Article October 24, 1983 Issue

The Christian accent

CHRISTOPHER CIEPLY

One afternoon I was having a bowl of soup in a German Gasthaus when I couldn't help noticing a British driver smiling and talking jovially as he paid his bill. To me the British accent is an amazing thing!

Well, anyway .... do you have an accent? I'm sure you'd say no, for none of us thinks he does. When I was going through a training course in New Jersey, I thought the way my colleagues spoke was quite amusing, especially the accent of those from the Bronx! They in turn probably thought the rest of us sounded "kinda crazy." But what a loss it would be if we all sounded alike!

In Jesus' day there was a distinctive Galilean accent, and it was not easy on the Judean ear. In cultured circles jokes were undoubtedly made about its uncouth sound. A man or woman from Galilee had only to ask a simple question in Jerusalem, and the accent shouted Galilean.

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October 24, 1983
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