Winter 2020/Fuller Online

LG510

Horst

LG510: GREEK TOOLS FOR BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION (4 Units: 160 hours). Bill Horst.

DESCRIPTION: This course provides an introduction to and practice in the use of exegetical Greek for ministry. It emphasizes an inductive approach to working with the Greek New Testament and important linguistic matters that influence understanding New Testament texts. The course stresses the use of standard tools for Greek study (including software) instead of extensive memorization of forms and vocabulary in order to focus on the practical use of the Greek New Testament.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Having successfully completed this course, students will have demonstrated the ability (1) to recognize and use the Greek alphabet; (2) to read and pronounce Greek words easily; (3) to work with standard Greek language tools (e.g., lexicons, concordances, analytical concordances, and grammars) in the service of New Testament exegesis; (4) to articulate the significance of Greek conjunctions and clauses for analyzing the structure of a New Testament passage; and (5) to apply basic scholarship on lexical semantics to studying the sense of Greek terms.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course introduces students to tools for studying the New Testament in its original language, Greek. The course thus contributes to the PLO which states, “Students will have demonstrated competence in the practice of biblical interpretation for faithful use of Scripture in their own lives and ministries” (MDiv).

COURSE FORMAT: This course will be conducted online on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar for a total of 40 instructional hours. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor regularly through online discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning.

REQUIRED READING:

Accordance Bible software (see notes below for required packages and pricing).

W.D. Mounce. Greek for the Rest of Us: Using Greek Tools without Mastering Biblical Greek. Zondervan, 2007. ISBN: 978-0310282891, Pub. Price $24.99.

Notes:

Approved Bible software is mandatory in this course and will be used in other language and biblical studies courses. It can be useful, also, in subsequent ministry. Accordance is available for either PC or Mac (for system requirements, see https://www.accordancebible.com/System-Requirements).
The Accordance Greek and Hebrew combined package (Academic Amber1 Bundle) is $499 with the Fuller discount. Alternatively, one may purchase individual Greek and Hebrew packages with Accordance; however, the full language package (Academic Amber 1 Bundle) includes the requisite software requirements for both LG500 (Hebrew Tools) and LG510 (Greek Tools). With the Fuller discount, the smaller language bundles are priced as follows: 1) The Hebrew Initial (Amber) Bundle is $300 (the Greek Upgrade to this Hebrew Initial Bundle is $250). 2) The Greek Initial (Amber) Bundle is $330 (the Hebrew Upgrade to this Greek Initial Bundle is $220). The Fuller coupon code will be distributed to Fuller students.
Successful completion of the course requires ongoing access to the following reference works, all of which are available in Accordance: the text of the Greek New Testament (Nestle, E. and K. Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th ed. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012; Aland, K. et al. The Greek New Testament. 4th ed. United Bible Societies, 1993); Danker, F.W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000 (BDAG); Louw, J.P. and E.A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. United Bible Societies, 1988; Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Zondervan, 1996.