[B-Greek] "Sunday School Greek"
Brion Brooks
bjbrooks at gmnp.net
Tue Jan 23 12:07:01 EST 2007
Dave,
You are to be commended for having an interest in learning Greek and
applying it to the reading of commentaries and the like. The hazard that
others point out, I think, is the same as with any walk of life: a
little knowledge *can* be a dangerous thing. This isn't elitist; it's
fact. I've seen many people in many walks of life get into trouble
because "they don't know what they don't know." Talk to any recent
seminary graduate (well, talk to their congregation) and you'll hear the
same thing.
To the extent you (and I) are aware that learning Greek (or practicing
any discipline) in a truly meaningful way is a labor of love that takes
years (decades, a lifetime) of work, learning a smattering of Greek is
fine. At the same time, you might do well to accept the "encouragement"
of those who posted here to go beyond the basics and make this a
long-term labor of love -- a form of devotions, if you will.
Blessings on your interest. May God grant you (and us all) the humility
to accompany it.
Brion Brooks
PS
I'm expecting that Dr. Conrad will be intervening soon to cut off this
discussion. Which is probably just as well.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of David
> Opderbeck
> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 11:40 AM
> To: Carl W. Conrad
> Cc: suzanne mccarthy; B-Greek B-Greek
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] "Sunday School Greek"
>
> Again from my lay person's perspective -- some of what I'm
> hearing here sounds elitist. It kind of sounds like the
> debates centuries ago about whether the laity should have
> access to scripture in the venacular.
>
>
> On 1/23/07, Carl W. Conrad <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu> wrote:
>
> >
> > On Jan 23, 2007, at 10:18 AM, Eric Inman wrote:
> >
> > > I agree that sustained dedication is what is really required, but
> > > perhaps there is one thing of great value that can be learned and
> > > appreciated very quickly. When I was growing up I was highly
> > > impressed by preachers and teachers who referred to the original
> > > languages to support their positions, and so I started studying
> > > Greek and Hebrew on my own even before I got to college where I
> > > could take classes in them. The point where I realized that those
> > > preachers and teachers didn't really know what they were talking
> > > about for the most part seemed to come very early on in
> the process,
> > > although I can't pinpoint exactly when. So perhaps it might be
> > > possible in a Sunday School Greek class to get a student to the
> > > point where they are not so easily misguided by common
> mistakes that
> > > preachers and teachers make when referring to the Greek text. It
> > > seems like this would have significant value.
> >
> > Yes, I think that would be a significant gain from the
> effort. On the
> > other hand, teachers and preachers of the sort you mention are
> > precisely the ones that give meaning to the (para)phrase: "A little
> > Greek is a dangerous thing."
> >
> > Carl W. Conrad
> >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
> > > [mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Carl W.
> > > Conrad
> > > Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 6:26 AM
> > > To: B-Greek B-Greek
> > > Cc: suzanne mccarthy
> > > Subject: [B-Greek] "Sunday School Greek"
> > >
> > > Suzanne McCarthy, some of whose previous posts in the
> blogosphere I
> > > have noted in this forum, has a piece that she posted
> Sunday on the
> > > Better Bibles Blog with the rubric I have indicated in my
> subject-
> > > header above
> > >
> > >
> (http://englishbibles.blogspot.com/2007/01/sunday-school-greek.html)
> > >
> > > I am reluctant to stir the pot again regarding the whole
> pedagogical
> > > quick-fix methodologies for acquiring enough Greek to
> confront the
> > > Biblical Greek text in a meaningful and fruitful way, but
> it's not
> > > as if the topic is going to go away, while human nature
> remains what
> > > it is. The comment I appended to Suzanne's blog-post follows:
> > > ----
> > > I shake my head, old curmudgeon that I am and a retired
> > > professor of Greek whose last classroom experience was a
> January 20-
> > > session crash course in Biblical Greek for seminary
> students. Of my
> > > 13 students two did quite well, considering the nature and
> > > limitations of the course. But these were seminary
> students who had
> > > to have this course to get into the school's first
> exegesis class. I
> > > agree with Peter [Peter Kirk, who posted a previous comment] that
> > > the dedicated student with application and industry can
> make a very
> > > significant start within a short time, but very few are likely to
> > > succeed -- precisely because the application and industry
> required
> > > are just not there. Aside from that, whatever is
> accomplished, be it
> > > in three successive days, once a week, or in the course of one
> > > month, is only a beginning and the beginner needs to be
> aware that
> > > the beginning demands an ongoing commitment. Anything less really
> > > deserves -- I think -- disparagment. What Euclid (I
> think) said of
> > > geometry is certainly as true for Biblical Greek: "There
> is no royal
> > > road ... "
> > >
> > > Carl W. Conrad
> > > Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
> > > 1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
> > > cwconrad2 at mac.com
> > > WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
> >
> > ---
> > B-Greek home page: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek B-Greek
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> > B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-greek
> >
>
>
>
> --
> David W. Opderbeck
> Web: http://www.davidopderbeck.com
> Blog: http://www.davidopderbeck.com/throughaglass.html
> MySpace (Music): http://www.myspace.com/davidbecke
> ---
> B-Greek home page: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek B-Greek
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