LEARN TO READ THE
GREEK NEW TESTAMENT
(Fifth Edition)
by B. Ward Powers
A beginner's textbook which presents all of the grammar necessary for a person to begin reading the Greek New Testament, and which makes the fullest use of the insights into language function and language learning which have come from the development of Linguistic Science. Special features of this approach to learning New Testament Greek:
1. The aim throughout is to prepare a person to be able to actually read the Greek New Testament as distinct from merely learning enough Greek to pass an examination. Therefore the emphasis is upon gaining an understanding of the basic functional grammar of the language, rather than upon the memorizing of irregular verb forms or the rote learning of lists of vocabulary- vocabulary is indeed to be learnt, but in context, at the point of use.
2. The necessary grammar is divided into ten units, in which it is presented in a systematic way that enables the student to proceed from the introductory to the more difficult. These units or lessons can be taken at the rate of one per day in an accelerated, two-week fulltime course, or at the rate of one per week over ten weeks, or one per fortnight over twenty weeks, according to the tutor's choice and the time which the students have available. This approach allows for maximum flexibility in how, and how quickly, the material is presented in a classroom situation - if adequate time is provided each week, a class can reach the point of commencing work on straight-forward New Testament text (such as Mark, John, or 1 John) after one semester's work.
3. The twenty key paradigms are set for memorizing (at an average rate of three per lesson for the first seven lessons, followed by their revision), and explanations are given which show how the other word paradigms can be recognized and derived from these twenty by means of the linguistic rules at work in the language. The emphasis is upon gaining an understanding of the functioning of the language rather than upon extensive memorizing work.
4. This textbook uses ONLY actual extracts from the Greek New Testament as illustrations and translation exercises: there are NO MADE-UP SENTENCES of pseudo-Greek thought up by the author. First of all, this means that the beginning student is progressively exposed right from the start to what is actually found in the Greek NT, and learns to become at home in it, with all its quirks of idiom and word order. Secondly, whatever knowledge the student already possesses of the New Testament in English is regarded as a virtue and an advantage: the students will recognize verse after verse which they know in English and be able to say to themselves, "So that is what it looks like in Greek!" Thirdly, when the students wrestle with their translation exercises, trying to work out just what they mean, they are working on an actual section of the New Testament in its original language, seeking to understand what the Scripture is saying. All of this is highly motivating for students; by contrast, if students are working from a book using made-up sentences, the most they will get from their work is an understanding of what was in the mind of the author at the time he invented this sentence.
The textbook contains a large number of insights into New Testament Greek which come from the application of the principles of linguistic analysis to the language: for example, the six rules which show how the Third Declension works, and which take all the mystery out of it; the nine morph slots of the verb, that enable verb forms and meaning to be clearly recognized.
The textbook comes as a set with a Student Workbook, containing 90 fill-in-the-answer slots for each lesson, which focus upon grammar which ought to be learnt, with cross-references to the textbook. (A Teacher's Edition of this Student Workbook, with answers, is available from the author: $10 Aust & US, or £5 Stg. postage included.)
Published by SPCK Australia, 336 pages (hc), plus Student Workbook, ISBN 1 876106 O0 X; available through your usual Christian book shop or from SPCKA for $60 Aust ($45 US or £25 UK).
Orders from outside Australia may also be placed by email with ward(at)bwardpowers.info
A BEGINNER'S CLASS based on this book is conducted regularly by the author in Sydney, Australia (email for details of the next class), and it is also available within Australasia as a distance education unit towards the ACertTh. through Tyndale College.
FOR THOSE WHO MAY BE INTERESTED: SOME NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR
LEARNING GREEK is not easy. At least, I did not find it easy. My instruction in Greek seemed to consist in large measure of learning lists of vocabulary, dollops of irregular verb forms, and lashings of rules about subjunctives and accents. I could see how important Greek was, so I persevered. I took a major in Classical Greek and a minor in Linguistics in my B.A., and could see the benefit to be gained from applying the developments in the field of linguistics to the teaching (and understanding) of Greek. So I took my MA. in Linguistic Science to equip myself in this field. My Ph.D. was in the field of New Testament studies, and heavily involved with New Testament Greek.
Then I put together a Greek course which combined the traditional approach to Greek with the insights of linguistic science.
The first two editions of Learn To Read the Greek New Testament, sold only in Australia, reflected my initial ideas and experiences using this linguistic approach. The third and fourth editions sold many thousands of copies around the world.
This in its turn resulted in my receiving phone calls, letters, and emails from people of many different countries, sharing with me their experiences in using the book. Some were from teachers and students using the book in a classroom situation, and quite a few from people working from the book to learn Greek on their own. I was told of its success in an accelerated learning program: learn the fundamentals of Greek in two weeks of fulltime classroom study. In other cases (particularly for
some church groups) the course was taken at a very leisurely pace. Several of those who contacted me came across the book in a College or Seminary library, and found it useful in giving explanations that were not provided in the textbook from which they were taught Greek.
And in particular, these people gave me their feedback about the book, with numerous worthwhile suggestions as to how its usefulness could be even further improved. A great many of these suggestions, the fruit of the experience of numerous people, have been incorporated into this new Fifth Edition, published by SPCK Australia.
