I dislike The Message as much as you do, but even these "nearly inspired" [Linked Image] paraphrases stumble upon the truth at times. Eugene H. Peterson, the author of The Message, was founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Md., years and professor at Regent College (Professor of Spiritual Theology) in Vancouver, British Columbia, for 6 years. He taught biblical languages at New York Theological Seminary. Even Peterson admits that The Message should not be used from the pulpit!

Greek will drive you crazy, but not as crazy as Hebrew/Aramaic. Neither are easy, but well worth your time, "if" you finish the complete curriculum (Grk I & II or Heb I & II. You "possibly" can do Level III Heb at RTS Orlando by directly contacting Dr. Mark Futato or Level III Grk by contacting Dr. Chuck Hill) <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />