The first five blog posts summarizing the argument in Reasons Christians Should and Can Learn Greek and Hebrew, the Biblical Languages explained the value of learning the Biblical languages and explained that the languages are not too difficult to learn–indeed, Biblical Greek and Hebrew are easier languages to learn than modern English.  Clearly, knowing the languages is valuable and attainable.  But people have objections.

 

1.) “Greek letters look different from English ones! Hebrew letters, even more so! Greek and Hebrew must be hard languages!”

 

While some people who begin to learn Greek and Hebrew do not finish what they started, there is just about nobody that cannot learn the Greek and Hebrew alphabet.  If toddlers can learn the alphabet in Israel and in Greece, adults can learn the same alphabet in English-speaking countries.

 

2.) “Learning Greek and Hebrew is dangerous:  such knowledge makes the person who knows the languages proud.”

 

There is no reason why learning God’s Word in Greek or Hebrew would contribute to pride rather than to humility, any more than learning God’s Word in English would contribute to pride rather than to humility.

 

3.) “Learning Greek and Hebrew is too hard.”

 

This objection was already examined in the part four of this seven part series.  However, even if learning the languages was very hard, it would not be as hard as being crucified.  But all Christians are called to daily cross-bearing, so they are all already called to something that is much harder than learning Greek or Hebrew.

 

4.) “Greek and Hebrew can be abused.”

 

Yes, the Bible in Greek or in Hebrew can be abused, as can the Bible in English.  Should we refrain from learning the English language because innumerable cults and false religions abuse the English Bible?  Because many preachers who warn about the dangers of Greek and Hebrew do not even know how to properly exposit the English text, should we avoid English?

 

5.) “I do not have time to learn Greek and Hebrew—I am too busy preparing for ministry or too busy, already serving in the ministry.”

 

Over the course of a lifetime of ministry, learning Greek and Hebrew actually saves tremendous amounts of time.  Exegetical conclusions that are easily and quickly determined by an examination of the original language text are hard and time consuming to someone who does not know the Biblical languages.

 

The objections above to learning the Biblical languages are insufficient.  They do not even come close to refuting the positive case for learning Greek and Hebrew summarized in the first five sections of this blog series or in the more comprehensive work Reasons Christians Should and Can Learn Greek and Hebrew, the Biblical Languages, pages 52-57 of which are summarized here.

 

–TDR