It’s Greek to Me Part 1
Some of the unique elements of classical Christian education are the languages we study. At Emmanuel, we currently teach Greek. We hope to add Latin in the future.
Historically speaking this is not unique. In times past good education entailed the study of the classical languages. John Adams was not only fluent in Greek, but told his son to read Thucydides in the original Greek “which is the most perfect language.” Alexander Hamilton was expected to know Greek and Latin as a prerequisite for admission to college.
But the world is much changed since those days, and many people question the value of learning these old and ancient languages.
As a student of Scripture, I can tell you that the entire language of the New Testament is Koine (pronounced KEY-Nay) Greek. Koine is a subdialect of Attic (Ancient) Greek. And Greek certainly is worthwhile for its value in the study of Scripture. But there’s much more than that.
I want to sell my readers on the idea that Greek (and by extension, Latin) is not merely desirable, but ESSENTIAL. And I want to do that through a series of posts wherein I examine the influence of Greek on English. I’m so bold as to say you already speak Greek, you just don’t realize it.
Greek and Latin are the two single largest influences on the English language. It is estimated that 60% of English words have a Greek or Latin root. In some fields of study, such as medicine, law, science and technology, the figure rises to over 90%. Of those English words without a Greek or Latin root, the single largest main contributor is German. Somewhere around 150,000 English words are Greek, so you could write an entire PhD dissertation using only English words of Greek origin.
But this isn’t theoretical, let’s think through some examples:
- Phobia
- Bible
- Logic
- Academy
- Chronology
- Economy
- Cosmos
- Micro
- Zoo
- Panic
All of these words, and many more, have Greek origins. “Phobia” is, as you might guess, fear. “Bible” comes from Biblio, which simply means “book.” The Bible is The Book. “Logic” comes from Logos, in John 1:1 we are told in the beginning was the Logos (Word). “Economy” is a conjunction of eco (house/home) and nomos (law). Thus the “economy” is “the law of the house.”
I would venture a bet nearly every reader uses most words on that list, either in speaking, reading, or writing. The fact is you already speak Greek, even if you didn’t know it before.
But imagine that you did know it. Imagine studying this at a younger age. How much of our language would that unlock? How much would that increase your comprehension of language? How much would that fire your imagination, and expand your world of ideas and concepts?
I hope you see Greek is worth studying. But more than that, it is essential. It unlocks the English language and opens the mind to a new way of seeing and understanding the world. Greek is a key, unlocking some of the greatest ideas ever written in human history. And as Christians, it is the language through which the entire New Testament and the Gospel is revealed to humans.
You speak Greek and may not realize it. But imagine the potential unleashed when our children speak it, realize it, and love it. And loving it, they use it to explore worlds of ideas inaccessible to us. Such a goal is more than worth all the means we must expend to attain it.
