News

New Festival Video

22/12/2009

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Korean Methodists Come to Cliff

16/12/2009

Cliff College has recently hosted a group of Korean Methodist ministers and students.  Led by Rev Dr Donghwan Kim, the group have taken a week's teaching in mission at the college delivered by some of our academic staff.  As part of the overall visit the group have been able to visit Methodist Church House and Epworth, and take in some of the sights of London and Derbyshire.

Dr Stephen Skuce commented, 'This is the first step in an ongoing collaboration with some Korean Methodist groups.  They are hoping to create links with Cliff College on a number of levels and it is anticipated that several joint projects may develop.  For Cliff it's great to be associated with perhaps the most powerful national church within world Methodism, and flattering that they have come looking for these relationships with us.  It ties in well with our work with Nigerian Methodism and enables Cliff to play an increasingly important role in international Methodism'.

Biblical Languages

14/12/2009

One of the things about the BA course in Theology at Cliff College which excites me is the provision it makes for the teaching of the biblical languages, Hebrew and Greek.

Perhaps I should stress at the outset that these subjects are not compulsory, and if your interests are in different fields, or if you feel that learning an ancient language is more than you can cope with, then no one is going to require you to study them while you are at the College, but for those who feel up to it, and are interested, Cliff can take you to the highest levels of proficiency in either language.

Why do I say tat these courses excite me? Partly because I teach New Testament Greek at Cliff College myself, and have taught Hebrew at other colleges in the past, but partly also because I really believe that knowing one or both of the biblical languages is a great benefit in all kinds of ways. Let me name four:

To begin with, I find it to be a blessing to be in direct touch with the actual words which the biblical authors wrote, especially in view of the fact that we believe that it was the original text of Scripture which God inspired rather than any particular translation. I personally use the Greek text of the New Testament in my morning devotions every day, because I find that I can get inside the mind of the author, and thereby inside the mind of God, more fully than is possible through any English translation.

Secondly, the capacity to read the original text gives one the capacity to weigh up the value of different translations of the Bible. There is a large variety of translations of the Bible in English today, and often in house groups one finds that the members bring their own versions and puzzle together over their differences without knowing which version to trust the more. It is of great value to be in a position to evaluate the different translations, to see which ones stand closer to the original text and which have taken liberties with it in the interests of interpretation. Knowing the biblical languages gives one that capacity.

Thirdly, knowledge of the biblical languages opens the door on a whole range of scholarship which remains virtually closed to those who are nor familiar with them. The whole science of textual criticism, for example, which enables the student to assess the worth of variant readings within the manuscript tradition, is within reach of those who can handle the biblical languages. So are many commentaries and other works of biblical scholarship which assume a working knowledge of Hebrew and/or Greek.

Fourthly, as John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, once said: ‘What I learn, that I teach'. The benefits of knowing the biblical languages are not just for ourselves, but are to be shared with others. Particularly if you are called to be a preacher, you will have ample opportunity to share the special knowledge you have derived from studying the biblical languages with others, so that they also may enter into some of the riches you have discovered.

Truly there are great benefits to be had from studying the biblical languages, and Cliff College is a place where you can be helped to learn them.

- Rev. Dr Peter Ensor