Seminarians spend countless hours mastering biblical languages and learning how the knowledge of them illuminates the reading, understanding, and application of Scripture. But while excellent language acquisition resources abound, few really teach students how to maintain their use of Greek for the long term. Consequently, pastors and other former Greek students find that under the pressures of work, ministry, preaching, and life, their hard-earned Greek skills begins to disappear. Con Campbell has been counseling one-time Greek students for years, teaching them how to keep their language facility for the benefit of those to whom they minister and teach. He shows how following the right principles makes it possible for many to retain---and in some cases regain---their Greek language skills. Pastors will find Keep Your Greek an encouraging and practical guide to strengthening their Greek abilities so that they can make linguistic insights a regular part of their study and teaching. Current students will learn how to build skills that will serve them well once they complete their formal language instruction.
Keep Your Greek: Strategies for Busy People
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'Why hasn't anybody ever written a little book like this before? First-year Greek students should read it. Exegesis students should read it. Preachers who have had a year or two of Greek should read it. And it's so short and straightforward, the same person should read it in all three capacities. Do what Con Campbell says and you will keep your Greek. But don't just believe him; read the exchanges from his blogsite which he includes that prove it!' -- Craig L. Blomberg, PhD, Distinguised Professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary
About the Author
Constantine R. Campbell (PhD, Macquarie University) is a senior lecturer in Greek and New Testament at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of Verbal Aspect, the Indicative Mood, and Narrative, Verbal Aspect and Non-Indicative Verbs, Not Ashamed, and Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek. Dr. Campbell is a public speaker, musician, and author, and lives in Sydney with his wife and three children.
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More About the Author
Constantine R. Campbell (PhD, Macquarie University) is a senior lecturer in Greek and New Testament at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia. He is author of Verbal Aspect, the Indicative Mood, and Narrative, Verbal Aspect and Non-Indicative Verbs, Not Ashamed, Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek, and Keep Your Greek. Con is a public speaker, musician, and author, and lives in Sydney with his wife and three children.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm recommending it to my students!,
This review is from: Keep Your Greek: Strategies for Busy People (Paperback)
As a Greek instructor, I'm always looking for ways to help my students retain their Greek knowledge. Ok, let's be honest. I'm always looking for ways to retain my Greek knowledge too. So I was eager to read this book. Greek students and those out in ministry agree that original language study is important for helpful Biblical exegesis and exposition, but many of those in ministry's memory of Greek grammar and vocab is just that, faded memories. This book is helpful for both students wanting to keep their Greek from fading and those in ministry who desire to sharpen their memory of almost forgotten participles and pronouns.
This book began as a series of blog posts [...] back in January of 2009 and as a result the book has a very engaging, personal feel to it. The book is short (less than 100 pages) and a very quick read. I sat down with it the night I got it and finished it in less than a hour. A unique element of the book, due to the fact that it started as a series of blog posts, is that Campbell includes at the end of each chapter some of the comment conversation that the original posts received. This adds to its light, easy-to-read style. The book consists of 10 short chapters (each only a couple of pages), a motivational appendix, and an annotated list of resources for pursuing Greek retention. Each chapter deals with one easy-to-implement principle for retaining (or regaining) your Greek. The ten principles are: - Read some Greek every day - Don't rely on interlinears - Don't cheat with Bible study software - Know your vocabulary like a good friend - Practice, practice, practice, parsing - Read fast to get the flow - Read slow to get the details - Immerse yourself in Greek with as many of your senses as possible - It's easier to learn Greek the second time than the first - Make a plan for how you will retain/regain your Greek None of these principles are earth-shattering, but Campbell makes them easy to understand, and even better, easy to implement. In the appendix, Campbell includes a motivational anecdote from Daniel Wallace, one of the foremost contemporary Greek scholars. He originally struggled with Greek, even failing his first class, but when took it seriously he began to excel. The message is that you too can excel, but you have to take it seriously. It's not easy, but it's worth it. My only criticism is that book is so short. I would have loved to have gained more from it. Overall, this was a great book and I plan to recommend it to many of my students.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best tool on this topic!,
This review is from: Keep Your Greek: Strategies for Busy People (Paperback)
This little book is the best thing I know of for encouragement and advice for how to maintain and increase your ability to read and use Greek. I almost can't say too much good about this book- and it would make a great gift! As Greek teacher, I know encourage all my students to get this book.
One of the real challenges, of course, in preparation for ministry is, having taken Greek, to maintain Greek information and skills in the daily grind of ministry. In brief fashion Campbell covers key advice I have heard previously and more points I had not heard or thought of before. I really wish I had received this book 20 years ago and now hope all my students will get it. Campbell's key points are: - Ready every day - Burn your interlinear - Use software tools wisely (don't jump to help too quickly) - Make vocabulary your friend - Practice your parsing - Read fast - Read slow (so vary your reading) - Use your senses (sight, hearing, etc.) Of course a simple list does not capture the power of the book. One great strength is Campbell's tone and approach. He is very realistic. It would be easy to suggest more work than anyone could do. Campbell's ideas though obviously emerge from the real life of his own practice and of encouraging others. Also, his breezy, encouraging tone is helpful. He will give the firm exhortation, but he typically comes across as a chief encourager. Brevity is also a strength here. You don't get bogged down in this book. I loved reading the book and came away from it deeply encouraged and motivated. This is great content in the right tone, at the right size and right price. It is the best thing around on this important topic. Read and be encouraged in your own wrestling with the New Testament as it was originally given.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A really needed help for students of NTG,
This review is from: Keep Your Greek: Strategies for Busy People (Paperback)
It is interesting that we go to college, seminary, and graduate school to study Bible, Greek, Hebrew, and all the rest and have no plan for "keeping" what we learn. This is especailly true of the Biblical languages. Dr. Campbell has written a really needed help. However, the help comes in an interesting way. All of us as teachers of NTG and pastors who try to keep up with our Greek know just about everything he has reminded us of -- we need to read everyday, we need to continue with our flashcards and whatever else has helped us keep our vocabulary, review the paradigms and how words are formed, and the like. One very critical reviewer has said save your mone becaue the book can be summed up in a sentence: "get rid of your interlinear and read your Greek everyday." This is an oversimplication of what Dr. Campbell has attempted to do -- and, by the way, has done it very well! I read straight through -- first each big topic, then the sentence summary at the end of each chapter, the . . . and especailly here -- the Blog Responses. There are approximately 61 pages of instructions from Dr. Campbell and 27 pages of Blog Responses from readers of these great challenging-reminders. Herein lies the real help in the book -- the back-and-forth (most of the time)between Dr. campbell and his readers in the responses. Good tips on learning and a great deal of encouragement coming from those who have tried the several good tips and found them helpful. A good investment for anyone who needs helpful hints and encouragement in "keeping their Greek." Keep readingt, everyday, keep working with vocabulary learning methods, keep reviewing the paradigms and needed points of grammar and syntax -- you'll be glad down the road a piece. Two stories to conclude: while still a college student I was always asking active pastors and teacher, "How do you keep up with your studies after college, seminary, and graduate school, after you get active in your minsitry?" One young pastor, fresh out of seminary answered like this: "Everyday I read one verse from the Hebrew Bible and one verse from the Greek New testament -- know all the words, analyze the points of grammar needed for a good understanding of the text." My first thought -- "One verse; that's not very much!" That was in 1956. What if that young man (much older and retired by now) had kept that up all throught the years? Wow! Just think how much of Holy Scripture this pastor would have read during those years. Now, to conclude (I promise) -- a faculty friend of mine here at Wingate University plays the guitar, the banjo, the fiddle. We've joked that he can play anything with strings. He's good at it. His word to those who want to play, even if just for fun, is: "Don't hide your guitar away in a closet; prop it up in the hallway, and everytime you trip over it, pick it up and play a few chords." I've given my Greek students the same bit of advice for years. "Don't put your GNT on a shelf; leave it on the desk or table where you can see it, and everytime you pass by, pick it up and read a verse or two." The secret is to read, Read, READ, and READ some more. Dr. Campbell has written a challenging little book that will be a BIG help to all students of the GNT.
G. Byrns Coleman Professor of Religion Wingate University Wingate, North Carolina
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