Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 67:2 (Fall 2005)
Article: The Development of Greek And The New Testament: A Response To Dr. M. Silva
Author: Chrys C. Caragounis

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WTJ 67:2 (Fall 2005) p. 405

The Development of Greek And The New Testament:
A Response To Dr. M. Silva

Chrys C. Caragounis

Chrys Caragounis is Professor of New Testament Exegesis at Lund University in Lund, Sweden.

Moises Silva has attempted to write a review of my book The Development of Greek and the New Testament: Morphology, Syntax, Phonology, and Textual Transmission.

The above book is the first attempt, since the fatal error of Erasmus (who unintentionally through his propagation of an un-Greek pronunciation brought about a division in the Greek language) to rehabilitate the Greek language for NT scholarship and in particular to place NT Greek in perspective, that is, as part of an ongoing process of development from the beginning (of written documents in Mycenaean times) to the present, where not only pre-NT but also and especially post-NT linguistic developments are germane for a more correct understanding of the NT text. This book is thus a critique of the self-complaisant way in which NT Greek has thus far been examined, that is, without regard for the unity of the language as a whole or the light which post-NT developments throw on the NT idiom. This is asserted in spite of much laudable work performed by NT and classical scholars of non-Greek descent. It is thus understandable that the strong challenge of this book will cause discomfort and perhaps even irritation to many, unless they be willing to listen open-mindedly and pay heed to the evidence presented.

Now in a scholarly review (especially of the length of Silva’s review), it is expected that it presents adequately the thesis and contents of the book against the background of scholarly discussion, its methodology, its argumentation, its evidence, what it has achieved, and to what extent the attempt has been successful. Having dealt with the main concerns of the book, the review may also contain—to the extent this is feasible—a critical treatment of details which are not central to the thesis.

Silva’s review does not conform to the above standard. His presentation is brief and rhapsodic in the extreme: the reader is simply never told what this book attempts to do or how it accomplishes it. There is no discussion of its methodology, no exemplification of its argumentation, no presentation of its evidence and its results, nor any indication as to the areas in which it advances the discussion.

Silva’s review is basically polemical. His stated basic criticism is (a) that Cara-gounis romanticizes Greek, and especially (b) that he does not use modern linguistic theory and jargon. In what follows I shall scrutinize each one of the points

WTJ 67:2 (Fall 2005) p. 406

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