Scribes Trained for the Kingdom

As a Pre-Grammar, this book is intended as a prelude leading to New Testament (NT) Greek studies. (1) It focuses on why the pursuit of Greek as a spiritual discipline can be an exciting adventure that forever changes the way one reads the Bible; and (2) it gives one a taste of the language—a kind of “jump start.” Each chapter is divided into two sections:

I. SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE (with various titles)   The first section of each chapter is the primary focus of the book.  It emphasizes and illustrates why the pursuit of NT Greek can be a spiritual discipline:  a life-long encounter with biblical texts,  a spiritual journey.

Chapters 1-3 briefly describe spiritual disciplines and why the pursuit of NT Greek belongs here. 

Chapters 4-10 lay out seven (7) benchmarks, one for each chapter.  By looking at one specific text from the Gospel of Matthew (13:52), these chapters highlight the pursuit of NT Greek as one way of serving God:  a truly spiritual discipline.  

II. TIME FOR GREEK (always this title) The second section of each chapter offers some very basic Greek, enough to give readers a taste for the language. This is not a “shortcut” to learning Greek. (There is no such thing!) Here, a mere taste of Greek is offered at a light pace, a kind of “jump start” into the language, or maybe like a “sampler” in a restaurant.  This small amount of the language is intended to help one see the larger picture as a way of serving God and to whet the appetite for taking the next step.   A focus only or even primarily on the Greek part of this book will result in missing the point of the book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS  

Explanation of Chapter Format:  9

Master List:  The 7 Spiritual Benchmarks    11

1 A GREEK EXPERIENCE    13

2 A SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE    21

3 A TIME TO SOW    31

4 SCRIBES    39

5 TRAINED    47

6 KINGDOM OF HEAVEN    55

7 HOUSEHOLD MANAGER    69

8 TREASURE    83

9 NEW    93

10 OLD    103

APPENDIX    119