I want to tell you a little bit about how awesome I am. I’m usually not this direct, though many of you have suspected that this is how I see myself. Here are a few more things about my awesomeness you should know:
I have a circular saw. This means, of course, that I can build anything I want to. I can sit down and lay out plans for a tree house, buy the wood, fit the joints, and make the whole thing level, safe, and sturdy.
I have a baseball bat. This means, of course, that at any given moment I could jump onto the local softball team and become their ringer. Every time I step up to the plate I can get on base, and I usually get a hit. I have a bat, after all.
I also have an encyclopedia at my fingertips. This means, of course, that I know a little bit about almost everything in the world. I know about all the presidents, all the countries, and all the bacteria that cause diseases.
I also have a smart phone. This means, of course, that anytime I wanted to I could create a spaceship to put people on the moon. My EVO4G is more powerful than any mainframe they had way back in the ’60s. I’m amazing. I have power untold at my fingertips.
I also have access to Accordance and Bibleworks. This means, of course, that I know everything I need to know about the Greek language. I can translate and parse and investigate what words really mean. I can preach from the Greek and Hebrew. And I can probably write a grammar.
I’m so awesome because I have awesome tools. And once you have tools, what further need do you have for knowledge or skills?
I’ve taken 3 quarters of Greek (at Fuller, no less!), so I too can hit a softball.
Even if I’m the one pitching?
Well, I guess walking is always an option, but then why boast in the tool?
This is what I’ve been saying!
Although, you might want to exchange “Accordance and Bibleworks” with “Strong’s Concordance”.
Interesting point. I imagine that “Strong’s Concordance” is definitely the “tool of choice” among a certain group of scholars, while the tools Dr. Kirk mentions are decidedly more popular with another.
Yes, baseball bats are definitely popular among the neo-reformed crowd.
I just got a miter saw to try to build some patio furniture. I’m going to get a tutorial before I start using it–those things are powerful! Maybe we should respect/fear/insert verb those Bible nerd tools just like our power tools….
And not sure why I misspelled my own name. Should respect the keyboard as well.
I have access to Accordance on my smart phone. So, I am sending people to the moon, with my Greek grammar, so that they too can know what the words really mean because we all know, that what we don’t need are idiots on the moon.
I have a model ship, does that make me a captain?
I love the point. I have studied Greek (not Hebrew yet) and have spent the past three years since my schooling working in a church. I spend one day a week entirely on Greek work, while the other ministers chastise me for not just using the tools and trusting the work of those “smarter and more educated than me.” The more I’ve studied, the more I have found the language so beautiful that I love it, but also complex enough that you cannot just trust a tool.
I think your model ship makes to a model captain, worthy of emulation.
This is my favorite opening line in a blog this year:
“I want to tell you a little bit about how awesome I am.”
By the way, I feel as if you may abide with the lexical fallacy.