Spiros Zodhiates
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Spiros Zodhiates (; March 13, 1922 – October 10, 200

ref name="CTFP"> was a
Greek-American Greek Americans ( ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. There is an estimate of 1.2 million Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. According to the US census, 264,066 people o ...
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
scholar, author, and ministry innovator. He was best known for his work in developing AMG (Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel) International, a
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
missions and relief agency with operations in over 40 countries. He is also known for publishing ''The Hebrew-Greek KeyWord Study Bible'',AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, 1998 which indexes key terms in the English Bible with the words they were translated from in the original languages.


Life

Zodhiates was born of
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
parents on the island of
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
. After completing his Greek education, he attended the
American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ) is a private research university in New Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs at undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, along with a continuing education program. ...
, Egypt, received his Th.B. degree from the National Bible Institute (later Shelton College, which closed its doors in 1990) in
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, and his M.A. from
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. In 1978 he earned his
Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...
degree from Luther Rice Seminary of Lithonia, GA. He was also the recipient of several honorary doctorates. He came to the United States in 1946 at the invitation of the American Committee for the Evangelization of the Greeks (now AMG International), of which he became president in 1966. Under Zodhiates' leadership, AMG grew from a small ministry focusing on the land of Greece to a worldwide evangelistic and relief ministry. AMG, founded in 1943 in New York City and presently located in
Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
, provides a wide range of social services, including care for
orphans An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages, such as Swedis ...
and
leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...
patients, and has an expanding evangelistic thrust of “Advertising the Message of the Gospel” through paid newspaper and magazine gospel messages in many lands and languages. In 1951, Zodhiates’ passion for
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
was born when he realized the power of media to get the message of Christianity to the masses. Using his Greek background and knowledge of the
Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...
as a springboard, Zodhiates took to the airwaves, teaching the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
in light of the original Greek meaning of the words used. Zodhiates’ program, ''New Testament Light'', began on one station in rural
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, and in its heyday was heard across the
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and
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. As his career progressed, Zodhiates became a recognized authority on the Greek New Testament. His Bible teaching carried from radio into other media as well. In 1975, he launched Pulpit Helps Magazine, a monthly publication designed to provide pastors with insights from the original languages of the Bible, tips on sermon construction, illustrative stories to enhance Bible teaching, and news from Christian missions around the world. ''Pulpit Helps'' still serves thousands of readers in the United States and other English-speaking countries. New Testament Light was developed into a
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
show during the 1980s and was broadcast on numerous stations through the mid-1990s.


Books

In addition to ''The Hebrew-Greek KeyWord Study Bible'', Zodhiates published over 200 books and booklets in English, as well as 82 in Greek, many of which are in-depth word-by-word commentaries on the books of the New Testament. He started a book house, AMG Publishers, which has since grown into a significant producer of Christian books, to publish much of his material. He was also responsible for introducing the
Modern Greek Modern Greek (, or , ), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the language sometimes referred to ...
pronunciation of Classical and
Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...
into U.S. colleges and universities through ''A Guide to Modern Greek Pronunciation'' and his tape recordings of the entire Koine New Testament (Nestle's text) in Modern Greek pronunciation. He recorded with Modern Greek pronunciation special courses on New Testament Greek for those who wish to learn it on their own or in classrooms, using texts such as
J. Gresham Machen John Gresham Machen (; 1881–1937) was an American Presbyterian New Testament scholar and educator in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1906 and 1929, and led a revolt against modernist ...
's New Testament Greek for Beginners, Summers', Davis', and Hadjiantoniou's grammars. After suffering numerous health problems in the late 1990s, Zodhiates transitioned out of active work, though many of his commentary manuscripts are still being edited and published, and his radio and television recordings are being redistributed digitally. He died in Chattanooga on October 10, 2009.


References


External links


Zodhiates Bio
from AMG International
AMG International

''Pulpit Helps'' Magazine

AMG Publishers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zodhiates, Spiros 1922 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American theologians Greek religious writers Scholars of Koine Greek Greek emigrants to the United States Greek Cypriot writers