Beginning Thursday, September 6th, 2007, at 7:00p.m.

Meridian, Idaho

Elementary Greek is an intensive first-year Ancient Greek Reading course, designed to give the student the basic level of competence needed to properly translate and interpret simpler Ancient Greek texts, such as the Greek New Testament.  The class consists of three units (or quarters) which will begin in September of 2007 and be completed in May of 2008.        

Why Take Ancient Greek: (for the Bible)

The New Testament was originally written in Greek (though the Gospel according to Matthew may have been originally written in Aramaic).  In our quest to better understand the Bible and to grow deeper in our study and discipleship, the ability to read the Bible in the original languages proves to be invaluable.  Often, nuances in Greek are not translatable into English.  Reading the New Testament in the Greek reveals some of these nuances and helps the reader gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Holy Scriptures.  Greek can prove to be useful for every person who considers him/herself a student (Latin: discipilus, Greek: mathetes) of the Bible.  The ability to read Greek can be of tremendous use for pastors, church class teachers, ministry leaders, and every Christian who wants to be able to read the New Testament in the original language.

In addition, in the time of our Lord Jesus and the Apostles, the primary Old Testament Scriptures in use was the Septuagint (LXX), which was a Greek translation of the Hebrew/Aramaic Old Testament.  The Septuagint was the primary source of Old Testament quotations by the Apostles in the Greek New Testament Scriptures.  While the Septuagint has many nuances of its own, it does provide a Greek text of the Old Testament for Greek students who have not learned Hebrew.

Why Take Ancient Greek: (for other Ancient Greek texts)

In addition to its use in reading and understanding the Greek New Testament, Ancient Greek can also provide the ability to read from a variety of other texts, both for enjoyment and study.  The student of Ancient Greek will enjoy reading from a broad spectrum of Ancient Greek texts, and this variety in reading will help the student better understand the area of Greek that holds their primary interest, as well as the Greek language as a whole.

Ancient Greek is a dynamic language that changes and evolves over time (Homeric Greek is different from Classical Greek, which is different from Koine Greek).  This course is designed to give the student a good foundation in Ancient Greek, which will enable them to pursue the type and period of Greek that most interests them.  While it is assumed that most in the class will pursue New Testament Greek (and the class has that goal in mind), the goal of the course is to teach the students Ancient Greek, not just New Testament Greek.  There will be a much more holistic approach to the class than what is typically found in a seminary or Bible college.  The purpose of this class is to teach the student to read Ancient Greek texts, of which the Greek New Testament is a part of.  With that in mind, the student will be able to read not only from the Greek New Testament, but other Ancient Greek texts as well. 

About the Instructor:

Pastor Shawn Ragan, with the Meridian Church of God, is the instructor for this class.  He is both a student of Ancient Greek and an Instructor of Elementary Greek.

Pastor Shawn first took Elementary Greek at Boise State University, completing the class with an "A" in both semesters around 1999-2000.  He took a second year independent study translation course at BSU, but was unable to complete that due to other issues.  Since then, he has continued to study Greek, completing second year material on his own (independently, but still with the help of others in the field).  He has also worked in translating various books and chapters of the New Testament and the Septuagint, as well as Herodotus and other Greek writers.  In addition to continued study of New Testament Greek over the years, Pastor Shawn has also begun to study Homeric Greek. 

He regularly uses Greek in the preparation of sermons as well as local church classes.  He has taught several "Introduction to Greek" courses to members of the local congregation.  In 2003, he developed this class, based in part on the class he took at BSU.  Shortly thereafter, he was asked to develop an internet-based class for Maranatha College.  Pastor Shawn teaches this class both on-line through Maranatha College, and in the classroom through this course.  This will be the third time Pastor Shawn has taught this class.

Theology and Christian Identity:

The purpose of this class is not to introduce or debate particular points of theology or doctrine.  While the instructor will be able, on occasion, to answer questions after class about points of Greek in the New Testament, there will be enough to cover in the way of vocabulary and grammar in the class that there will not be time to discuss theology or doctrines.  Doctrinal debates in class will not be permitted.

Testimonial:

An email from a former student:

Hi, Shawn,

This last Sunday at the Men's Bible Study Breakfast, Gordon was leading us in the study about the issues concerning the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11. He had several commentaries about it and included the verse at the bottom of this e-mail in Greek.

He then said, "I want you to read it to us." I just smiled and said that I'd try. First I read it outloud, and then I began to explain each word. I was so pleased! I read and understood every single word except the word for "unworthily." I had to cheat by looking at the translation to figure it out. But I could tell that it was an adverb and was modifying "eating and drinking" - which was part of the point of the Bible study in this chapter.

And I recognized automatically the participle forms of "eating and drinking" as well as the 3rd person, singular, present progressive, active, indicative forms of those verbs as well. And I was able to figure out "me diakrinon" and knew that it was a participle as well and had something to do with judgment (actually meaning "discerning").

I was especially pleased with the reflexive verb form of "himself" which is in the dative, so that it means "to" or "for" himself - because of the glosses of the dative. 

Gordon was very surprised... and impressed! 

I know that it is not a very difficult passage to translate, but nevertheless, it is 100% than I could do a couple of years ago or even just 6 months ago. Thank you for all your work in teaching me Greek. I am extremely pleased at being able to read a good portion of the Greek New Testament - slowly as it may be. I hope to keep up the practice of it by using it regularly in my studies. 

Hey. If you want to use this testimony for your class syllabus or something, go right ahead.

Class Dates and Meeting Times:

Classes will be Monday nights from 7:30pm-9:00pm and the first and third Thursday nights of each month from 7:00pm-8:30pm.

First quarter will begin Thursday, September 6th, 2007.  We will meet through Thursday, November 15th.

Second quarter will begin Monday, November 26th, 2007.  We will meet through Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Third quarter will begin Monday, February 25th, 2008.  We will meet through Thursday, May 15th, 2008.

There will be a Thanksgiving Break, a Christmas Break, and a Spring Break.

Costs:

The costs for Elementary Greek are as follows:

Three units/quarters of Elementary Greek-

Elementary Greek I:   $200.00* (*equivalent of 4 credits @ $50.00 per credit)

Elementary Greek II:  $200.00*

Elementary Greek III: $200.00*

The class is $600.00 total for the equivalent of one year of college-level Greek.

Materials-

 

Elementary Greek I:    Textbook, "Greek for Reading" available for $35.00 from Amazon here.

 

Elementary Greek III:   Liddel & Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, approximately $45.00; Greek New Testament, UBS4, approximately $30.00

College Credit:

College credit is also available from Maranatha College for this course.  If you would like credit for this course, the cost would be an additional $80.00 per quarter.  Registering for Maranatha College enables you to receive credit from them and gives you access to online class CDs/lectures which can provide additional help in your studies.

Maranatha College is an on-line, unaccredited college.  If you are looking at transferring credit to another institution, you will need to contact your institution and see if the credits will transfer.  Often, if you can demonstrate proficiency in a language, you can challenge the institution for credit or use your language knowledge for placement in more advanced courses.  You will need to contact your institution for more information.

Click to go the Maranatha College Website.

Payments:

Paying each quarter in full:

Payments are due at the beginning of each quarter, by the first day of class.

Quarters/Units will be:

Elementary Greek I, September 6, 2007 - November 16, 2007

Payments due September 6th.

 

Elementary Greek II, November 26th, 2007 - February 21st, 2008

Payments due November 26th

 

Elementary Greek III, February 25th, 2008 - May 15th, 2008

Payments due February 25th

Payment Plans

If you need payment arrangements, here is the schedule for payments. 

Elementary Greek I

$100.00 due on September 6th

$50.00 due on October 4th

$50.00 due on November 1st

 

Elementary Greek II

$75.00 due on December 3rd

$50.00 due on January 7th

$75.00 due on February 4th

 

Elementary Greek III

$100.00 due on March 3rd

$50.00 due on April 3rd

$50.00 due on May 1st

Hardships

If you need some other type of payment plan, please contact Pastor Shawn to see what kind of arrangements can be made.

Payments

Payments must be made in cash, check, or money order.  Credit/debit cards are not accepted.  Make checks payable to "Shawn Ragan."  Maranatha payments and arrangements will be handled by them.

Cost Comparison

Below is a cost comparison for one year of Elementary Greek in a classroom setting, based on the cost per credit needed to complete one year of Greek:

This Class    Maranatha Credit    Boise State    Northwest Nazarene    Boise Bible Coll.

$600.00        $840.00                $2016.00         $5118.00                    $2560.00

Refunds

There are basically 16 classes in each quarter.  There will be a 100% refund the current quarter for withdrawals by the third class of that quarter (September 17th, December 6th, & March 6th).

By the 4th class, 75%

By the 6th class, 50%

By the 8th class, 25%

After the 8th class, 0%

Register, or for more information:

If you would like to take Elementary Greek, or if you would like more information, please contact Pastor Shawn Ragan.  Once you contact Pastor Shawn, he will email (or snail-mail) you a copy of the syllabus for the first quarter, which will contain class information, schedule, etc.  Payment is due as outlined above.

Pastor Shawn Ragan

Cell Phone: 571-1921

Email: shawn@meridianchurch.org

Published July 10th, 2007