From: Rod Decker (rdecker@inf.net)
Date: Thu Dec 07 1995 - 21:21:36 EST
Mark Gillett wrote:
>Can someone please recommend some good correspondence or distance learning
>courses to learn biblical greek. I've read a number of beginning greek books,
>like "Basic Greek in 30 Minutes a Day" and another by Davis (yech!, too dry),as
>well as "Manual Grammar" by Dana and Mante. I'd like to kick my greek to the
>advanced stage but I'm sure like nobody else in this forum, I do not have the
>schedule to attend formal classrooms.
Mark,
I not aware of any formal courses, but if you've already read Basic Greek,
Davis, and Dana & Mantey--assuming that you have some degree of confidence
with what you learned there, then I doubt that there are any particular
courses that will be of great help to you. I'd suggest two alternatives,
depending on what your confidence level is.
1. If you're not too sure of your foundation, then I'd suggest getting Bill
Mounce's _Basics of Biblical Greek_ (Zondervan) and the workbook. If your
foundation is somewhat shaky, this will shore it up. If you have more than
you think, working through the workbook in conjunction with the text will
strengthen it considerably. The workbook is almost entirely NT translation
with help provided as needed. Anyone who mastered this would be ready to
tackle a good chunk of the NT. (And Mounce is NOT "dry"! You will enjoy his
style.) Once you complete this, then go on to #2.
2. If you're fairly confident with a beginning/first year level, then I'd
suggest some specific reading to take you towards the next level. First,
read Moises Silva's very helpful book _God, Language and Scripture_
(Zondervan). This is not a grammr or syntax book per se, but will provide
the perspective on the language that will compensate for not having been
able to sit under a good teacher (where you would absorb a lot of his
language philosophy in the process of learning Greek). You will also learn
a lot more about how NT Greek works, and yes, some grammar along the way.
It's one of the most helpful books available for someone at about the
"second-year level." Then I'd suggest that you go on to an intermediate
grammar. Again, because of your self-taught background, you want one that
isn't too "dry" and mechanical and you also want one that has some sort of
textbook/workbook design to it if possible. For self study, this allows you
to test yourself as well as laying out a reasonably obvious approach to
studying the book. My preference here is for Richard Young's new vol.:
_Intermediate NT Greek_ (Broadman/Holman, 1994). It is a well-written
grammar that covers a wealth of material that you're ready for at this
point and also includes helpful exercises at the end of each chapter that
will allow you to test your knowledge of the content before you move on to
the next chapter. (There is an answer key, but it is published separately
and may only be available to teachers. If you go this route, I can give you
an email address for the editor or author so you can check out that
possibility.)
Rod
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rodney J. Decker Calvary Theological Seminary
Asst. Prof./NT 15800 Calvary Rd.
rdecker@inf.net Kansas City, Missouri 64147
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