Why bother to learn Ugaritic? Why take the time to learn Phoenician script and pour over inscription dictionaries? Why look into Canaanite gods and read Ancient Near East texts? Is there any point to studying something so obscure? Can it possibly have any purpose other than generating more journal articles? Is this going to help my understanding of how to live my life in a godly manner? Why is all this so important?

Why, indeed. In a word, Shrek.

The movies Shrek and Shrek2 are journeys into fractured fairy tales. But reviewing the movies for entertainment value is not my point here. Even if you haven’t seen the movies you have probably heard that they are chock full of cultural references. And therein lies my point. Say in 1000 years some future generation uncovers a treasure trove of DVDs from some landfill. They sit down to see what kind of movies were captivating to this “ancient” civilisation. They pop the movie “Shrek” into the video retrieval system and watch. They probably figure out that this is a story about a princess who falls in love with someone who is not acceptable to her parents and the journey all the characters take toward a change in that opinion. It is about character mattering more than appearance. It is about family pressure. It is about making sacrifices for what is important.

But did they really “get” it? Well, they got the main point. But they hardly grasped the rich context that the movie employs for humor. Without those cultural references to music, movies, fairy tales, books, celebrities, and even institutions like Starbucks you just don’t really appreciate what the moviemakers were trying to communicate. (Gee, even most of the people who have watched the movies in the here and now have hardly caught them all… look here for a list four pages long to see how well you did.) You have to study the culture to fully understand the movie.

So, go back through history in the other direction. You have a book that is thousands of years old. It’s even written in an ancient language (but fortunately, you have a knack for languages and are able to overcome that barrier). You can (somewhat) easily grasp the narrative stories, the histories, the ritual songs and prophecies. But did you really “get” it? Well, yes and no. Of course, I am talking about the Old Testament. And yes, if you read it without any information at all you will learn of the wonderful way that God has revealed himself and interacted with people throughout history. But, you will miss some of the texture, some of the polemic, some of the beauty, and some of the details if you don’t understand the culture and surrounding societies of the people who wrote the book(s).

Case in point: Psalm 29. Great psalm. Speaks to me of the thunderous glory of God. But without knowing about the types of hymns that were written to the god of thunder Baal and the imagery used, I won’t fully appreciate all that is being done. I’m not saying to equate the praises of Yahweh with the hymns to Baal. But, I am asking to consider why (and to what purpose) the psalmist utilized the cultic culture around him.

We can learn much from Ancient Near East (ANE) texts and findings. Studying imagery in artwork, cultic observations, and even treaties helps to reveal richness and layers of understanding when applied to scripture. What can we learn from creation and flood stories of the surrounding cultures? It helps us to see that the way God chose to reveal himself and record that revelation was very carefully crafted to take advantage of the cultural context.

In addition to understanding our own scriptures better, we should learn that rather than scorn contextualization, we might recognize that God has used this to his purposes from the very beginning. This is not some new emerging method. It’s as old as… well, Genesis. We could learn a lot about how to present the One True God in the midst of a pantheon of contemporary gods by looking at how the covenant-keeping Elohim is presented against the backdrop of ANE gods.

So, there is definitely a purpose in studying all those squiggly lines and old texts. And if I can learn enough of that rich, cultural context then maybe I’ll be able to help people understand the Old Testament narratives in the way that my husband (who is much more 20th/21st century savvy than me) “gets” movies like Shrek.

Westminster places a high value on knowing the original languages of the Bible. There are 19 hours of Greek and Hebrew courses to be completed prior to beginning some of the biblical theology courses. Typically, incoming students spend the summer before their initial fall semester in an intensive Greek or Hebrew course. Basically, one month of language boot camp. The idea is to get a semester’s worth of vocabulary and grammar under your belt in one language before you begin the rest of your courses (and your second language!) The Greek course begins August 2nd–a week after we move. Mark will be ready to go, probably sitting in the first row. I, however, will be in Maine. Yes, due to the arrival of grandchild #4, I will not be able to attend that first Greek course. I will be helping out with Hannah’s homebirth experience and being Amm� to �va and the new little one (we don’t know if it is a girl or boy yet). There are priorities you know.

But I am not one to fall behind… so I have been studying Greek on my own and should finish the first semester material by the end of August. Just in time to take the placement test. The goal is to do well enough on the exam so that I “place” out of that first semester and can slide right into the next course alongside Mark. My life is currently filled with lots of little flash cards on a large keyring that travel everywhere with me. If I am stuck in traffic, out comes a card and I am looking at paradigms I haven’t memorized yet. When I drive to North Carolina to visit Sarah Joy (my oldest daughter) and her family, I have 3 hours of vocabulary on CD that I can listen to and repeat. This only works when I drive separately from Mark. He can’t quite get into the vocab repetitions yet. I’ve also found some great study guides and a listserv: B-Greek- The Biblcal Greek Mailing List.

It sounds like work, but really it’s just a big, fun puzzle. I love languages. I love writing systems. I love that I will have time to learn more. To see how languages work is beautiful. To understand the order (and chaos) is like appreciating a symphony. If Eric Liddell could say “When I run I feel [God’s] pleasure” then I say “When I study languages I am worshiping.” I am embracing the creative process of a God who communicates with us. Sure, I get some grief for wanting to learn Ugaritic. No one thinks it is practical. “What will you use it for?” I think it is a great misfortune when we believe that only that which is pragmatic is worth studying. Sure, I want to learn Greek and Hebrew to better understand the Bible, to read the OT and NT in their original languages and appreciate the fullness of what is being communicated. But I also want to just savor the language for itself. The language itself, not only what it communicates, reveals to me more of the character of God. And that’s worth all the flashcards and study time I can muster.