Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Don't learn Greek, just read the King James Bible!

Wow. Apparently we need to stay away from those dusty old documents and rely just on the "inspired" King James Bible, at least according to this fundamentalist Bible college (Grace Baptist College in Gaylord, Michigan) that proudly proclaims that it doesn't teach Greek:

Grace Baptist College theology majors are taught a far more orthodox school of thought called “textual evidence.” This school of thought is an in-depth, scholarly, and historically correct approach that equips the student with a far greater respect for the Received Text of the New Testament and the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament without compromising a simple faith in the “Scriptures.” (II Timothy 3:15-16) Thus, "textual evidence” places a greater emphasis upon the Bible’s own built-in dictionary than upon a Greek lexicon or Bible dictionary such as Baker, Davis, Easton, Harpers, or a host of others. While many study aids and published works are introduced to the theology student, the primary text that is taught is the text of the King James Bible itself. For the undergraduate theology major, almost half of the total credits for a Bachelor’s degree are accumulated Bible credits. We are not teaching the next generation of preachers about the Bible or how to critique the Bible; we are training them in and with the Bible. We are passionate in our desire to awaken those who are not aware of the hazards in Greek study. We believe Greek study has been and will continue to be the downfall of Protestant Fundamentalism. Therefore, we boldly stand with true Baptist history in providing this generation with a Bible college that TEACHES THE WHOLE ENGLISH BIBLE.

Well, what do you say to something like that?

(Hat Tip Dave Black)


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4 comments:

Unknown said...

The worst part is that there website claims they are a "School for the Thinking Fundamentalist".

The only way to keep 'em in is to keep 'em ignorant, I suppose.

Bethany W. said...

Arthur,

I am very saddened by this article! I want to cry at the thought of all those future ministers that have no idea of the original meaning of the words. Their line "We believe Greek study has been and will continue to be the downfall of Protestant Fundamentalism" really frightens me! They are actually afraid that if they teach/learn the original languages that their churches will crumble. How very sad. Do they realize what they are admitting?

Bethany

Unknown said...

Oh yea, these guys have been around for centuries. They will never have a serious voice. At the same time, very few seminary graduates know Greek and even fewer know Hebrew.

Jeremy Lee said...

There would be no Protestantism without the Greek New Testament. One of the beliefs that arose during the reformation was that one must go to the original sources. For the Reformers that meant the Greek New Testament.

Far from being historically correct, the viewpoint of this college is historically naive at best, theologically extreme, and biblically indefensible.