The Linguistics and New Testament Greek Conference was held at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina. I was incredibly privileged to be able to go with my brother Andrew (who is actually one of my Greek teachers), Joseph Neill (my primary Greek teacher), his lovely wife Sarah, and several of my classmates.

One of my classmates talking with the Logos software representative.

Baker Publishing Group had some wonderful resources. I very happily bought a couple books from them as well, including Dr. Plummer and Dr. Markle’s Greek grammar.

GlossaHouse publishers has some incredible Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin resources! I was especially excited to find illustrated Biblical Texts in Greek and Latin.

Illustrated Gospel of Mark in Greek.

They also have letters of Ignatius, Polycarp, Papias and Diagnetus, and more ancient Greek writings.

I liked the way this gentleman had his schedule stuck in his briefcase, and he was kind enough to let me take a picture of it! The schedule was packed; six 50-minute sessions Friday afternoon and evening, and five on Saturday morning.

Following are photos of some of the speakers, along with the titles (and some notes) from their lectures, and a brief bio.

Dr. T. Michael W. Halcomb: “Living Language Approach”

Language is seen as “dead” when it is only written. Language is thought of as living when it is spoken, and growing, and changing.

(Dr. Halcomb is the co-founder of GlossaHouse.)

Dr. Dave Black hosted the conference with Dr. Ben Markle. (Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a picture of Dr. Markle.) Dr. Black is the Dr. M. O. Owens Jr. Chair of NT studies at Southeastern Baptist University and Dr. Markle is a retired missionary and professor of NT and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dr. Rob Plummer: “The Ideal Beginning Grammar?” He gave six characteristics to look for in an ideal Greek grammar, and two warnings.

Warning #1: The reality is, there is no ideal Greek grammar. Use whatever grammar you have or have been assigned.

Warning #2: The economic problem of “lock in” and its relation to Greek pedagogy: it’s too easy for professors to keep using the same resources when more/newer/better resources might be available.

Characteristic #1: An ideal beginning Greek grammar will inspire students to seek spiritual nourishment in the Greek New Testament.

Characteristic #2: An ideal beginning Greek grammar will incorporate mnemonic devices. Most Biblical language students need to learn how to learn.

Characteristic #3: An ideal beginning Greek grammar will be written simply and clearly.

Characteristic #4: An ideal beginning Greek grammar will be accurate. Of course in a first year grammar, some oversimplification will occur, but the more oversimplification, the more there is to overcome later on.

Characteristic #5: An ideal beginning Greek grammar will have an online portal of ancillary resources. Write to teach and influence!

Characteristic #6: An ideal beginning Greek grammar will be written by authors who are growing as disciples of Christ. As students of the Bible, it is important to be growing as Christians as well as growing academically.

Dr. Plummer one of my brother Paul’s professors, so it was really special to see him again! I even got his signature on his Greek grammar, Greek For Life.

Dr. Jonathan Pennington: “Voice (Including Deponency)”

Some of his lecture was above my head, but what I did understand was excellent. (Actually, I know the whole lecture was excellent, because Andrew kept nodding and agreeing with him.) I had met Dr. Pennington once before at Paul’s school in KY, so it was wonderful to see him again.

Dr. Steven Runge: “Word Order”

It was great meeting Dr. Runge, especially since I’ve used his Discourse Grammar of the Greek NT and watched some of his videos in Greek class.

Dr. Randall Buth: “Pronunciation”

Dr. Buth spoke on the importance of and variety of pronunciation in the study of Biblical Greek.

It was amazing meeting Dr. Buth! I’ve used his curriculum and pronunciation since the beginning of my Greek studies, so it was definitely a highlight of the conference to meet him in person. (Thanks to Andrew for taking the pic!)

My brother Andrew talking with other Greek geeks.

My teacher, Joseph Neill and his wife, Sarah, talking with friends.

Some of Andrew’s friends from Summer Institute of Linguistics were at the conference. I was happy to meet them, and my brother had a wonderful time catching up with them.

As you can see on the schedule, there were a lot more lectures than I have noted here. I wasn’t able to get individual pictures of all of the speakers, sadly. Each lecture was packed with information and the passion of the speaker. I learned a lot, and felt incredibly blessed to be there! (I snapped this picture on my phone, hence the blurriness…)