Are Learning Ancient Languages Useful for Pastors?

Random Musings on Theological Education #1

I know I am going to step on a few toes here as I think through some 'sacred', dare I say, 'cow' in theological education here. I am doing research and preparing a paper on theological education in Malaysia and Singapore and do value your feedback.

I wonder how useful is studying ancient Greek and Hebrews in training people who aim to be pastors. Here I am thinking of certificates, diplomas and degrees up to to M.Div level, and D.Min. Most of these are aiming for a pastoral ministry either in churches or para-church organisations. For those who aspire to M.Th or PhD, I have no argument that a knowledge in ancient languages is essential.

In my limited experience, most of the pastors and seminary graduates I know in pastoral work do not make use of their knowledge of ancient languages. In fact, they begin to forget the languages due to disuse once they have passed the required courses. Most of them prepare their sermons and teaching by use of commentaries. Often commentaries are written by people who spent their life on a single book so it will be a height of arrogance to think that a person with one or two semesters of ancient language will be able to understand the text in the original better than the scholars.

So in view of the tremendous of time and anguish spent on ancient languages in an already tight theological education curriculum, why do we insist that the students learn the ancient languages? Would the time not be better spent equipping the students to use secondary sources?

What do you think?



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Philip Yancey's Reflection on Dying

from ChristianityToday.com

THE BACK PAGE Intensive Care Week Thoughts while sitting beside my brother as his brain and body failed. By Philip Yancey

read more

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The Reformation and Women

Parsonage and Prophecy
The Reformation opened up new doors for women—and closed many others.
By Jennifer and Edwin Woodruff Tait

Her name was Katherine von Bora. She was 26, an escaped nun who had left the convent along with 10 of her sisters when she became convinced of the truth of Lutheran theology. After two years as a guest in the home of German artist Lucas Cranach and his family, who made various attempts to marry her off, she finally gave word that she would only marry either Luther's friend Amsdorf or Luther himself. She and the 42-year-old reformer were married on June 13, 1525.

Finish this article from ChristianHistory.net.

The Star

Ideals are like stars,

we will not succeed in touching them with our hands,

not yet....

But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters,

we can choose them as our guides,

and following them,

we will reach our goal,

one day.

HT: Punna

A Healing Presence

In an old Eastern story, God wants to reward a man for his exceptional kindness and purity of intentions. He calls an angel and tells him to go to the man and ask him what he wants. He will have whatever his heart desires. The angel appears before the kind man and gives him the good news. The man replies, "Oh, but I am already happy. I have all that I want." The angel explains that, with God, you just have to be tactful. If He wants to give us a gift, it is best to accept. The kind man then replies, "In this case, I would like all who come in contact with me to feel well. But I want to know nothing about it." From that moment, wherever the kind man happens to be, wilted plants bloom again, sickly animals grow strong, ill people are healed, the unhappy are relieved of their burdens, those who fight make peace, and those beset by problems resolve them. And all this happens without the kind man's knowing — always in his wake, but never in front of his eyes. There is never any pride, nor any expectation. Unknowing and content, the kindly man walks the roads of the world, spreading happiness to everybody.

— Robert Ferrucci in The Power of Kindness

A Healing Presence

In an old Eastern story, God wants to reward a man for his exceptional kindness and purity of intentions. He calls an angel and tells him to go to the man and ask him what he wants. He will have whatever his heart desires. The angel appears before the kind man and gives him the good news. The man replies, "Oh, but I am already happy. I have all that I want." The angel explains that, with God, you just have to be tactful. If He wants to give us a gift, it is best to accept. The kind man then replies, "In this case, I would like all who come in contact with me to feel well. But I want to know nothing about it." From that moment, wherever the kind man happens to be, wilted plants bloom again, sickly animals grow strong, ill people are healed, the unhappy are relieved of their burdens, those who fight make peace, and those beset by problems resolve them. And all this happens without the kind man's knowing — always in his wake, but never in front of his eyes. There is never any pride, nor any expectation. Unknowing and content, the kindly man walks the roads of the world, spreading happiness to everybody.

— Robert Ferrucci in The Power of Kindness

HT: Spirituality & Practice E-Newsletter Sept 13, 2009
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The Jesus Prayer

‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner’

The Jesus Prayer components

• ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me , a sinner’
• Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6-11
• The parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, in which the Pharisee demonstrates the improper way to pray by exclaiming: "Thank you Lord that I am not like the Publican", whereas the Publican prays correctly in humility, saying "Lord have mercy on me, a sinner" (Luke 18:10-14).

The Jesus Prayer

• Paul teaches us to ‘pray unceasingly’ (1 Thess 5:17)
• It is also linked to the Song of Solomon's passage from the Old Testament: "I sleep, but my heart is awake" (Song of Solomon 5:2)
• The analogy being that as a lover is always conscious to his or her beloved, people can also achieve a state of "constant prayer" where they are always conscious of God's presence in their lives.
• Prayer of the heart
• The Jesus Prayer is composed of two statements. The first one is a statement of faith, acknowledging the divine nature of Christ. The second one is the acknowledgment of one’s own sinfulness.
• Out of them the petition itself emerges: "have mercy."
• The Jesus Prayer is, first of all, a prayer addressed to God. It's not a means of self-deifying or self-deliverance.
• The aim is not to be dissolved or absorbed into nothingness or into God, or reach another state of mind, but to (re)unite with God (which by itself is a process) while remaining a distinct person.
• It is an invocation of Jesus' name, not vain repetition
• Acknowledging "a sinner" is to lead firstly to a state of humbleness and repentance, recognizing one's own sinfulness.
• Practicing the Jesus Prayer is strongly linked to mastering passions of both soul and body, e.g. by fasting.
• Unlike mantras, the Jesus Prayer may be translated into whatever language the pray-er customarily uses. The emphasis is on the meaning, not on the mere utterance of certain sounds.
• There is no emphasis on the psychosomatic techniques

picture source
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Overflowing from the Fullness of Christ

Will My Future Clinic Look Like This?

The Office of the Future features a variety of products to help pediatricians transition to the patient-centered medical home concept.

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Strengthening in the Fullness of Christ

Building Up in the Fullness of Christ

St John of the Cross on Being Still

The more spiritual a man is, the more he discontinues trying to make particular acts with his faculties, for he becomes more engrossed in one general, pure act, a calm and repose of interior quietude.

The soul would want to remain in that unintelligible peace as in its right place. Since people do not understand the mystery of that new experience, they imagine themselves to be idle and doing nothing.

They must learn to abide in that quietude with a loving attentiveness to God. At this stage the faculties are at rest and do not work actively but passively, by receiving what God is effecting in them.

St John of the Cross

Tony Bennett - I left my heart in San Francisco

The Samurai in San Francisco

Visited a Samurai exhibition in Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

Asian Art Museum-Chong-Moon Lee center for Asian Art and Culture.
moved to present site in 2003
the former city's public library
the architecture of the building is as impressive as the art collections

a bookmobile outside the Main Library in the Civic Center

Nature Reflects God's Might in Yosemite

Visited Yosemite National Park

River Merced reflecting the mountains- a peaceful scene

Yosemite Waterfall without water falling (dry season)

El-Kapitan, the highest granite cliff in the world
(background's hazy because of forest fire)

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