Believe me when I say as a student at PRTS taking Greek I, I wish Greek was not essential. However, the richness of God's Word is made even more the richer by knowing the language Paul wrote his epistles in. The nuances and subtleties of Greek make you realise what some of the translations miss, because the Lord leads you to an understanding. If you don't want to take my word for it, here is a great little book on Calvin's perspective on knowing the original languages.
Calvin and the Biblical Languages
Author: Currid, John
Publisher: Christian Focus
Publish Date: 2006
Cover Type: Paperback
Pages: 106
ISBN: 1845502124
The church today is built on the Reformation’s linguistic heritage yet is in danger of losing that strong foundation. Many seminaries no longer require that their students learn the biblical languages for their divinity degrees—some do not even teach them! Yet these are the basic tools of any study of the Bible, and if we do not teach the Bible, then what is the church teaching? If we need encouragement as to what can happen to our sermons and Bible study when we develop knowledge of the languages that the Bible is written in, then Calvin is an excellent encourager.
One can purchase this book from:
http://http://www.heritagebooks.org/...oducts_id=7539