A Little Biography and Personal History
about Corey
I have had a few people ask what is my background and personal history. Some have
wondered what are my qualifications to put together a Web site that attempts to teach the
basics of New Testament Greek. I hope the following few words help to explain this.
First and foremost, I am a Christian who loves and treasures the Word of God (Job
23:12b). I believe it is the very inspired breath of God and profits us as we breath it in
(2 Timothy 3:16). It is our very food and daily supply (Matt. 4:4). Our goal in studying
the Bible is to know the Author; if we only know the black and white pages, our efforts
are in vain (John 5:39). The Bible that was inspired was written in Hebrew and Greek, not
English (not to discount our Sovereign Lord’s hand over various translations).
I believe it was for these reasons that the Lord put it on my heart to be able to read
His Word in the language in which it was written. So after high school, I went to the
University of Washington with the intention of graduating in Classics and then continuing
on to Seminary. In my time at the UW, I studied two years of Latin and three years of the
Classical Greek language, not to count many Latin and Greek history classes. I also worked
into my curriculum some upper division Koine Greek by taking a class at Seattle Pacific
University. During this time I also felt led to study Business and Computers. So in 1984 I
graduated from the UW with two bachelors degrees, one in Classical Studies and one in
Business with a concentration in Information Systems. A couple years later I went to
Western Washington University and picked up another bachelors degree in Computer
Science/Business. I have more recently finished my Masters degree in Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary,
and a Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems (concentrating in computer security) at Nova Southeastern University.
Since that time, I have continued to teach Greek courses to various groups of people,
both in a small, private Christian High School and adult courses where I fellowship.
From 1999 to 2005, I have taught beginning and intermediate Greek at Southwestern Bible College in
Phoenix, Arizona. I have used various first and second year Greek Grammar books
(supplemented with my own material), based upon the needs/goals of the class.
(If you really want to learn Greek, teach it for a few years!) I have quite a
library of Greek grammar books and technical commentaries which I read/consult
quite often.
At one time I set out to write a book teaching various aspect of
New Testament Greek, which would have included some of the information that I
have posted on this website. My fulltime work, teaching, PhD research, and being involved in church-life and ministry keeps me too busy to
be able to seriously devote the time needed for such an endeavor as writing. (The reason I felt the need to
write a book is along the lines that I explain in the "Introduction" of our
presentation of Greek on this website.) This outlet of the Internet helps give an outlet for my desire to enable the common seeker of God’s Word to use the original language to
dig out riches not able to be found in a translation alone. However, a recent book
by William Mounce, "Greek for the Rest of Us" (seen at
www.teknia.com) may perform
a large part of the function that I originally set out to accomplish.
I hope this brief history helps you to understand my background, qualifications, and my
heart in presenting the information contained in these pages. I welcome inquires or
questions, however I am not always able to answer in a timely fashion due to all the
demands on my time.
The Lord bless you as you endeavor to know Him and His Word. "He who testifies to
these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord
Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." (Rev. 22:20-21)
Please be aware that I am usually not able to answer questions very
readily, and sometimes not at all. I feel your questions are valid and
important, but my life doesn't usually afford me the time to answer too
many emails. If you want to contact me you can at corey@ntgreek.org.
Please see the page on Questions and Answers
for other resources. |
