Hardening of the Categories (Arteries?)

Larry Swain swainl at rocky.edu
Sun Jun 7 18:36:56 EDT 1998


To add a somewhat different perspective here:  I think a large part of the 
problem is the way in which K. Greek is taught in seminaries.  As caveat 
let me say that my knowledge is limited to what I looked into and to 
friends who have gone on to various seminaries which include Methodist, AG, 
Lutheran,Presbyterian,Baptist,  and Roman Catholic.  Their and my 
experience shows this:  Generally NT Greek is taught (in slight contrast to 
KGreek) over either an intensive course in summer or a one year course.  By 
the end of the course students can read NT texts, not necessarily with 
ease.  But I would contend that in such a situation students of course are 
going to use the tools that assist them in "mastering" the vagaries of 
Greek in the easiest fashion.  Hence, they'll memorize syntactic 
definitions and since the vast majority will never take or read large 
amounts of the NT or any other Greek literature, these definitions remain 
written in stone in the students' minds.  And this method of teaching Greek 
needs as much reflection and readjustment, if not more, than the 
traditional models of the structure and function of the language.

Larry Swain
Academic Computer Specialist
Rocky Mountain College
swainl at rocky.edu



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