Teaching Top Down Analysis
Mr. Gary S. Dykes
yhwh3in1 at lightspeed.net
Mon May 1 09:42:34 EDT 2000
Having been trained in "modern linguistics" and also knowledgeable in the
"old fashioned" method of "Biblical" Greek studies, I feel I can give you
my opinion.
The best Greek scholars perform a word and sentence level analysis because
they are often cognizant of the discourse. That is, most believing
scholars, who have spent years walking with the Lord, have a good innate
grasp of the context already.
Further, along the lines of innateness, many hold to a monosemic (per C.
Ruhl) semantic understanding (as opposed to a simple polysemy). Ruhl's
definition of monosemy is here referred to. [LACUS journal, 1989]
Additionally the text itself (O.T. and N.T.) and the nature of its origin
affords excellent material for a diachronic study as well as a synchronic
study. Too often I encounter modern linguists -- who having just been
brainwashed via Yale or Harvard, U of Penn. (et al) language theories --
then "attacking" the Holy Writ as if it were some kind of common
human-generated text.
Experience and faith add much to a philologist's arsenal when working with
God's Word. I encourage the modern efforts, but I also need to filter out
the rather rash theories, and stick to the essentials.
Mr. Gary S. Dykes
yhwh3in1 at lightspeed.net
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