DESCRIPTION:

This course carries a double aim: (1) to enhance understanding and interpretation of 1 Corinthians and (2) to increase facility in using the Greek New Testament. Students can tailor their own exegetical method by applying it to a biblical book of high contemporary relevance.

A study of 1 Corinthians shows how one of Paul's congregations met with problems that have a decidedly modern ring: divisiveness, ministerial favoritism, moral failure, spiritual elitism, charismatic excess, theological heresy, financial delinquency. Using the Greek text should help make the Greek New Testament a life-long companion.

The course will meet for four hours daily, Monday through Friday, for two weeks. The first two hours usually will be devoted to serious engagement with the Greek text and the second half of the day to practical application to ministry and spirituality.

Danker, F. W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3d ed. Based on Walter Bauer. . . . University of Chicago Press, 2000 [BDAG].

Thiselton, Anthony C. The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Eerdmans, 2000.

Wallace, Daniel B. The Basics of New Testament Syntax: An Intermediate Greek Grammar. Zondervan, 2000.

Zerwick, Max, and Mary Grosvenor. A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament. Unabridged, 5th rev. ed. Editrice Pontifico Istituto Biblico, 1996.

See the Biblical Division bibliography "Linguistic and Exegetical Books Required in the Master of Divinity Program" available in the SOT Academic Advising office.

Aland, K. et al. The Greek New Testament. 4th ed. UBS, 1993. A course aim will be to understand the differences between "Nestle-Aland" and "GNT⁴," which now have the same text.

Aland, K. and B. Aland. The Text of the New Testament. Trans. E. F. Rhodes. 2nd ed., rev. and enl. Eerdmans, 1995. Esp. ch. 5, "Introduction to the Use of the Modern Editions." (pp. 222-67).

Danker, F. W. Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study. Rev. and expanded ed. Fortress Press, 1993.

Louw, J. and E. Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains. 2 vols. 2d ed. United Bible Societies, 1989. See V. Poythress, "Greek Lexicography and Translation . . . [Bauer and Louw-Nida]," JnlEvangelicalTheolSoc 44/2 (2001): 285-96.

Rogers, Jr., Cleon L. and Cleon L. Rogers, III. The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament. Zondervan, 1998.

Daily written assignments or quizzes over such matters as Greek vocabulary and grammar, edition features, and interpretation. Due by 5:00pm, Monday, August 4, 2003: a 4,000 word exegetical paper on any brief section (about two or three verses) of 1 Corinthians, selected by the student and approved by the teacher. Students should come to the first class prepared to read from the first page of the Nestle 27 Greek text of 1 Corinthians (photocopy if necessary).