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Doug Estes says Sell your Kidney & Buy Christidis

9 Comments Posted by Mike Aubrey on August 30, 2009

He says:

But as the influence of language study (and seminary) wanes, and the number of Greek textbooks grows, there is a new kind of Greek textbook every Greek student should beg, borrow or sell a kidney to get a copy of: A.-F. Christidis’ A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity.

Before I leave North America, I plan on owning this book somehow.

And you should too. How many NT students have even a cursory grasp of the Greek language beyond the NT, LXX & may the Apostolic Fathers?

Read the full post here: Douglas Estes – Greek Students, Sell Your Kidney! Why you need to read Christidis

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9 Responses to Doug Estes says Sell your Kidney & Buy Christidis

Peter Kirk August 31, 2009 at 2:17 am
Yes, do it before you leave North America. I don’t think you can legally sell your kidneys here in Europe,

Reply
- Mike Aubrey August 31, 2009 at 8:37 am
  I don’t think its legal over here either…but apparently they’re worth good money on the black market.
  
  Reply
c. stirling bartholomew August 31, 2009 at 8:51 am
Mike,

Have you seen the book? I got it through ILL. Sampled a few chapters and sent it back before it was due. I highly recommend seeing before purchase.

Reply
- Mike Aubrey August 31, 2009 at 9:22 am
  I take it you were disappointed. I’ve been planning on checking it out, but at the University library that has it near by has had it checked out by a professor for the last 4 months.
  
  I’m curious, though, about what you didn’t like. Could you give some details? I had been told that, though the essays are short at times, its quite book.
  
  Reply
  - c. stirling bartholomew August 31, 2009 at 10:19 am
    Mike,
    
    I don’t presume to dictate the tastes of others in reading material. I had high expectations for the book. I had a little trouble getting it trough ILL. Libraries sometimes balk at lending expensive reference works but this book was in the general stacks at most the regional institutions I checked using OCLC.
    
    I’m a notorious framework bigot. If an author isn’t writing from a framework which I find useful, I generally don’t bother with reading.
    
    My main problem with the book is the four or five chapters I read didn’t add much of anything to my current knowledge. The books seems more like an encyclopedia than a history.
    
    I have run into other framework bigots and understand the limitations of my own perspective. Back in the 90s I was reading a well know and respected Hebrew scholar who had written a number of articles on Biblical Hebrew sentence articulation. Talking about it on the Hebrew list I was told by another well known (you all know him!) scholar that I wasting my time reading these articles. I politely disagreed. But it was framework issue.
    
    I am not trying to dictate what people like. I had myself primed for a certain kind of book and the book that arrived didn’t fit into what I was expecting. Common experience.
    
    Reply
    - Mike Aubrey August 31, 2009 at 10:41 am
      The University of British Columbia library has a borrower agreement with Trinity Western, so I can generally check out just about anything – just limited to five books at a time.
      
      As for the rest of your comment: framework stuff, book expectation, etc., I’ve been there and understand.
      
      And yes, I do plan on reading through it before I even consider putting up $250 for a single volume.
Carl W. Conrad August 31, 2009 at 10:46 am
I have the book and have been working through parts of it (since it cost an arm an a leg). Right now I’m beginning to think (as in fact I always did) that Clay Bartholomew may well be right in his reaction. How much can be said about major aspects of the Greek language in five-page essays? It appears to be one immense collection of tiny tidbits.

Reply
- Rod Decker August 31, 2009 at 6:08 pm
  And tiny tidbits written by many different people.
  
  This *is* a reference sort of work, not a book arguing a single thesis by one (or even a few) authors.
  
  Of the *many* pages (how many? do I remember 1600 as the right ballpark?), I’d guess that for those interested in the NT, about 130 are the most relevant.
  
  As for the “‘but why’ question you’ve ever wanted to ask in Greek class”–maybe some, but I think that’s likely hyperbolic hyperbole. Perhaps someone is trying to justify having spent $277 on a book?
  
  I have 2 PhD students working on it this semester to see what they conclude.
  
  Reply
  - Mike Aubrey August 31, 2009 at 9:28 pm
    Well, feel free to keep us updated about what your students conclude.
    
    Reply