Completion!?

But not quite finished

Two and two-thirds yeas ago, in early January, 2024, a recurring question was nagging me. There were lots of questions flying by on Substack back then, but I was stuck in a loop trying to dig into questions that had bugged me all my life about “church”. I was leading a small group at the time (not exactly my idea to do so, but it happened) and as we studied, a question kept coming up: “Why isn’t this taught?”

As it happened, I had also been studying biblical Greek (Koinē) since January, 2021, and examining Bible texts in the closest to what we have of the original language. And there was much to be found there that wasn’t commonly being taught.

With “liberal” churches this is no surprise. They just kind of do their own thing with the texts. I understand, having been part of that scene for a fairly a long time. But I would expect the “conservative” churches to do a better job, and often they do, unless what the texts say doesn’t agree well with their traditions.

It makes sense now, but it didn’t to me back then. In particular, I began digging into the opening chapters of 1 Corinthians in the Greek, noticing that many of the problems of this first-century assembly in Corinth resemble those of modern-day conservative churches. How interesting! And while my direct understanding of the Greek was and still is rudimentary, I work with commentary series that are designed to assist people like that with the many nuances. It can be quite revealing.

Much of what 1 Corinthians was revealing to me sounded like it should be of great value to the conservative churches for understanding their common problems. If only it were taught.

I soon undertook to read the entire book of 1 Corinthians in the Greek, figuring that it would take a year to finish. Two years and eight months later I completed it on August 9, 2026. I began writing this article the day after that.

And so, completion at last, and feeling like I’ve just begun. I’m hoping, though, that this will help clear the way to finish the draft article I’ve been working on for months now, and begin work on a new one meant to explore what’s really going on. My writing overlaps with that of other Substack authors, but we each have a unique approach.

Next up for reading in the Greek is Romans. I’m already at Romans 1:20 as I type this, although with modifications to the approach so that it goes faster. 20 verses in five days sounds faster.

Romans 1:20 and following are, however, central to what I’ve been writing about over the past several years. And as what the Greek text actually says becomes clearer as opposed to what the translations appear to say, it looks as though corrections to some of my existing articles will be in order.

So much for “faster”. But stay tuned.

—Megan