Why Study the Koine Greek Language with Peter Watts

[@adhdpersons]

I really enjoyed that talk. I've been wanting to find the most purist form of how the Bible was originally written as, to me, the actual true message has (quite literally) been lost in translation; almost diluted beyond its intended meaning. I love the way you articulated Koine Greek as a veil. This is bang on as when I read/listened to the KJV of (say) Revelation and compared to how it was written in Koine Greek, the difference in wording, context and meaning was (quite literally) a Revelation! It's COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! I'm now so determined to learn Koine Greek!

[@ConsideringPhlebas]

The interesting thing about E pistis sou sesoken se/your faith has saved/healed you is that the double meaning works in Hebrew too. Hence the Hebrew New Testament translates it as 'emunatekh hosheah lakh' ( אמונתך הושיעה לך). Yasha' in the verb hosheah can mean both 'save' and 'deliver from an affliction/hardship,' i.e. heal.

[@g.v.3493]

«Μακάριος» = blessed, happy, lucky and all of the above. Blessed by being given something great and good; happy (presumably) because of what you’ve been given; lucky because you got something great and good....and now you know how hard it is to translate certain words. Also, how do you translate «γε», «γαρ», «ουν» and «δε»?

[@sarangbsr]

I am a follower of Stoicism Philosophy, and I specially want to learn it for deeply studying stoicism.

[@lancegoy9180]

Thank God for the Greek language.

[@Itsatz0]

"Never trust a Greek bearing gifts." Ever hear that before? It comes from Homer. The bible is a proven fiction. The people who forged these documents copied Homer.

[@Arkoudeides.]

itsatz Well actully is Φοβού τούς Δαναούς και δώρα φέροντες.Which means have fear the gifts from Danaus.Because Troyans were also Hellenes.

[@emarketer2974]

@@Itsatz0 Hmmm, where's the proof? I've searched high and low and haven't debunked anything in the Bible, the more I looked the more proof there is for it. Why make a statement you can't back up with facts?

[@eho6380]

@@emarketer2974 It contradicts science.

[@izzy350]

itsatz no ma’am let people be

[@Karen-fo5vs]

This video is very interesting.

[@learnbiblicalgreek316]

Regarding the pronunciation of Koine Greek please look up and research the following resources: “The Development of Greek and the New Testament: Morphology, Syntax, Phonology, and Textual Transmission”; “The Error of Erasmus and Un-Greek Pronunciations of Greek” by Caragounis A book on NT Greek that shows the Modern and Erasmian pronunciations is “A Basic Grammar of New Testament Greek by George Hadjiantoniou”. Do a Google search on these words: itacism, textual variants, development of the pronunciation of Greek.

[@matimbapower]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing

[@nicholaswilson525]

I don't understand a word you just said

[@dejenelemma88]

Thank you

[@tolefko]

The word ''logos'' is maybe the most difficult word to be translated in English from new testament.

[@vroomkaboom108]

and in my opinion the best one to refer to God for that reason. The idea is clear, but the true meaning is indescribable without loss

[@tolefko]

I believe that to understand logos you have to examine more the ancient greek. Logos cannot be distinguished easily into different meanings when its being used. I will use a debate in bibliography to describe you what is all about in my point of view :). The debate is: Does logic existed before speech, or speech before logic? In Greek language logos means both. So when you talk actually you express your logic...

[@Itsatz0]

Don't feel too bad, Greek linguists and theologians can't make sense of it either.

[@Arkoudeides.]

Logos=Divine logik

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

@@Arkoudeides. One way that I heard Logos defined was basically that it functioned like a "key" the ancients desired to "unlock the meaning" of everything. Therefore they might say "what is the Logos" or "what does it all mean"? and it was like John was saying "Jesus is the key to understanding it all" when he said "In the beginning was the Word".

[@seanheath711]

thanks

[@christsagkas8385]

to be "makarios" means to have the inner deep calm hapiness of being given salvation, mercy, comfort and a place in heaven's kingdom

[@seanheath711]

should I learn modern greek to pronounce greek properly or is Koine pronounced differently?

[@lesliedellow1533]

Even though, in its written form, modern Greek is recognisably the same language, pronunciation has changed greatly since 2,000 years ago. That doesn't mean you can't read biblical Greek with a modern pronunciation if you want to. Nowadays it is common for language text books to have accompanying CDs, which either come gratis, or which can be bought seperately.

[@lesliedellow1533]

There is nobody who can enforce the pronunciation of a language, even if they wanted to, and it is something in constant flux. Look at the way the pronunciation of American English has diverged from its southern counties counterpart in the last 500 years. The ancients left behind them some clues about how Latin/Greek was pronounced 2,000 years ago.

[@Karen-fo5vs]

Sean Heath Your question is very interesting.

[@g.v.3493]

After a long struggle with this question, I found a Biblical Greek course by Randal Buth, who had done so much research that his eyes must have bled. Basically Koine Greek sounded like modern Greek except for υ (and οι) which were pronounced “ü” (like in German) and η which was pronounced like αι. In modern Greek they are all pronounced like «ι». As to how we know this, there is more work that has gone into the question than you can imagine (part of it is analyzing around 10,000 + scraps of papyri that were written at the time by native speakers and looking for misspelled words. This is also how they know about the pronunciation of «θ», «φ», «ζ» and «χ» in Classical Greek. Dr. Buth’s pronunciation is widely used in Biblical Greek classes and is acknowledged by users of Erasmian pronunciation such as Dr. Christoph Rico. I hope this helps.

[@francesodonovan2068]

This is really interesting. God bless Frances

[@moodini99]

Ah. Koin ay Greek. Was wondering how it was pronounced

[@davidwhunt]

Helpful video.Thanks

[@Karen-fo5vs]

I agree.

[@ExVeritateLibertas]

The Septuagint - the Koine Greek translation of the Old Testament - is the oldest, extant, complete text of the OT. It also dates before Christ. This is the text quoted by Christ and the apostles in the New Testament. The oldest complete Hebrew text is from centuries after Christ, edited by Jews (who obviously, reject Christ) and changed the text in some crucial passages to obscure references to Christ. This is why the Orthodox Church has never and will never use the Hebrew Old Testament, relying on the Septuagint of translations based on it.

[@gixxerfixxer4159]

ExVeritateLibertas Surely we should be able to at least use the Hebrew Old Testament before Christ, right? Those manuscripts couldn't have been edited.

[@jailbird11]

Gixxer Fixxer Good luck finding any closest are dead sea scrolls and they are like Septuagint!

[@sleeexs]

He didnt exist

[@sleeexs]

Who changed the text? What language did the hebrews speak? Greek or hebrew?

[@sleeexs]

@@gixxerfixxer4159 They weren't

[@StructureinSound]

and what about the Aramaic spoken by Jesus, translated into Koine Greek? Just how many "Vails" are there? Was some Gospels started as Aramaic spoken, then written into Biblical Hebrew, then written into Koine Greek? Then did those Translators have hidden agenda's, like "it was the Jews fault Jesus was Crucified, NOT the Romans"?

[@theodorathanasiadis6629]

Aramaik Phoenix,Greek,Coptic have similarities.Ancient Israelite language is different.

[@christsagkas8385]

High thoughts must have high language.

[@ExVeritateLibertas]

You might be able to translate a text from 2000 years ago. That doesn't mean you understand what it meant then. Look at the arguments about the meaning of words in the US constitution, which was written in modern English, only 225 years ago. For example, the meaning of "well regulated militia" in the 2nd amendment. Today, "well regulated" means "strictly controlled." But in the 18th century, it meant "well trained" -- something also evidenced in the fact professional soldiers were called "regulars." Another example: "natural born citizen." Thankfully, to properly understand what the constitution was meant when it was written, we have ample resources - contemporary dictionaries and writings of people who wrote the constitution. (Which is not to say activist judges always care.) To properly understand the Bible, we have the Church Fathers, men who wrote in the first centuries of Christianity and many of whom spoke and wrote Koine Greek as a native language. Those texts are just as important as the Bible, if we seek proper understanding.

[@jailbird11]

ExVeritateLibertas : God Bless you , ps we did not have libtards then !

[@thetrollpatrol8799]

ExVeritateLibertas by your logic, how do you know what the early church fathers meant? You just pushed the problem one step out and are putting your faith in men who were not inspired to write Biblical revelation

[@emarketer2974]

ExVeritateLibertas This is true, English translators of the Bible use modern translations of the Greek which is not accurate. They translate to the word eternal but according to Koine Greek dictionaries the true translation is for an age, or a time that's not eternal, a temporary time. And this is used for the punishment after death, where people think punishment is eternal, but it's not, the true translation is for an age, so unknowing to most people they think hell is eternal punishment but it's not, it's like a prison sentence. Also they translate Hades, Sheoul and two other places as Hell, and they are not all the same places, Hell is a made up word. Never trust English translations, ANY OF THEM! Learn Koine Greek with modern pronunciation and get some ancient Greek Lexicons like LSL or something. Meanings of words change over time, that's a fact, so what they meant 2000 years ago is not what they mean now in many cases.

[@emarketer2974]

@@thetrollpatrol8799 You get an ancient Greek dictionary/lexicon!

[@tonycosta8137]

@@emarketer2974 please respond i knew hell was not a real place added by the English translations...please correct me and or share with me

[@georgedakoglou2930]

Ο Ιπποκράτης Δάκογλου είναι νεοέλληνας επιστήμονας που ασχολείθηκε με την φιλοσοφία του Πυθαγορα. Στις μελέτες του αναλυει και αποκωδικοποιεί την φιλοσοφία του μεγάλου έλληνα μαθηματικου και φιλοσόφου και έδωσε αλγεβρική λύση στο πυθαγόρειο θεωρημα μετά απο 2600 χρόνια με την αποκάλυψη των “Τριάδων”. Με τα τέσερα βιβλία του που τιτλοφορούνται “Ο ΜΥΣΤΙΚΟΣ ΚΩΔΙΚΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΥΘΑΓΟΡΑ” είναι από του ελάχιστους μελετητες που μελέτησαν και εμβάθυναν στην φιλοσοφία του τόσο στην Ελλάδα όσο και σε διεθνές επίπεδο. Το όνομά του συμπεριλαμβάνεται μεταξύ των τεσσάρων αρχαίων μαθηματικών Πυθαγορα, Πλατων, Ευκλείδη, Διοφάντους και Δακογλου. Βλεπε ΒΙΚΙΠΑΙΔΕΙΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΔΑΚΟΓΛΟΥ. Η Βικιπαιδεια διεγραψε τη σελιδα και δυστιχος δεν την παρουσιζη. Ο Δακογλου Ιπποκράτης Αλγεβρικη λυση Πυθαγορειου θεωρηματος,αλλα δυστιχος το ΝΟΒΕΛ ΜΑΘΗΜΑΤΙΚΟ το εδωσαν το 2015 στον αγλο ΑΝΔΡΙΟ ΓΟΥΕΛΣ για την λυση ΦΕΡΜΑΤ. Και ερχωμε στην ουσια των δυο θεωρειματων ποιο εκ των δυο επρεπε να παρει το ΝΟΒΕΛ το ενα ειχε να λυθη 2600 χρωνια το αλο 300 χρωνια. Ερχομαι στου Μαθηματικους, στο βιβλιο του Δακογλου Ο ΜΥΣΤΙΚΟΣ ΚΟΔΙΚΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΥΘΑΓΟΡΑ τριτος τομος σελις 159-161 ΑΝΤΙΠΑΡΑΔΕΙΓΜΑΤΑ Συνθηκη (23) μας επαληθευουν την ανισοτητα.Συνθηκη (32)ισοτητα η δυο συνθηκες θα αξιολογισου τη λυση ΦΕΡΜΑΤ. ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΔΑΚΟΓΛΟΥ Hippocrate Dakoglou est un scientifique grec moderne qui a traité de la philosophie de Pythagore. Dans ses études, il analyse et décode la philosophie du grand mathématicien et philosophe grec, et a donné la solution algébrique au théorème de Pythagore après 2600 ans avec la découverte de la « Trinité ». Avec les livres Tesserete intitulé « LE SECRET CODE Pythagoras » est l'un des rares chercheurs qui ont étudié et approfondi en philosophie en Grèce et à l'étranger. Son nom figure parmi les quatre mathématiciens anciens Pythagore, Platon, Euclide, Diophage et Dakoglou. Voir VICTORY GREECE GEORGIOS DAKOGLOU. Wikipedia a déchiffré la page et était malheureux de ne pas la présenter. La solution algébrique Dakoglou Hippocrate théorème de Pythagore, mais la dystichos Novella a donné en 2015 MATHÉMATIQUES à Whalsay agglomérat Andrio pour l'analyse FERMAT. Et nous venons à l'essence des deux considérations que les deux ont dû prendre NOVEL qui a dû résoudre 2.600 ans les 300 ans. mathématiciens Il, dans son livre Le troisième volume Dakoglou SECRET KODIKAS Pythagoras SELI 159-161 conditions de contre-(23) nous vérifions la anisotita.Synthiki (32) l'égalité des deux conditions sera la solution ÉVALUATION FERMAT. GEORGIOS DAKOGLOU Hippocrates Dakoglou is a modern Greek scientist who has dealt with Pythagoras' philosophy. In his studies he analyzes and decodes the philosophy of the great Greek mathematician and philosopher and gave an algebraic solution to the Pythagorean theory after 2600 years with the revelation of the "Triads". With his four books titled "THE SECRET CODE OF PYTHAGORA" is one of the few studies he studied and deepened in his philosophy both in Greece and internationally. His name is among the four ancient mathematicians Pythagoras, Platon, Euclid, Diophagus and Dakoglou. See VICTORY GREECE GEORGIOS DAKOGLOU. Wikipedia has deciphered the page and was unhappy not presenting it. Dakoglou Hippocrates Algebraic solution of Pythagorean theorem, but unpalatable by NOVEL MATHEMATICS, they delivered it in 2015 to the naughty MEN WELLS for the solution of Fermat. And we come to the essence of the two considerations which of the two had to take NOVEL that had to solve 2,600 years the 300 years. I come to the Mathematicians, in the book of Dakoglou THE SECRET KODIKA OF PYTHAGORA the third volume of the party 159-161 REPRESENTATIVES Treaty (23) verify the inequality.This condition (32) the two conditions will be the outcome of the solution FERMA. GEORGIOS DAKOGLOU Η Ανω Μεταφραση απο την GOOGLE

[@janeza382]

Romans translated Cristian texts in 4thc. on Greek alphabet...

[@rthfalconer1306]

The story of christianity is written in Koine greek because it was originally a personal salvation cult invented by hellenized jews. They used a greek translation of the hebrew bible as their "scripture" and created a personal salvation cult in the tradition of other mystery cults prevalent in the roman empire at the time.

[@johndavenport5063]

The big verse, "...believeth in Him...", pisteuOn eis auton! I've been taught that believeth is a progressive participle. Continued action. In other words, continued believing in him". An accepted "scholar" in my community has alleged that the participle "pisteuOn" followed by the preposition eis and the personal pronoun auton, stops the action of the participle! Does this accretion have merit?

[@defineart4076]

No

[@hebrewgreek7420]

When Jesus was teaching in Matthew 5, in the Sermon on the Mount, he would not have been speaking in Greek to the people gathered. Like other Jewish sages of the tannaitic period, he would have been teaching in Hebrew. The land was trilingual in the first-century, with Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek all three being spoken. (Yes, Hebrew was still alive and well at the time. The scholarship on Mishnaic Hebrew has known this for 100 years.) The Greek term μακάριοι MAKARIOI in Matthew 5 reflects a Hebrew אַשְׁרֵי ashrei.

[@seankennedy4284]

Excellent post. Indeed, some argue that the books of the NT were (largely) originally penned in Hebrew, based upon the presence in the texts of so-called Hebraisms, which can be discovered only when the Greek is (back-)translated into Hebrew.

[@emarketer2974]

You do realise that Greek was the common language among the people at that time, commoners, traders everyday people spoke Greek. Aramaic and Hebrew was largely spoken at home. This would also explain why NT quotes from Jesus and the Apostles go hand in hand with the Greek LXX. Which don't agree so much with Masoretic Hebrew. All evidence shows the New Testament was written in Greek!

[@emarketer2974]

@@seankennedy4284 It was Greek. GREEK!

[@onceuponatime6462]

MAKARIOS= THE BLESSYFULL BUT BETTER THE ONE THAT IS IN ETERNAL NIRVANA THAT NOTHING CAN TOUCH HIS SERENITY!

[@DemetriosMPapadakes]

Well said, and eloquent. This instructor is well learned and a true lover of Greek, however, I disagree with one thing: People should not learn Greek merely in order to study the New testament. Learning Greek in order to study the New Testament is like learning astrophysics in order to study apples falling from trees. People ought to and must and need to learn Greek in order to access the treasure of the Divine Logos itself imparted and embedded within its linguistic fabric throughout its literary corpus. Some Hellenes still live and speak and write in what you call , and we adhere to our traditions, passed on from grandfather to grandson for 50-55 generations in secrecy due to religious oppression from Christians and the Church. Here's some theurgy in video... for those theologians that can even discern its processional elements in visual symbolism using original Greek (or what you might deem 'reconstructed') as I've learned it from my progeny. Here's "Μακάριος" in the true meaning that the interviewer asks Peter Watts about: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGnZfGeiYsx_mNE Μακάριος is something extremely important that precedes Christianity. It is not just about being blessed and happy, but about true εὐδαιμονία and prosperity in both physical and spiritual form. It is about being in a state sought by all others, thus remembered and revered and honoured in glory in posterity akin to what one would do for the gods themselves, wherefore one would have in effect attained (apo)theosis. The very essence of this universe is μακάριος, in that we are made of the stuff of matter which guides our τύχη. Modern Christianity is a simplified dissonant travesty of distilled cherry-picked elements from Hellenism together with ill-matched incongruously amalgamated Judaic-esque elements and doctrine. Jesus the peripatetic who studied in Alexandria and was initiated in Delphi and Eleusis and of whose whereabouts we conveniently we know nothing about until the time he returned to Judea, was as much Jewish as I'm an alien astronaut from the future. If only scholars would sit down and try to prove, instead of accepting in due repetition rendered fact, whether Jesus was at the very least a Hellenized Jew or a Hellenas, things would all fall into perspective and start making sense. Have health and continue your good work

[@TangomanX2008]

You sound to me like you have a stake a personal Jesus with a Greek identity. There are plenty of reasons to study Greek that go beyond reading the New Testament. However, the New Testament is important, at the very least, of being scripture. That alone is reason enough to study the New Testament. And and while theology is important, whether it is material explaining the nature of God or the nature of man kind, it is secondary to the New Testament. Lets not forget that much secondary material are not merely reflection but different perspectives, and some with disagree with each other. This is not to say that extra biblical material isn't important, or cannot play a role in understanding the New Testament. As far as your comment regarding scholars. Perhaps what has happened is that the evidence you hope for a Hellenised Jesus simply isn't there. You mention that certain things will "fall into place" if they do. What, exactly is out of place without a Hellenized Jesus? It seems to matter to you a lot. If he was Hellenized, it certainly didn't matter to New Testament authors, especially those that wrote the Gospels. Perhaps you should reflect on why it is important to you for Jesus to be Hellenized. Those who know even a little bit of culture already recognize the seminal work the Ancient Greeks made to humanity, philosophy, drama, science, the discipline of history, engineering, etc. And anyone who knows even a little about the history of Christianity knows the role that Greek preachers, philosophers, and theologians played in the development of Christianity. It seems, by your statement, you want further Greek Glory by adding Greekness to God as well.

[@deanodog3667]

TangomanX2008 i dont think he is saying that at all , jesus was raised close to the decapholis and at the time sepphoris was being rebuilt , if jesus was a "tekton" as described in the bible then he would have been exposed to all manner of greek philosophers , in fact sepphoris was known as the city of philosophers , some scholars have come to believe that jesus was a kind of jewish-cynic because of parallels with his teachings and this philosophical school .

[@TangomanX2008]

I am not sure I understand the significance of Jesus being a technon have to do with the possibility of Him being a Jewish cynic philosopher. That is kind of like saying that an electrician living in L.a. an expert medicine because he lives in the LA area where there are lots of medical schools there. As far as his resemblance of the parallels between his parables and a cynic philosopher school, that is week since his overall message is definitely isn't a cynic message. You only get that if you take bits and pieces of what Jesus said out of context. While I want to avoid speaking for +Dimitris, I don't think he would agree with what you are saying. I suspect that Dimitry and I share certain believes about the nature of God and Jesus (The Holy Trinity, that Jesus is both God and Man, a hypostatic union), that the New Testament is a message from God to man, etc). Of course, I am coming from a Protestant Tradition, and he comes across as coming from a Greek Orthodox tradition (or something very close to it). I would be very surprised if he considered's Jesus message being a type of Jewish Cynicism. I suspect that if he believes that Jesus was under Greek influence from a Jewish community, it would have been some sort of Judaism with a strong Platonist bent (that is, if he thought of any such influence at all, which he might not).

[@deanodog3667]

TangomanX2008 platonism,stoicism,cynicism or epicureanism were intertwined and at there zenith in the 1st century , to say jesus wasnt exposed to this in the area he lived and grew up in is like saying he wasnt exposed to the sun and sand !

[@deanodog3667]

christianity is just hellenized judaism , jesus and his followers were standing on the shoulders of giants , and greek giants at that !

[@ijvega]

I think you Christians should remember that the first person to translate the New Testament into English was burned at the stake for his pains. William Tyndall. Of course he was translating the Latin version. His heresy was to try to make the New Testament accessible to ordinary people. He shouldn't have bothered.

[@horror11]

the bible was written in greek because the roman empire adopted christianity as state religion and the capital of the roman empire was constantinople since 330 ad and by then greek was the administrative language . the pronouncation by todays greeks is certainly the closest u can get about the ancient greek language. this language was a spoken language and the time of the roman empire when it was greek (today we call it byzantine) the language is in use from generation to generation and even if parts of it have changed the pronouncation wont have changed in regard to the letters. a phi was allway a phi, a rho was allways a rho, the only difference which ocured undoubtedly is that different region have different dialects but only small variations happen , jut like today in every language. just keep in mind, if u want to learn how the german language or the english language was pronounced 1000 years ago, who would u trust more , a japanese teacher who learned the language with his mother tongues dialect or a english teacher who was born and raised by ppl who also was born and raised by ppl who descent in a direct line from the ppl who spoke the language 1000 years ago? greek is spoken for 3000 years continously, even the changes from ancient to modern greek had the transmission through GREEK PARENTS to their CHILDS , so the closest thing u can ever get is certainly not a english pronouciation or german pronounciation because of the natural border of their own lanuage pronounciation. so i would trust by far a greek teacher who teaches ancient greek how to pronounce words than a univesity professor in tokio no matter how many diploms he got. greek teachers pronounce koinon ke-non, they dont say oi , its a micsonception from 19th century by ppl who had no greek foreknowledge. non greek teacher of ancient greek can read and understand greek but they have no background of pronouncing it,

[@joannagrimeki7415]

The Bible was written in greek because of the Hellenistic periode BC!if Alexander would not have conquered the known world and if he didnt spread Hellenism,be sure the NT would be written in latin maybe...without him were koine greek not the lingua franca back then! Byzant came much later,the Bible was existing from the first centuries AC!i agree with your comment,i had only this ,,correcture,, to make!

[@authorcharlieg]

Why not point out the puns and double entendre, in particular in John. "Already the ax is set tot the tree. In Hebrew 8s means tree and counselor. The translator must choose one or the other. Matthew means both. When Mark has Jesus heal the blind man, the first time he sees walking trees/counselors. The second time he sees completely. He seems them as people. No translation can get this. What of Luke where Luke gives the example of the man with seven demons, in Hebrew Shad. Then Luke gives us the woman blessing Jesus, seemingly, she says Blessed are is the breast which gives you suck. The word for breast is also Shad. The Greek word for Justice is Dikaios and means custom. In Hebrew it means something else coming from the Jewish First Commandment. Remember, "I am God your Almighty Judge who rescued you... " from the third Commandment... "Remember what it was like to be there and remember your rescue. When you see others suffering get out there and do something." Justice and mercy become identical. You are justified by faith through grace, becomes you are made charitable by faith through grace. Put on the new person. The idea of habit comes in here, Aristotle. Paul calls us to put on the new person, the new habit. Be charitable. If we could create a society where all were charitable all the time, it could throw away the rules, just like St. Paul says. We would no longer need them. Yes, we need to read Greek, and we need to read Hebrew and Aramaic.

[@emarketer2974]

Mathew and Mark were originally written in Greek, what are you talking about Hebrew?

[@preussenuberalles1682]

Since this is the blog of a Univrrsity, I expect somebody to pick up the glove. Why do you say _'Christianity'_ instead of _'Christianism'_ to call the Christian religion? The etymology of the suffixes -ism and -ity and the name of the rest of religions as well, including the Christian ones, attest that the right choice is -ism. Judaism, Jainism, Hinduism, Bhuddism, Mazdeism, Zoroastrism, Confucianism, Shintoism, etc. Even Paganism, Atheism, Agnosticism and Gnosticism. Also Catholicism, Protestantism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Methodism, etc. Some don't take any suffix such as Orthodoxia, *but no other religion takes the suffix -ity!*

[@hutchieboy242]

None of the other Isms deal with a self existent being and this is why Chrisianity cannot be desctibed as an ism Isms only apply to different expressions of Christianity or Religion.

[@kwadwosarpong6951]

Because Christianity is not a religion but the life of God in man.

[@stevenv6463]

Islam also doesn't take ism or ity. It is originally a verb. And unlike other religions (although not sure about Sikhism) it doesn't take its name from a person (eg Judaism) or region (eg Hinduism)

[@defineart4076]

Ism is for the name of the idea, ity is for the people

[@askingalexandra756]

It would be like we, Greeks, used the term χριστιανοτητα instead of χριστιανισμος

[@tbillyjoeroth]

thus, language is an inexact science!

[@onceuponatime6462]

if you don't learn Greek you will never know that the word Christ is not a name because nobody ever lived to be called Christ but it's just an epithet calling Jeshua the golden, useful one! So, simple!

[@Laocoon283]

It's quite obvious in english because he's called "the christ" not christ soooo.... yea.

[@lextalionis3754]

Knowing the original languages is NOT necessary in order to have a full-orbed understanding of God's Word whether one is a layperson or a minister of the Word. Professor Watts' analogy falls short in that when a Christian picks up a translation of the Bible, it is not *one* person translating the unknown language to you (in which case it would likely be more like a paraphrase), but a team of original language experts (usually scores of them) and English language experts producing a translation. Further, we have a number of excellent English translations available to us using the two different philosophies of translation (which we can compare) and a myriad of commentaries on the whole Bible by OT and NT scholars versed in the original languages. Still further, I have on my bookshelves 25-30 books which mine the meaning of highly used Hebrew and Greek words if I think it necessary to know that. Knowing the original languages is NOT necessary in order to have a full-orbed understanding of God's Word whether one is a layperson or a minister of the Word.

[@MaxBorges888]

You never translated a text from any language to another. Words have different tags to other words and ideas in different languages. The word took for example is very good: salvation in today's Christianity usually means "escape from hell" so it has hell tagged in English but in Koine Greek it had "health" tagged. Aionios is another important case: In Greek it had "life time" and "a long time (that changes everything)" tagged, in English, the word most commonly used to translate aionios, "eternal", has "infinite time" and "immutability" tagged. Because of the immutability tagged to "eternal", for those that study the New Testament only in English, it seems that the perfection occurs instantly after salvation whereas for those that read Koine Greek it is not so. This gives other implications like "can one lose their salvation?", since the experience shows that perfection (imutability) don't follow salvation, and so on.

[@PreNiceneTV]

The language of God. Quite literally.

[@lm7_gio]

"Theology": the scientific study of a subject that has its base on principles that are directly opposing the principles of science. If that's not funny i don't know what is.

[@dharakis]

the word greek is a derogatory word. the believers were known as ελληνικη.

[@secrecy3915]

Greek for Greek. That’s kinda like saying Ingles is derogatory. Unless you have a source for what you say.

[@onceuponatime6462]

Interpretation gives a heretic meaning to the original text! Try to learn Greek if you want your mind to expand! After all, nobody knows Greek except maybe Homer! Greek is a way of thinking not a language its Arithmosophy.