will focus on basic Greek and practical applications in private Bible study. It is designed specifically for English Bible readers who want to do something new and exciting with their Bible study.
Duration: 8 weeks for 1 to 1½ hours each week class-time. You should also plan to spend a minimum of 3 hours a week outside of class time.
Resources & Materials: This is a video based course, and you will have a special textbook designed just for this course and made available to you during the course. New written and video material will be available each week. Since each class is recorded, you may watch or review it as many times as you like at any time, day or night. You will have a special private web area (requires login and password) with all the materials, videos, study projects, short quizzes, etc.
Credit Equivalent: The course will be the equivalent of 2 hours of college credit (even though we do not offer college credit).

What Others Are Saying

Here’s what a few current students are saying about this course . . .

Ruth Oliver, Texas

Ruth Oliver -- "It's all Greek to me -- and I love it!"

I am seventy-four years old, and have taught Bible classes for over fifty years. I have taught age’s birth to eighteen months (in their jumper chairs) to a senior class of men and women ages seventy-five to ninety. I could not feel satisfied that what I was teaching was what God would have me teach. Oh, I had the margin of my bible marked up, it looked like chicken scratching — mostly cliché. Someone taught me that one must understand a bit about the culture of the ancient times to understand the needs of the early Christians. For instance! The worship of Artemis was a woman-centered religion. Her temple was the biggest and most famous in Asia. Many of Paul’s converts in Ephesus came out of this religion. So, you see that by knowing a little about the culture, one can understand why Paul instructed Timothy, while he was in Ephesus, to teach the women not to try and take over the running of the Church. [My words!] One of the best ways, in my opinion, to learn about the culture of any country is to look at its language. New Testament Greek as a Spiritual Discipline gives you the tools to help you look into the culture, via grammar, and word studies. My vote for this class is a resounding “YES” it is well worth the time and money.

_______________________________

John Eoff, of Kerrville, TX (who is a little camera shy!)

Artist's depiction of John Eoff

My previous experience with learning the Greek language was confined to a course offered during mid-week meetings of a religious institution, supplemented by personal study from sources I found available from time to time. That course covered basically the same material as Gary’s on-line course. The obvious advantage to Gary’s course is the availability on line to review the lecture at any time. During the first two lessons I learned a principal that to me was worth the total cost of the course (of course such information has no monetary value but is even more desirable). I hope Gary will offer a similar course in the Hebrew language.

_______________________________

Sherrod Lee, M.D. of Oregon writes . . .

Sherrod Lee with pride and joy

I am thoroughly enjoying Greek As A Spiritual Discipline. It is both challenging and exciting. The teaching style is down-to-earth, non-threatening, and helpful.

I hope to go beyond this short, 8 lesson introduction, and am looking forward to your next effort in this regard. I am certainly going to continue my efforts alone, but more classes would be ideal.

OK, So How Do I Enroll

Greek Interest List

If you are interested and want to receive occasional updates about our Greek courses, enter your first and last name and email address and we will keep you posted.
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garydcollier@coffeewithpaul.com

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Greek as Spiritual Discipline