Class Information

Description

This course will bring students a working facility with the Greek New Testament. Its primary objective is to enable students to read and exegete the original sacred text, to their profit and that of their hearers. In keeping with this goal, exercises and readings will be taken almost exclusively from the sacred text, and students will begin exegesis as soon as a very fundamental knowledge of the language allows.

As the Lord in his providence has preserved His Word over the centuries, so He has preserved the knowledge of the Biblical languages, that His Church may continue to rightly divide the Word of Truth. To each generation is given the joyous privilege of learning the ancient languages of Scripture. It is especially needful in this time of cultural decline and famine for the Word, that we equip the next generation hold forth the Word of Life faithfully.

The primary text for the course will be William D. Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek, and its accompanying workbook, both available from Amazon. The student may be able to save on these texts by acquiring them at Pilgrim Discount Bookstore in Portland Oregon.

The Teacher

The course is taught by Andrew vonderLuft, B.A. Classics, who has studied a wide range of Greek literature, from Homer through the classical texts, to the Septuagint, New Testament, and Apostolic Fathers. The course is open to students in good standing 15 years of age and older, and adults. Exceptions to the minimum age limit may be considered on a case by case basis. Specific inquiries about this course may be made to the instructor at didaskalos@gknt.org

Time and Place

Classes will be held each Thursday from 6:30 – 8:00pm, beginning on September 20th, d.v. There will be scheduled breaks for holidays. The full schedule for the semester is available here. We will meet at the Berkompas home.

Information Updates

This website (gknt.org) has been created as an information portal for both Gileskirk and Greek. It is now in a very rudimentary state of development, but already has links to the forums we will use for both classes, to free downloadable Greek fonts and flashcard programs, other online Greek resources, and an online chatroom created for class use. Please check there regularly for class updates and new information.

Class Books

After careful consideration, I have yielded to the zeitgeist and agreed to use the new and improved edition of Dr. Mounce’s text and workbook in place of the old one for which I have all my written lecture notes (sigh). Both are available now at very good prices at Amazon. Please order them right away. Below is a list of books for the class: required, highly recommended, and recommended. I may add more of the latter 2 categories later.

REQUIRED

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

  • Basics of Biblical Greek Flash Card Set (very helpful for learning vocabulary. You can also use the free language tools programs for PC and Mac downloadable from Teknia at http://www.teknia.com/index.php?page=tlt I think standard flashcards like these which have no dependency on a computer are more desirable, so that you can easily take advantage of travel time in the car, etc.)

RECOMMENDED

  • Greek New Testament (This is after all the whole point, viz. to gain facility reading the New Testament, but you don’t absolutely need to have your own copy right away. 3rd or 4th edition is fine, with Dictionary is helpful)
  • Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament (This is hard to find, and therefore usually fairly pricey. However it is well worth it if you can acquire one. MAKE SURE you get the earlier edition, as the new edition has been thoroughly revised and is laced with much theological axe-grinding, unlike the earlier edition)

Preparation

I expect all students to have mastered the Greek alphabet before the first class. Please let me know if you have any questions.

χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη,   Διδάσκαλος Ἀνδρέας Ἀέρος     :-)