Friday, January 19, 2007

A Plan

Finally, as we're in our second to last month in Korea, we have a plan. I was starting to get a bit anxious, but the Lord knows just when to give us what we ask for - and did I ask for something. Praise the Lord for His greatness! I have been called - and I respond.

I have been accepted to study in the Master of Arts in Biblical Languages (MABL) program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Susan will now apply and we are planning to head there this summer. The school is in Massachusetts, just North of Boston, on one of the commuter rail lines.

The Biblical languages are Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, to start with. There are others which provide invaluable resources for following the textual history of our Scriptures and for deepening our understanding of the cultures which are part of the Biblical world. Coptic is the main other language I want to study, and I suppose latin will have to be a part of study at some point. It is all so very exciting.

Susan and I met studying New Testament Greek in the same class three summers ago. It was a solid start to a friendship of believers. Now married, we still share our love for the original languages of the Christian Scriptures and wish to become fluent in them. These languages are not necessary for every follower of Christ to know, but their fruit (translated Bibles) is imperative - as is the the ongoing work of scholarly Biblical interpretation for the Church.

We will spend the next few months reviewing what we learned in Montréal and getting ready for what will come. Only a few weeks left here. We'll be buying airplane tickets next week (although we'd both rather take a boat).

3 comments:

Anna N said...

Congratulations on being accepted! That's great news!

Anonymous said...

When do you guys start there? Sounds like it's close enough that you coud visit Montreal.... ;)

Susan said...

Hi Julie! We're planning to arrive mid-June. It sure is a lot closer to Montreal than Korea... but I know not if the budget of two graduate students will allow for any pleasure trips.

You could come visit us too, you know!