English Bookshop, Utrecht

I was a little surprised to see in Utrecht in the Netherlands an English bookshop. The more I got to know the Dutch, however, and the less that feeling of surprise lingered. They are some of the best English speakers in Europe and are sufficiently confident in their own culture and language to not see this English as a threat. Furthermore, the two languages are so similar that a speaker of one who learns the other is given something of an advantage.

I spent two years studying New Testament Greek though my knowledge of it now is poor. I have come to the conclusion, hopefully not fired by laziness, that time reading trustworthy translations and some helpful commentaries is better spent that conjugating verbs and rote learning endless lists of vocabulary. The Puritans, and many contemporary denominations, expected clergy and preachers to be proficient in the ancient tongues, yet I wonder if Pastor Joe Meatball really needs this. In the year 735, God first spoke Old English when Bede translated John’s gospel (albeit from the Latin rather than the Greek), and many times afterwards, including John Wyclffe’s 1388, in Middle English. Other complete versions of Early Modern English appeared in 1535, 1560, 1568, 1611. Because of these scholars' linguistic effort, I can walk into an English bookshop, at home or abroad, and read God’s words for myself.

Thy word is a lantern to my feet; and light to my paths.

Psalm 119:105, Wycliffe Bible