Anyone for Wilson&Vlachos 1st John Workbook starting 8/1/14

[akhnaten]

Wilson and Vlachos 1st John Workbook:
http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/boo ... eek/335130
used: http://www.amazon.com/Workbook-New-Test ... 0801048125
It is meant for the beginning student, and is suggested for use by students midway through an introductory course, or to be used at an accelerated rate in the final weeks of an introductory course.
"The assignments assume the student has already progressed through lesson 15 of Machen's [corresponds to lesson 15 in Croy's] grammar, lesson 28 of Wenham's grammar, or chapter 23 of Mounce's grammar."

I will be starting this workbook around 8/1/14, and if there is interest would work through it with others. The book provides glosses for all of 1st John, splitting the book into 25 sections of ~4 verses apiece. There are grammatical questions, as well as exegetical questions. Some questions require additional concordances and theological works that may be impractical.

Tentative Plan:
What is needed:
1) Greek edition of 1st John (I'll be using 23rd rev. ed. of Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece)
2) Vlachos/Wilson Workbook
3) One or more editions of First John in English (or native language)
4) (optional) Intermediate/Advanced grammar that covers Biblical Greek
5) (optional) Biblical Greek dictionary

Approach:
1) Attempt to read 1st John using the glosses provided; group would not require (or necessarily encourage) posting full translation of 1st John
2) Any questions about Greek should show an attempt at translation and/or reference to a grammar, so reading group can offer suggestions. Any questions referencing 'official' translation(s) may also appropriate for group discussion, but some of this may be beyond the experience of the reading group (and official translations may be using a different version of the Greek)
3) (optional) Answer the bulk of the workbook's questions that try to penetrate into the use of grammar and syntax, etc. Questions that require theological exegesis or reference to non-grammar texts will be secondary. It might be nice to rotate these exercises, esp. if people find it difficult to keep up with the reading schedule and the exercises.
4) (optional) Anyone consulting a Biblical dictionary could contribute elongated definitions, particularly for the glossed words.

Goals of Group:
1) Maintain a pace of ~2 workbook chapters per week (finish 1st John in 3 months).
2) Encourage beginning/intermediate readers to participate in helping other beginners. This may especially be the case if readers have been using a variety of beginning textbooks that introduce grammar in a different order.

[C. S. Bartholomew]

You might want to obtain Martin Culy's Handbook on 1John. I would be willing to talk about the book, address questions about syntax and lexical semantics.

[akhnaten]

I appreciate the response and recommendation C.S.. I will be getting a look at the text you mention this weekend, read some reviews, etc. If Culy is also suitable for beginning students (those with 1 year or less of Greek), I can reframe this as a more general "beginning/intermediate-level 1 John group". Esp. if you prefer fielding questions that may arise using Culy.

If there are no other beginners planning to use this workbook I may make another post in late July to see if intermediate/advanced readers want to engage in a discussion. I am a "novice" (only Koine exposure outside Croy's examples have been the level readings Markos created for 1 John and other Biblical/LXX texts). By the time I start 1 John, I may have around 150 hours total of Greek.

I am hoping there may be some users that recently finished a Greek course that may be interested in applying the knowledge. Taking the text in three months means getting in a reading routine before an academic year begins, and finishing it long before finals or holidays.

[akhnaten]

Thank you for the recommendation on Culy's Handbook. From his preface and intro, I would also recommend Culy to those readers looking for lexical/grammatical/syntactical help. Theological commentary and considerations are secondary to Culy's handbook. It is considerably more thorough than Wilson and Vlachos. It is likely I will go through the verses using Wilson and Vlachos glosses once or twice, then read Culy's notes, and return to the text for a third and fourth time.



I am staying on track with Greek. I will post a tentative first month reading schedule in a new thread next week. The first month will start at the proposed pace above (~8 verses/week). Reading may speed up after first month--esp. if there is interest in adding a few pages and going through 1-3 John (thanks to Culy). Any reader can engage with the text, but I am hoping beginning/intermediate readers can get involved. If any other beginner/intermediate reader wants to engage with the text, please leave a note. If there is interest among those new to Greek, I will try and think of ways to make it beneficial to beginners. I am hoping it will not be CS answering my questions.

[C. S. Bartholomew]

Thank you for the recommendation on Culy's Handbook. From his preface and intro, I would also recommend Culy to those readers looking for lexical/grammatical/syntactical help. Theological commentary and considerations are secondary to Culy's handbook. It is considerably more thorough than Wilson and Vlachos. It is likely I will go through the verses using Wilson and Vlachos glosses once or twice, then read Culy's notes, and return to the text for a third and fourth time.

Martin Culy is a linguist, translator, professor who has a lot of students who think highly of him. His book on 1st John will challenge most seminary level students but it is certainly aimed at that audience. It isn't heavy on linguistics, but you encounter terminology in an occasional comment which will require disambiguation from something like David Crystal's dictionary, or web searching.