To accurately handle the word of truth – 2 Timothy 2:15 (LSB)
This site was born from a simple conviction: you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a deep and serious theological education. But to really go deep, we can’t skip the basics — how to read well, how to think carefully, how to build an intellectual life, and above all how to root everything in the biblical languages and sound interpretation.
That last point is key. I don’t see any way to faithfully handle God’s Word without learning Hebrew and Greek. Our translations are reliable, but they’re not enough if you want to dive into the richness of biblical exposition. It’s really just common sense: if God gave His Word in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek, then knowing those languages opens a depth you won’t reach otherwise.
We live in a fast-food culture, and that spirit has crept into seminaries. Too often students are trained to repeat theological phrases instead of learning how to study for themselves. Christians today can find endless information online, yet many still come up with excuses for not learning the biblical languages. John Brown of Haddington would laugh at our excuses — his story shows what real hunger for God’s truth looks like. Or read The Minister and His Greek New Testament, and you’ll see why this is so vital.
Here you’ll find a path shaped by carefully chosen books, covering:
- Study Methods
- Biblical Languages
- Hermeneutics
- Confessions & Catechisms
- Church History
The goal isn’t shortcuts but depth — years of steady effort, hours of reading, and the joy of learning how to learn. This is my own reworking of seven years of study, something I’m also passing on to my kids.
Where Have All The Theologians Gone?
I’m not calling for isolation. You need the church, and you need to test your learning with faithful pastors and teachers. But with more than two thousand years of wisdom behind us, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We just need the courage to enter the sources and let them shape us.
If you want an easy path, this probably isn’t for you. But if you want to take the Scriptures seriously, value the wisdom of the past, and pursue truth with your whole heart, then welcome to Theology the Hard Way.
— Ricardo A. Barbosa