Last week I had a meeting with my doctoral supervisor. This was our first meeting since I finished the MA portion of my program, even though I’ve been working with him for a year now. Last year involved coursework, the next three are pure research.

So in the course of the conversation, almost abruptly, he looked me in the eyes and said, “Have you read the New Testament in Greek, yet?”

I gulped. And then said, “All but Luke and Acts, and I’m halfway through Luke.”

He replied, “Well, since you are a New Testament scholar, you know…”

The way his sentence trailed off was like a punch in the gut. His advice was gentle in its delivery, firm in its content. Thus in the past week, I’ve plunged headlong into Luke and have finished the first third of Acts today. Since the term officially begins on Monday, my goal…