BA Comparative Religion and Social Anthropology

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The course builds on your initial study of New Testament Greek and enables you to use a wide range of methods and scholarly resources for the interpretation of the New Testament and related ancient Greek texts. Assuming you have completed an introductory Greek course in which you learned the most important forms, paradigms and vocabulary for study of the New Testament, the present unit will reinforce and deepen your knowledge of the language at many points whilst broadening it into the domains of syntax, textual criticism, exegesis, translation, and discourse analysis.

Either RELT10120 or a functionally equivalent level of Ancient Greek

The aims of the unit are:

1. To strengthen your mastery of the elements of New Testament Greek
2. To equip you with a working knowledge of intermediate-level Greek grammar
3. To enable you to apply scholarly methods of textual criticism, translation, and exegesis to the New Testament and related ancient Greek texts

• Small group re-translation committee work on texts translated on an individual basis before class;  
• Mini-lectures on various topics (e.g., textual criticism, exegetical method, and translation hermeneutics);  
• Formative essay plan consisting of initial observations on a chosen passage of the Greek New Testament, identification of key exegetical debates, and initial bibliography;  
• Feedback on the formative essay plan;  
• Written essay exploring the value of one chosen method/theory, or more, for purposes of interpreting and contextualising a chosen religious text or practice;  
• Considering feedback given both in the flow of the seminar discussions and on the required essay;  
• Examination feedback. 

1. Demonstrate awareness of the semantic range of most of the morphological categories attested in the New Testament
2. Identify variant readings in the Greek manuscripts and early versions cited in the textual apparatus of modern critical editions of the Greek New Testament
3. Read with understanding and profit scholarly commentaries on the Greek text of the New Testament writings

1. Critically evaluate alternative translations and scholarly interpretations of New Testament passages in Greek
2. Recognise and comment upon ideological factors in your own interpretative activities and those of other readers

1. Use a modern critical edition of the Greek New Testament and other scholarly tools (e.g., grammars, parsing guides, lexica, commentaries, and scholarly monographs) for purposes of translation, translation criticism, textual criticism, exegesis, and interpretation
2. Produce a critically aware and grammatically informed exegesis or discourse analysis of any passage in the New Testament for a range of religious, ethical, political, and other purposes

1. Apply principles of translation hermeneutics (e.g., initiative trust) in a wide range of social situations where differences in language and culture pose difficulties for interpersonal understanding
2. Practice critical language awareness (based on experience of critical discourse analysis) for the analysis and interpretation of discourse in your own contemporary context

• Aland, B., et al. (eds). The Greek New Testament. 5^th rev. edn. Stuttgart, 2014
• Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3^rd edn, rev. F.W. Danker. Chicago, 2000
• Duff, J. Elements of New Testament Greek. 3^rd edn. Cambridge, 2005
• Porter, S.E. Idioms of the Greek New Testament. Sheffield, 1992
• Steiner, G. After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation. 3^rd edn. Oxford, 1998
• Wallace, D.B. Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1996