Hi there! Per your recommendation I have read through Plato to Christ and 1 chapter left on the Greco-Roman World of the NT Era! Thank you for such great recommendations. As I am a Biblical Studies undergrad graduate and have been working on expanding my study and knowledge outside an institution. These books really did provoke so much truth and "ah-ha" moments! Please release more videos and more reviews, this was wonderful! Best!
Dr Burling, I would add Everett Ferguson’s Backgrounds of Early Christianity. Covers the Jewish and Greek and Roman backgrounds really well. A more recent volume is Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald (Eds), The World of the New Testament. A 1975 classic that I find amazing is Mary Smallwood’s The Jews Under Roman Rule. The author passed away this month at 103. The author was a polymath and devout Christian believer.
Maybe a little more complicated, but I really like Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity by David deSilva. It was interesting how he went through what the world was like in those 4 topics, then how the early church approached them.
To be honest, I prefer to pronounce Koine Greek with the pronunciation that contemporary native Greeks read it today, and that is how I am studying it.
@@BatTzion.1 Excellent! it seems to me that it makes much more sense to read it with the pronunciation of a living language, in addition to being more entertaining and useful because at the same time it helps me with my Modern Greek lessons.
@PrincipeCaspianX Yes, it absolutely does! Initially I was learning Erasmian pronunciation on my own. I eventually connected with a native Greek tutor. She had me read scripture then stopped me with a perplexed look on her face and said, "My dear the pronunciation sounds artificial." It was then and there that I decided to do away with it and move forward with modern pronunciation. I am so thankful I made the decision to do so.
@@BatTzion.1 Exactly!! When it comes to pronunciation, I respect the opinion of a native of today's Greek much more than the opinion of a scholar who tries to imitate a sound that no one uses naturally anymore today. I don't really care if the scholar's pronunciation is the correct one and the native's is wrong, what matters to me is understanding the meaning of what I am reading and pronouncing it with grace and style just as the 15 million Greeks who exist today pronounce it.
My pronunciation is modern with /y/, vowel length, and pitch accent put back in. I use it for anything from classical Attic to modern, but not ancient dialects. So I pronounce "Η την η επι της!" (With it or on it! what Spartans said to someone going off to war) as /i: ti:n i: epi ti:s/, but "Η ταν η επι τας!", which is how they actually said it, as /ε: ta:n ε: epi ta:s/. I participate in the Greek chat, in which people use various pronunciations. I talked about trying to find an ορον (boundary) (I'm a surveyor), and someone else thought I was talking about a mountain. They're both ορος, but boundary is masculine with rough breathing (which I don't pronounce but he does), and mountain is neuter with smooth breathing. So I said "ho horos", pronouncing the breathing, so that he'd know which one I meant.
I really appreciate the content in all the videos, please keep them coming. I've read a good many books to help me get an accurate contextual understanding of the Bible, a recent highlight was Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes (Richards & O'Brien), that was tremendously eye-opening. I have the author's other book Misreading... with Western Eyes but haven't read that yet.
My first undergraduate professor of Greek, Helen Eaker at Rice University, used to say that she had learned 3 (or was it 4?) mutually exclusively ways to pronounce Attic Greek (let alone Koine). Her conclusion was: "as long as I can understand what you wrote in your notebook as an answer to homework when read aloud I don't care." Very pragmatic! Her example of why she gave up on the Modern Greek pronunciation of ancient Greek was that when she went to an Aristophanes play at Epidauros the chorus of Sheep said "VEE, VEE" for "Beta-Eta-Eta"
As a big fan of a new standard for Koine pronunciation I devoured Ben Kantor's work and do recommend the short book for everyone. Very happy that Darryl is now wanting to dive in as well. That said Kantor's work is not so much a methodology but a justification as to why Koine ought to be pronounce a certain way. It is important nonetheless as it should be a new standard. A quick reason why this is important to me is that I have a bit of a speech impediment and need to work on things like pronunciation often. Even in English I work on it but today no one notices any impairment in the way I speak English. The problem I had is that is that almost every professor teaching Greek pronounces things differently. If I can tell what US state you are from you are not pronouncing Koine at all. So please nobody should claim Erasmian pronunciation, generally the are simply winging it.
Great recommendations. Thank you. I'm happy to see the trend toward a more historic pronunciation of Koine Greek. I'm also happy to see a book that seeks to reconcile ancient secular and sacred thinkers. So often I hear that Greek philosophy was doctrines of man. And to be fair some was. But I believe many of the ancients were, by God's common grace, simply recognizing God's general revelation. To recognize that 2 + 2 = 4 in not to create a new doctrine. Likewise there are many objective truths woven throughout the fabric of reality. Whether they're discovered by a Greek thinker or a biblical writer, they're still true.
Could it be that platonist ideas derailed Christian ideas by introducing ideas of 1) immortality of souls 2) ascent of souls into a heavenly plain 3) immaterial beings 4) progressive emanations from the divine .These were accepted by Gnostic teachers and then filtered into non-Gnostic congregations resulting in the dilution of the original Jewish concepts of soul sleep, limited resurrection and the Kingdom of God established on Earth.
Hi there! Per your recommendation I have read through Plato to Christ and 1 chapter left on the Greco-Roman World of the NT Era! Thank you for such great recommendations. As I am a Biblical Studies undergrad graduate and have been working on expanding my study and knowledge outside an institution. These books really did provoke so much truth and "ah-ha" moments! Please release more videos and more reviews, this was wonderful! Best!
I might add, I just ordered the pronunciation guide to Greek as well! Thanks again!
Please continue to create these videos. I have bought books you have recommended and they were great.
Thank you! Will do!
Dr Burling, I would add Everett Ferguson’s Backgrounds of Early Christianity. Covers the Jewish and Greek and Roman backgrounds really well. A more recent volume is Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald (Eds), The World of the New Testament. A 1975 classic that I find amazing is Mary Smallwood’s The Jews Under Roman Rule. The author passed away this month at 103. The author was a polymath and devout Christian believer.
Saw Rob Plummer's video on Kantor's work.
Maybe a little more complicated, but I really like Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity by David deSilva. It was interesting how he went through what the world was like in those 4 topics, then how the early church approached them.
GM Dr. B. Thanks for the content.
Cool to see you changed your mind on pronunciation 😃
A little. I'm still not dogmatic on it, though I think new learners should try to learn reconstructed. The key is having good resources on it.
To be honest, I prefer to pronounce Koine Greek with the pronunciation that contemporary native Greeks read it today, and that is how I am studying it.
@PrincipeCaspianX I am studying Koine Greek the same way!
@@BatTzion.1 Excellent! it seems to me that it makes much more sense to read it with the pronunciation of a living language, in addition to being more entertaining and useful because at the same time it helps me with my Modern Greek lessons.
@PrincipeCaspianX Yes, it absolutely does! Initially I was learning Erasmian pronunciation on my own. I eventually connected with a native Greek tutor. She had me read scripture then stopped me with a perplexed look on her face and said, "My dear the pronunciation sounds artificial." It was then and there that I decided to do away with it and move forward with modern pronunciation. I am so thankful I made the decision to do so.
@@BatTzion.1 Exactly!! When it comes to pronunciation, I respect the opinion of a native of today's Greek much more than the opinion of a scholar who tries to imitate a sound that no one uses naturally anymore today. I don't really care if the scholar's pronunciation is the correct one and the native's is wrong, what matters to me is understanding the meaning of what I am reading and pronouncing it with grace and style just as the 15 million Greeks who exist today pronounce it.
My pronunciation is modern with /y/, vowel length, and pitch accent put back in. I use it for anything from classical Attic to modern, but not ancient dialects. So I pronounce "Η την η επι της!" (With it or on it! what Spartans said to someone going off to war) as /i: ti:n i: epi ti:s/, but "Η ταν η επι τας!", which is how they actually said it, as /ε: ta:n ε: epi ta:s/.
I participate in the Greek chat, in which people use various pronunciations. I talked about trying to find an ορον (boundary) (I'm a surveyor), and someone else thought I was talking about a mountain. They're both ορος, but boundary is masculine with rough breathing (which I don't pronounce but he does), and mountain is neuter with smooth breathing. So I said "ho horos", pronouncing the breathing, so that he'd know which one I meant.
Good to hear where you've come to on the pronunciation front!! I have never liked Erasmian pronunciation 😅
😁 It's still hard to switch though.
I really appreciate the content in all the videos, please keep them coming. I've read a good many books to help me get an accurate contextual understanding of the Bible, a recent highlight was Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes (Richards & O'Brien), that was tremendously eye-opening. I have the author's other book Misreading... with Western Eyes but haven't read that yet.
Thanks, for the suggestion!
thank u very much. im going to get the last two.
what do u think of Ben Witherington's socio-rhetorical commentaries?
My first undergraduate professor of Greek, Helen Eaker at Rice University, used to say that she had learned 3 (or was it 4?) mutually exclusively ways to pronounce Attic Greek (let alone Koine). Her conclusion was: "as long as I can understand what you wrote in your notebook as an answer to homework when read aloud I don't care." Very pragmatic! Her example of why she gave up on the Modern Greek pronunciation of ancient Greek was that when she went to an Aristophanes play at Epidauros the chorus of Sheep said "VEE, VEE" for "Beta-Eta-Eta"
As a big fan of a new standard for Koine pronunciation I devoured Ben Kantor's work and do recommend the short book for everyone. Very happy that Darryl is now wanting to dive in as well. That said Kantor's work is not so much a methodology but a justification as to why Koine ought to be pronounce a certain way. It is important nonetheless as it should be a new standard.
A quick reason why this is important to me is that I have a bit of a speech impediment and need to work on things like pronunciation often. Even in English I work on it but today no one notices any impairment in the way I speak English. The problem I had is that is that almost every professor teaching Greek pronounces things differently. If I can tell what US state you are from you are not pronouncing Koine at all. So please nobody should claim Erasmian pronunciation, generally the are simply winging it.
very good!
Great recommendations. Thank you. I'm happy to see the trend toward a more historic pronunciation of Koine Greek. I'm also happy to see a book that seeks to reconcile ancient secular and sacred thinkers. So often I hear that Greek philosophy was doctrines of man. And to be fair some was. But I believe many of the ancients were, by God's common grace, simply recognizing God's general revelation. To recognize that 2 + 2 = 4 in not to create a new doctrine. Likewise there are many objective truths woven throughout the fabric of reality. Whether they're discovered by a Greek thinker or a biblical writer, they're still true.
Book : Behind the scenes of the Old Testament.
Could it be that platonist ideas derailed Christian ideas by introducing ideas of 1) immortality of souls 2) ascent of souls into a heavenly plain 3) immaterial beings 4) progressive emanations from the divine .These were accepted by Gnostic teachers and then filtered into non-Gnostic congregations resulting in the dilution of the original Jewish concepts of soul sleep, limited resurrection and the Kingdom of God established on Earth.
I'm surprised you failed to mention _"The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah"_ by Alfred Edersheim.
Its worth having, but it is a bit dated now. There are lots of good insights in it though. Thanks for the suggestion!