From: david spear (davidspear@calvarychapel.com)
Date: Sat Apr 03 1999 - 18:19:56 EST
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<DIV><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Trevor Jenkins <<A
href="mailto:Trevor.Jenkins@suneidesis.com">Trevor.Jenkins@suneidesis.com</A>><BR>To:
Biblical Greek <<A
href="mailto:b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu">b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu</A>><BR>Date:
Saturday, April 03, 1999 2:26 PM<BR>Subject: Re: introduction<BR>>>
Welcome to b-greek. I can recommend J. W. Wenham's The Elements of
New<BR>>> Testament Greek, Cambridge University Press as a good beginning
textbook.<BR>><BR>>If Catherine is going to teach herself then I would
recommend Ian MacNair's<BR>>"Teach yourself New Testament Greek"
(In England it's known as "Discovering<BR>>..." there being a
"Teach Yourself ..." book already.)<BR>><BR>>> I, like
yourself, have been teaching myself, and I have found this text<BR>>> very
helpful. He takes time (space?) to explain some of the finer
points<BR>>> of greek grammar using actual NT examples, is well keyed to
an english<BR>>> grammar introduction, and has lots of exercises.
There is also a summary<BR>>> of the morphology at the end. I wish
the exercises had more examples<BR>from<BR>>> the NT text itself, but all
in all, I've been happy with it. I checked,<BR>>> and this text is
available at<BR>>> Amazon.com.<BR>><BR>>MacNair's book is also
available via Amazon. Though I picked up my copy in<BR>>a local
bookstore.<BR>><BR>>There are differences in approach between the books.
Wenham assumes that<BR>>you are "au fait" with grammar, which was
the case when he wrote his book<BR>>back in the 60s. MacNair knows that you
are unlikely to have had formal<BR>>grammar studies and therefore does not
rely upon such knowledge. Wenham is<BR>>formal; MacNair is humorous (Scottish
rather than English---but that's no<BR>>problem as there are neither Scots
nor English in Jesus). Wenham doesn't<BR>>discuss breathing at all; MacNair
covers them (very well) in the first<BR>>lesson. I find that a major problem
with Wenham. Wenham is intended for<BR>>class study, which makes it difficult
to use for self-study; MacNair is<BR>>geared to personal study, which makes
it useful for both class and<BR>>self-study.<BR>><BR>>I have copies of
both books. Wenham lay on my bookshelf for almost 25<BR>>years. MacNair has
not been put on the shelf since I bought it last year.<BR>><BR>>I will
admit to a personal bias for MacNair. I knew him back in the 80s<BR>>when he
was associate pastor of a church where I was a deacon. That said
I<BR>>haven't seen him for about a decade.<BR>><BR>>Regards,
Trevor<BR>><BR>Greetings,<BR><BR>I too am new to the list and I appreciate
the info on the book by MacNair.<BR>I'm a novice at this point in Greek but very
hungry to learn more.<BR>Could anyone tell me whether or not the book "
Essentials of New Testament<BR>Greek" by Ray Summers<BR>is a good book for
a beginner or would the MacNair book be more suitable<BR>since I will be
learning on my own?<BR><BR>In His service...Dave
Spear<BR> </DIV></BODY></HTML>
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