[B-Greek] The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Data: An Argument for a

Richard Lindeman oblchurch at msn.com
Sun Mar 28 08:21:50 EDT 2010


I think that there is a problem with Greek grammars generally, both ancient 
and modern. And the problem is that they come off as being far too 
authoritative.  I don't see any of them entitled "Grammatical Crutches For 
Learning To Read Biblical Greek".  And yet that is precisely what they are. 
They are "crutches" at best and their goal should be to assist a student to 
actually read the Greek and then at some point throw the crutches away like 
the leper hopping and dancing and praising the Lord.  I think that it would 
help a great deal if new grammars would incorporate this kind of "crutch" 
mentality not only in the title but also throughout the book.  Each major 
new insight concerning Greek grammar should be introduced with a warning 
about its limitations and an encouragement to just read more (perhaps with 
an appropriate reference to specific Greek literature where the student can 
advance his/her understanding of the subject at hand.)  The grammar should 
also encourage the student to regularly read Greek even when it makes no 
sense at all, to just get a feel for the language and perhaps offer reading 
assignments apart from itself that regularly exceed the stage at which the 
learner is at.  Even intermediate and advanced grammars would do well in 
regularly reminding readers of their limitations and encouraging students to 
read.

Rich Lindeman 




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