[B-Greek] "Sunday School Greek"

David Opderbeck dopderbeck at gmail.com
Tue Jan 23 12:12:29 EST 2007


*It's only elitist if you also consider the idea feasible that the average
person can become a "Sunday School Brain Surgeon." *

This is a false dichotomy:  either a person is a fully accredited brain
surgeon, or that person incapable of learning anything useful about brain
surgery.  If I had a serious medical condition, I wouldn't presume to the
skill and knowledge of my doctors, but I do believe I'd be capable of
learning enough to critically evaluate the information and recomendations my
doctors give me and to converse with them intelligently without four years
of medical school and three years of residency (I indeed do this now with a
child of mine who has a serious neurological condition).  As a lawyer I used
to litigate patent cases, and found I was quite capable of learning enough
to ask the right questions without having to earn a Ph.D. in every
technology.  And I'm sure you have opinions about culture, law and politics
that you believe are informed meaningful, although you probably don't hold a
Ph.D. in political science and sociology or a Juris Doctorate.



On 1/23/07, George F Somsel <gfsomsel at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>  It's only elitist if you also consider the idea feasible that the average
> person can become a "Sunday School Brain Surgeon."
>
> george
> gfsomsel
> _________
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: David Opderbeck <dopderbeck at gmail.com>
> To: Carl W. Conrad <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
> Cc: suzanne mccarthy <suzmccarth at yahoo.com>; B-Greek B-Greek <
> b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 11:40:18 AM
> 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 mailing list
> > 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
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-- 
David W. Opderbeck
Web:  http://www.davidopderbeck.com
Blog:  http://www.davidopderbeck.com/throughaglass.html
MySpace (Music):  http://www.myspace.com/davidbecke



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