Workshop brings biblical Greek to life
August 2, 2012
Learning to speak—and teach—a biblical language just as modern languages are learned and taught was the goal of the second annual Fluency Workshop for Instructors of Koine Greek.
This year 27 teachers based in the United States, Canada and other countries including Japan, China and Malawi met on the main FPU campus from July 23-August 1. Al participants gathered together in the morning, breaking up into small groups throughout the day and coming back together for the last half hour, according to event organizer Brian Schultz, Ph.D., assistant professor of biblical and religious studies at FPU.
Last year’s inaugural workshop was the first of its kind in North America, attracting 25 teachers. “Adding more this year exceeded my expectations,” Schultz said.
The idea behind the workshops, and undergraduate classes Schultz introduced at FPU, is to bring this “dead” language to life by speaking it conversationally, often using dolls and other props to create a situation. Participants learn New Testament Greek in an immersion environment, the same way Spanish and other languages are taught, which increases their understanding.
About the author
Wayne Steffen is university editor at Fresno Pacific University, where he edits Pacific magazine. Before joining FPU in 1996, he was a writer and editor at several community newspapers and a college in the Midwest.