Some of you may know that Greek and I have a love-hate relationship. This semester, I have had the opportunity to take Exegesis of Revelation with Dr. Sean McDonough. As part of the course requirements, we are asked to read the entire book of Revelation in Greek (which makes sense, of course). At present, I have finished through chapter 14. I am pleasantly surprised to find that it actually hasn’t been that bad. What do you know.

Now, I know that the Greek of Revelation is not the hardest to be found in the NT, but generally speaking I find myself able to read with some proficiency (if not very rapidly) and have even enjoyed reading the book in Greek.

Of course, some of this may have to do with the fact that the class itself is one of the best I have taken at GCTS. Dr. McDonough is not only knowledgeable, but is also very engaging (and hilarious) as a teacher. His passion for the book of Revelation clearly comes through when he teaches, causing me to in turn feel excited about the subject. Of course, anyone who regularly uses examples from fantasy literature and media such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter is okay in my book.

My previous knowledge of Revelation has up until now been limited to what I know from reading the book in English and what I learned in my dispensationalist upbringing and my dispensationalist Bible college. I have since fairly thoroughly rejected dispensationalism, but at least as far as the book of Revelation goes, I’ve never heard a good teacher teach on the subject from another perspective, nor have I really bothered to study it out on my own in any depth. In fact, I’ve rather avoided Revelation like the plague (second only to Paul).

That being said, I am amazed to find that Revelation is an absolutely beautiful, amazing literary masterpiece, with a powerful message that seems to have been completely lost in the midst of pop theology of the Tim LaHaye variety. Since my knowledge is so stunted, my mind has been a sponge in this class.

It makes me wonder what would have happened if I had had a New Testament teacher like Dr. McDonough in college in addition to an absolutely amazing Old Testament teacher. No, no, don’t worry, I’m not thinking about changing to New Testament studies. However, it just goes to show you what excitement a good teacher who is passionate about his or her subject can generate. It has been refreshing to feel again like I did in Bible College when first discovering the joys of the Old Testament. Sometimes it is so easy to get bogged down in the papers and exams and pressures of trying to “perform” well, and forget the initial pure joy of learning about something I love that set me down this path.

That being said, I have a Revelation test tomorrow morning for which I need to go study!