New Saint Andrews: Greek 204 (Term IV)

This web page is intended for students in their fourth term of historical Greek study at New Saint Andrews College in the 2006-2007 academic year. Please check back frequently to get the most recent updates to online texts and see any changes or additions to the course schedule.

The primary goal of this term is to translate I John. In addition to learning I John vocabulary, students will review vocabulary that occur more than 50 times in the New Testament. Students will review the basics of Biblical Greek this term by reviewing chapters from Machen's grammar. Students will also learn intermediate syntax categories from Baugh's syntax sketch. Finally, students will further their understanding of exegetical issues as well as the function and role of Greek by reading Carson's Exegetical Fallacies, and Silzer's How Biblical Languages Work.

1. Required Texts

S. M. Baugh, I John Reader

Silzer, How Biblical Languages work

D. A. Carson Exegetical Fallacies

WHD Rouse Greek Boy (online) www.biblicalgreek.org/classes/images/GreekBoy1-10.pdf

J. Gresham Machen, New Testament Greek for Beginners (2nd Ed.) ISBN 013184234X

Goodrick, A Reader's Greek New Testament, ISBN 0310248884

Peckett, & Munday, Thrasymachus: Greek Through Reading, ISBN 0862921392

2. Recommended Texts

Online References

S.C. Woodhouse. English-Greek Dictionary

Perseus Parsing Tool

Herber W. Smyth. Greek Grammar. (Available Online: http://www.biblicalgreek.org/links/classical.php#helps)

William Goodwin. Greek Grammar. (Available Online)

Print References (more at www.biblicalgreek.org/books)

Wesley, J. Perschbacher. Analytical Lexicon of the New Testament.

Danniel B. Wallace. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics.

Warrren C. Trenchard, The Student's Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New Testament.

3. Course Requirements

I. Participation (5%)

By its very nature language is a skill that involves participation. Not only are students expected to attend every class and recitation, (Unexcused absences will always negatively effect final grades and students are responsible for all missed class notes and materials.) but students should come to class on time, with readings and homework completed, prepared to participate fully, and remain for the entire class time unless prior approval is granted. Students are expected to participate actively in class discussion with appropriate Christian humility, charity, and respect. Students who do not contribute to class and recitation discussions should not expect to earn more than a CH in this area.

II. Translations and Reading Assignments (10%)

Students must submit a translation checkoff sheet at the end of the term. Students will be graded upon their ability to translate at the pace of the course.

III. Assignments and Quizzes (15%)

Students will be graded on their completion of a few homework assignments and their performance on pop quizzes.

IV. Mid Term Examination (30%)

This exam will mainly cover the material in the assignments. There may also be some sight-reading, as well as an essay question pertaining to the reading.

V. Comprehensive Vocabulary Exam (10%)

There will be a comprehensive vocabulary exam at the end of the term. The vocabulary will come out of the vocabulary lists in Baugh's reader.

VI. National Biblical Greek Exam (10%)

Since we will be finishing basic Greek grammar this term, it is the perfect time to try the National Biblical Greek Exam. The exam is multiple-choice and may be taken multiple times. Students must present their results to the instructor by the last recitation. This exam is intended to give students a reason to review material from previous terms and should give students a clear idea of how much of the language they understand.

VII. Written Final Exam (20%)

There will be a written examination, which will entail some double translation from I John, discussion of this terms grammar and some translation and some unseen translations.

4. Schedule

5. Colloquium Overview

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES AND MEANS FOR THE SIX TERM COLLOQUIUM

Not only do the greatest and most foundational classics come to us through the Greek language, it is the language of the fullest revelation in our Holy Scriptures. Therefore it is a sine qua non of Christian Education. New Saint Andrews College requires a six term colloquium of Historical Greek and offers additional courses in Greek for students to continue onto higher levels of proficiency and acquaintance with more classic works than are contained within the colloquium.

The primary objective for the colloquium is to bring students to a basic reading level for the New Testament in the original language and to ground them so well in the basics that their skills will continue in their life after graduation. The colloquium will provide students with an enduring confidence in their ability to translate New Testament books by guiding students through the translation of a minor epistle (I John), an entire gospel, and a Pauline epistle. Students will engage exegetical issues and hermeneutics as they translate these works. Students will memorize portions of these works in Greek and learn the structure of each work well enough to identify the chapter reference of any passage in the work. In additional to New Testament material students will translate, compose, and converse in material from classical Greek. This broader exposure to the language will help students ground their understanding in broader historical trends in the language, ensure that they are learning the language rather than merely relying on scripture memory, and open up the language of the greatest classics.

In order to bring students to a basic reading level, students will memorize all of the vocabulary that occurs 30 times or more in the New Testament. Additionally, students will memorize vocabulary that occurs in their thorough translations as well as common classical Greek vocabulary. Students will also memorize the principal parts to common Greek verbs and gain an understanding of how to take educated guesses for unfamiliar forms.

The recent trend in higher education is to reduce the language requirements to allow time for other supposedly more practical courses. The result of these reduced requirements is that Greek courses have been stripped down to bare bones translation lessons or merely how to use language tools to gain an understanding of original vocabulary and grammar. Traditional education that included composition and sometime conversations with a goal toward fluency have been cast aside by the argument that today’s Christian scholars don’t have to be fluent but merely have to decipher to the original meaning of the text. Composition and conversational skills would then overshoot this goal and be a waste of time. New Saint Andrews college disagrees with this argument and maintains with modern language theory and thousands of years of language teaching practice that active language skills such as composition and conversation are necessary to truly learn a language even if only to read it. If one can’t compose the language himself, he has no way of being surprised by a particular author’s choice of words or gaining a feel for the various styles of different authors and genres. New Saint Andrews stands against this reductionistic trend that has so devastated Christian education and the church over the last century. It has consciously committed itself to a position dedicated to preserving a central place for classical languages in the college (a total of four years are required of which 1 ½ - 2 ½ years are historical Greek) and continually strives for the inclusion of more active language methods in the classroom.

For these reasons students in basic courses that emphasize grammar acquisition learn to compose and converse using the grammar with a limited vocabulary. Once the grammatical foundation has been laid and the courses focus more on vocabulary and reading while reviewing the basics. In the final terms of the colloquium students focus on exegesis, hermeneutics, and the structure of the text they are reading in the original. At this level double translations serve as the composition tool to help give students a feel for the author’s style.

Classes

Greek: Fourth Term (GRE 204)