This podcast initiates a series in which Dr. Fleming, with Rex Scott and Jim Easton, grapple with the literal meaning of every word in the prayer we are given as the model by Jesus Christ. This first podcast introduces the topic and sketches out the methods we shall be using.
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Thomas Fleming
Thomas Fleming is president of the Fleming Foundation. He is the author of six books, including The Morality of Everyday Life and The Politics of Human Nature, as well as many articles and columns for newspapers, magazines,and learned journals. He holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Greek from the College of Charleston. He served as editor of Chronicles: a Magazine of American Culture from 1984 to 2015 and president of The Rockford Institute from 1997-2014. In a previous life he taught classics at several colleges and served as a school headmaster in South Carolina
[…] Part one is here. […]
Looking forward to this series.
Very good conversation on a simple and mysterious subject. Thank you to Tom, Rex and Rev. Deacon. Good music too Rex —— as always !
I agree. This is of particular interest actually. Last spring I had reduced hours and as a lark I got booklet about the Biblical Greek alphabet, learned that and a bit about the diphthongs and diacritic marks. Then I tested myself by listening to a Greek except of Homer and seeing if I could write it out. When I checked the text I found I didn’t get it right but sort of close. After that I got a non-interlinear version of the Gospel of John and clumsily stumbled through attempting to pronounce all the words like a five year old. I found that quite fun and sometimes couldn’t resist the urge to cheat and look at the English if I thought I recognized a word’s etymology. I got a few like Kardia but I learned very little vocabulary and no grammar. The second book goes into that but increased hours and mistaken priorities prevented me from going into that. Back in December I stumbled upon this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61KFmiFrp78 wrote that down and sometimes read over it when I have some down time. I have planned to memorize it then check if I have the pronunciation right and then write it from memory. I do not suppose this is exactly the best way to go about this at all but I’ve approached it like a puzzle. Have I made any egregious errors with this makeshift investigation?
”my suggestion is to procure a standard old book, such as Crosby and Schaeffer, and slog through it. I’m happy to help. There are no shortcuts.
It is interesting, though; I always imagined Pilate speaking Latin. Who woulda thought Romani ite domum was pure Hollywood?
In the film scene to which you are referring, they also get it wrong, identifying domum as locative rather than the accusative of place to which used typically with city names and the word domus. It’s still a great scene for a Latin teacher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lczHvB3Y9s
Thank you for the text recommendation. I was unsure of how to discern the quality of the options out there when I looked previously. I’ve had the idea/excuse that the mind must be cleared and unpolluted in order to effectively study. But as I recall, once one gets going on it, it tends to push the nagging background thoughts and useless information out of the way. So slog I shall.
How much Greek to study? When Dr. Johnson, in an age when men wore as much lace in their suits as they could afford, was asked that question, he answered: “Greek, sir, is like lace. No man can get enough of it.
Was Rex talking about St. Jerome? I wasn’t sure if his pronunciation was off or if he meant someone else. Also, when he said, “Greek will be our default setting” it got a chuckle out of me. Talk about language changing over time. I don’t know if folks 30 years ago would have any clue what he was talking about, but I sure understood! Perhaps that can be in the latest, newest, most-sparkly version of the updated “Adventure” Bible to entice “the youth” to read Holy Scripture? “Let Charity be your default setting with your neighbor.”
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I am very much looking forward to this podcast series.
Also, was the Russian translator mentioned Mr. Navrozov?
JE-rum used to be standard, as also Aw-GUS-tin. And Rex’s good American has been corrupted by hanging out with wrong people. I don’t recall the context of the reference to a Russian translator. Translator of what?
My father, I should add, was stickler, and came down hard if you pronounced Maurice as Moe-Reese instead of correctly as Morris, or Bernard as Ber-NARD instead of BUR-nerd. Of course one has to distinguish Sir Maurice Evans from Maurice Williams, immortal leader of the Zodiacs.
If I had any hesitation about Saint Augustine being pronounced like the city in Florida, it was removed by the awful Bobbby Zimmerman’s stupid imitation of “I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night…”
Today we’re moving forward rapidly and will get to the second word.