It's All Greek to Me

tonight, as soon as i post this, i will work some more on my greek translation homework. i am pursuing a bachelor of arts in religion, which requires four semesters of greek. i am in semester number two. i still have a long row to hoe. while i do plan to work in ministry as a vocation, i am not completely sure what my pastoral role will be. while i do not plan to do in depth translation work, i do believe that it is important to have some knowledge of the biblical languages. for the pastor who is actively involved in practical ministry, what is the appropriate amount of language study? personally, i think that with the growth in technology, it is less necessary to be able to do direct translation. i think it is more important to know how to use language tools. i promise that i am not just saying this because greek is difficult, although it is. i prepare for teaching with the use of my computer. this is the same computer that i would use to research the greek and/or hebrew texts. that being said, during the last semester and half, i have gained more appreciation for the precision of the greek text, as well as the work done by the translation teams who have prepared the bibles that i rely upon. god certainly has blessed their hard work. i will climb down from my soapbox now. i have put off long enough my translation of 1 john. i am sure it will come out much like a combination of the new american standard bible and the english standard version.