[B-Greek] Greek for laymen
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Mon Mar 8 08:59:45 EST 2004
At 10:03 PM -0600 3/7/04, Paul Schmehl wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "waldo slusher" <waldoslusher at yahoo.com>
>To: <Suedaleg at aol.com>; <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
>Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 9:01 PM
>Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Greek for laymen
>>
>> Personally, I would simply advise the people that they
>> are wasting their time. Greek is not something you
>> just get a feel for. Doing that would produce no
>> benefit. Even after 3 to 4 years of intense seminary
>> training, you are a neophyte, and at best able to
>> regurgitate the views of your professors and a few
>> grammars. After a few more years of independent
>> thinking, analysis, and research, you are finally
>> ready to start translating.
>>
>Personally, I think this is horrible advice. (No offense intended.) If you
>tell people that unless they want to devote their life to Greek they
>shouldn't even begin to study it, then who will learn Greek? Anyone who
>wants to learn Greek should be encouraged to do so, if for no other reason
>than it will expand their horizons.
I would agree that Waldo's "advice" is extreme; the problem with acquiring
"a feel" for Biblical Greek is one that we've noted several times--learning
"enough Greek to be dangerous": there are some who learn "a little Greek"
and want to demonstrate what they know--or don't know. On the other hand,
there are some for whom this is an eye-opener, a view into a fascinating
vista for lifetime exploration. I once would have discouraged, although
not in such extreme form as Waldo above, the endeavor to "get a feel of
Greek." I now think that whether one profits from such an endeavor or not
has more to do with the learner's temperament and respect for the
boundaries between what one has come to apprehend and what one is well
aware of not understanding. Having looked at Mounce's program of
expectations for one completing his "Greek for the Rest of Us," I would
guess (without having looked at the book itself) that those who complete
the course would fall into both the above categories: those who now know
enough Greek to be dangerous, and those who now know enough Greek to
appreciate the broader dimensions of Biblical literature as a phenomenon of
human culture as well as of profound inspiration.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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