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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What Crazy Idiot Would Ever Want to Learn Greek?

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

What can you expect from this book on Greek Word Study? Well, simple analogies, easy to understand definitions, and the stories behind words--that's what! via @chautonahavig

“Is Chautona ever going to go to college?”

My cousin and I are the same age.  While she was at Fresno State getting her degree, I was home raising babies.  Three of them at the time she asked my mom that question.  Mom said, “No… she’s just learning what she wants to when she wants to.”

Said cousin didn’t get it.  “Like what?  What’s she learning?”

“Right now,” Mom said, “she’s learning Greek.”

Okay, so my cousin didn’t say, “What crazy idiot would ever want to learn Greek?” but I can almost hear the words in her tone as she asked, “Why?”

Fast-forward about twenty-five years.  I had a new friend.  From Greece.  When she found out that my father read the Bible in Greek as much as possible–compared it with English–she asked the same question with a totally different perspective.  “Why?”

I pointed out that the original manuscripts were written in Greek, so we like to understand it as originally… well, written.  As I spoke, a big smile formed.  “You read Greek?”

Although I don’t actually remember what I did there, I suspect I laughed.  After explaining that I try to learn Greek words for things in the Bible but do not know Greek, I was pleased to tell her I could remember the Greek alphabet.  Only then did I realize that maybe I don’t know it.  I mean, is the alphabet the same today as it was in Koine Greek?  I don’t know!

Seriously, the highlight of my year last year?  When she came to our Bible study and read to us from a Greek Bible we had here in the store.  Extra special.

With that background, are you surprised that I requested a review copy of a book called Greek Word Study?

Greek Word Study

Note: links

What Crazy Idiot Would Ever Want to Learn Greek?

This one.  And I was eager to see what I’d learn from this book.

Greek Word Study offers an interesting look into the meanings of not only specific Greek words in the New Testament but also the words that those words were derived from.

In a casual, conversational style, the author offers a simple introduction to many of the words we think we’re familiar with and shows the origins of those words.

First off, this book isn’t really what I expected from the title or synopsis, but it really is exactly what he said it is.  Inside, you find an easy to read and simple look at some of the Greek words that pack a punch and will enrich your understanding of the Bible.

Some of the things he said didn’t make sense to me.  Ip front he says that commentaries are difficult to read. I always go to commentaries to make sense of some otherwise unclear Bible passage to make it clear!  So, I started off not quite understanding what he was talking about.  Still, that’s probably just my weirdness showing through.  I wouldn’t be surprised.

I do have one strong objection to parts of the book. 

An overall feeling that the author was trying to make the Greek of the Bible “relevant” to today instead of trying to remind us that we need to make our lives relevant to the Word permeated most of the examples.

For instance:  Meme.  That was what he used to show what the word for “Be imitators of God” means.  He went into a lot of explanation for where “meme” came from and then tried to apply it to the lesson. In that same section, he talked about actors and Hollywood, and actually, that analogy clicked more and felt less frivolous to me.  That feels really weird to write.

Then there was the “Whole armor of God” bit.  Hockey helmets.  The history of their use and when they weren’t–same for soccer and some sort of padding.  The whole time I thought, “Because we don’t know what a sword or shield is?  No one has seen Captain America or Gladiator?  What?

Several of the word analogies and explanations really stuck with me, though.

The one for “unsearchable” was probably my favorite, but then I think of “parresia” (diacritic over the E).  Seriously, the way he described that combined with prayer made it all just come alive.  THAT I loved.

As a whole, I’m liking the book.  It is taking much longer to read through it than I expected. I keep rereading and rereading, trying to really get out of it what is in there. That plus readjusting my expectation of what he means by a “Greek Word Study” (we don’t agree on that) is what bumped this book to a 4-star rating.

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
byChautona Havig

Hey, we’re back after a couple of weeks of vacation, and boy did I need it. And, have I got a fabulous interview for you. Nancy Naigle and I talked about her books, her most recent release, What Remains True as well as her Christmas books and the one I’m most anxious to read, The Shell Collector. Listen in and learn about what Nancy says about this bet she has going on in What Remains True. Great stuff!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Need a Great Romantic Read to Wind Up Your Summer Reads?

As I said in the podcast, a while back, someone told me I’d LOVE The Shell Collector–one of those people who recommends books you HAVE to read if they say you do.  So I bought it and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since. Well, now it’s on my GoodReads shelf, and I’m about to start it (and I optimistically thought I’d be done with it by the time this episode released. Oh, me of too much faith in myself and my time management!)

Author of over thirty books, not to mention a bestselling author who also has movies made of her novels (And The Shell Collector has been optioned! EEEP!), Nancy loves to write Christmas books and small-town stories. Seriously, as we talked, I felt like she was talking about me half the time. We’re so very alike in so many ways. It was fun.

Nancy also pointed out that her first books (if you go WAY back) are not Christian fiction and are a bit spicier than she prefers to write and definitely more than she writes today. So be warned there, but she did assure us that they are all closed-door books.

What Remains True by Nancy Naigle

One woman wants to win a bet. One man wants to become a rodeo champion. One little girl may give them both something even better—from USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle.

“A commitment-phobic rodeo star and a divorcée with secrets find love in this wholesome romance. . . . As uplifting as it is sweet.”—Publishers Weekly

Working at a little shop on Main Street in a small town is exactly the break that executive Merry Anna Foster needs following her divorce. She’s made a bet with her ex-husband that she can live on the amount of money she’s giving him in alimony. If she can do it, then Kevin will have to stop complaining and leave her alone. But after three months of this new life, will she even want to leave Antler Creek?

Adam Locklear, bull rider and owner of the local feedstore, is having the best year of his rodeo career. He’s also a bit distracted by the pretty new neighbor living in his old bunkhouse. But Adam has no time for matters of the heart. He’s got his future all mapped out, and that future doesn’t involve a woman just yet. It doesn’t involve parenting a little girl either. However, Carly Fowler still suddenly leaves five-year-old Zan—the daughter Adam didn’t know he had—in his care.

Is it possible that the future holds a life even better than what Merry Anna and Adam had each dreamed of? One that includes both tenderness and even love—not just for each other but for Zan too?

You can learn more about Nancy’s books and movies on her WEBSITE.

Oh, and PSST… I’m loving the audiobook of this one!

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Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
August 9, 2022
Chautona Havig
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Episode 154: A Chat with Romantic Suspense Author, Sami A. Abrams
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Episode 153: A Chat with Historical Author, Tracie Peterson
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