Customer Reviews

A Workbook for New Testament Greek: Grammar and Exegesis in First John

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This is one of two titles available to assist the intermediate-level student of New Testament Greek in translating I John. The other title, one that I recommend more than the one under review, is A First John Reader: Intermediate Greek Reading Notes and Grammar, by S.M. Baugh.
The title under review does have some helpful features: Each chapter is preceded by a vocabulary list, with all potentially troublesome verbs, nouns and adjectives parsed and explained. The problem arises in the exegetical portion of the workbook. The authors have a particular theological bias--they are evangelical Protestants. And they lay on their theology quite heavily. If the student does not share this particular theology (and I don't), much of the exegetical work is rather pointless at best. The authors don't bother to point out interpretations that might undercut their particular hermeneutics.
The Baugh title has features that are equally helpful insofar as translation and comprehension are concerned. In addition, it lets the student arrive at her own theological conclusions from the text under review. Baugh's reader is keyed to his primer, A New Testament Greek Primer, and to the main grammars and dictionaries available to the student of New Testament Greek. On the whole, I have found it to be much more helpful in my struggle to obtain a working knowledge of koine Greek.
If you want to work through an NT book other than I John, I recommend without qualification Philippians: A Greek Student's Intermediate Reader, by Jerry L. Sumney. This author carefully guides you through the Greek text of Paul's Epistle to the Philipians, analyzing the morphology, structure and meaning of the epistle's key words and phrases, all without the heavy theological overtones present in Wilson's and Vlachos' workbook. I found the Sumney volume much more helpful from a grammatical standpoint, and I appreciated the fact he was willing to allow me to draw my own exegetical decisions, rather than beating me over the head with his own. This was a welcome change from the volume under review here.
In summary, if you're an evangelical Protestant, you'll probably like Wilson's and Vlachos' Workbook. If you're not, then Baugh is the way to go. Two to three stars overall; four for the Greek itself, zero for the gratuitous theology bundled with it.

I am taking Greek from Dr. Vlachos (who is awesome), one of the authors, and this workbook has helped so much! Not only does it help my Greek, it's delving into Biblical study, too!