[B-Greek] "Sunday School Greek"
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Tue Jan 23 12:12:53 EST 2007
One of the problems with "Sunday School Greek" is that it gives one the sense that with not much time and very little effort one can become proficient in Greek (or Hebrew or particle physics). Classes in beginning Greek are generally based on a 3 day per week class schedule. In addition to that it is expected that you will spend additional time in preparation. I will be generous and say only one hour preparation for every hour in class, but everyone who has studied Greek knows that it requires more. It is not a case of walking into class with your book and expecting to absorb pearls of wisdom from the instructor and then go about your business until the next meeting. IF AND ONLY IF you are willing to spend the requisite time and effort in the study of Greek will you be able to reap the benefits. Less than that, why waste your time?
george
gfsomsel
_________
----- Original Message ----
From: Eric Inman <eric.inman at wescorpflex.com>
To: David Opderbeck <dopderbeck at gmail.com>; Carl W. Conrad <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
Cc: B-Greek B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>; suzanne mccarthy <suzmccarth at yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:01:38 PM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] "Sunday School Greek"
I also am a lay person and I would encourage every other lay person to learn
Greek and critically examine anything that clergy or anyone else says. At
the same time, though, I would say that one should not try to get by on just
a little bit of Greek. Most of the value seems to come after you attain a
comfortable reading level and can do a lot of reading in Greek.
In addition, I'm not trying to discourage teaching Greek in Sunday school,
provided that the class conveys reasonable expectations about what can be
accomplished for a given level of effort.
Eric Inman
_____
From: David Opderbeck [mailto:dopderbeck at gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 10:40 AM
To: Carl W. Conrad
Cc: Eric Inman; B-Greek B-Greek; suzanne mccarthy
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>
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/
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David W. Opderbeck
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Blog: <http://www.davidopderbeck.com/throughaglass.html>
http://www.davidopderbeck.com/throughaglass.html
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