[B-Greek] An Accessible Brief Introduction to Greek
Con Campbell
concampbell at mac.com
Sat May 14 21:42:58 EDT 2011
Dear All,
I feel that I have been misrepresented in this thread and would like to clarify a few things.
First, it is hardly "shameful" for a publishing company to publish positive reviews of its product. Can you think of any publisher who publishes negative reviews? To James Spinti: would Eisenbrauns do so? Why is a higher standard expected here?
Second, in any other field of inquiry, a primer would NOT be expected to be written only once there is 100% consensus on a topic. Otherwise, no primers would exist. In the last year, there were several primers on Paul's theology published, and that is hardly a field in which there is a high level of consensus.
Third, using the word "Basics" in the title does not imply academic consensus; it implies "introduction".
Fourth, I go to lengths in the book to point out the areas in which there is not consensus, and flag the points at which my own views are not mainstream. As such, it is hardly fair to say that the book claims to represent consensus views at all points; the book rather admits that this is not the case at several points.
Fifth, I do NOT hold to "aspect only" for anything, and differ to Porter on this quite dramatically. The habit of some to lump me and others together as the "aspect only" group, and then dismiss our views without careful consideration, is quite frustrating.
Sixth, I am very happy for disagreement about my views on the perfect---which I admit are far from mainstream---but would prefer a meaningful discussion based on evidence rather than blanket statements.
Thanks
Con Campbell
______________________________
Dr Constantine R. Campbell
Lecturer in New Testament
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-----Original Message-----
From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Carl Conrad
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 9:10 AM
To: Louis Sorenson
Cc: B-Greek List mail to all; Randall Buth
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] An Accessible Brief Introduction to Greek
VerbalAspect
On May 13, 2011, at 8:48 AM, Louis Sorenson wrote:
> Does anyone know how this recent book by Zondervan lines up with the
current Porter / Fanning debate
> and modern linguistics? There are blurbs on the back by Porter and
Rodney Decker. Even exercises.
> It sounds like Porter disagrees with the author.
>
> Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek by Constantine R. Campbell.
(Oct 2008. ISBN:9780310290834)
>
http://www.amazon.com/Basics-Verbal-Aspect-Biblical-Greek/dp/031029083X/
ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305289471&sr=8-1
Zondervan did an almost shameless publicity drive on this book,
sponsoring a spate of reviews by people at every level of the spectrum.
I think it's a useful introduction to the issues involved, but my
fundamental complaint about the book is the title: it has no right to be
called a "primer" on the subject as if the dust had already settled and
the perspective here presented were a matter of common consensus.
There is no common consensus but rather a variety of perspectives, some
of the issues being reasonably resolved while others remain
disputed. I personally think Campbell's treatment of the Perfect tense
is inadequate, and many, I think, would question his acceptance of
the "aspect-only" notion of the Aorist (Porter's view) as if it were a
matter of consensus. My own brief review of the work is still accessible
as a 2008 guest blog post at James Spinti's "Idle Musings of a
Bookseller":
http://anebooks.blogspot.com/2008/11/review-of-campbells-basics-of-verba
l.html
A simple Google search will net you lots of reviews from a variety of
perspectives.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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