Check out my "Peace Church Bible Study Home Page" at www.read-the-bible-org. Most of my Biblical Studies and Quaker Studies content is there; this one's just for classes and projects at the Earlham School of Religion and Bethany Theological Seminary (including the Brethren Academy).

Susan Jeffers Projects for the Earlham School of Religion and Bethany Theological Seminary This web page was last updated on 3/9/08

EMail me at jeffesu@earlham.edu

New Testament Greek

I will be teaching seminary level biblical Greek I-II for Bethany in the 2008-09 academic year, in a completely online format. Whether you're enrolled or not, you're welcome to use the material in the Greek I pre-work assignment to learn to pronounce the Greek alphabet and sound out words and sentences in New Testament Greek. For other online resources for learning the biblical languages, visit http://www.read-the-bible.org/LearnLanguages.html. For online help at any stage of biblical Greek studies, check out the Biblical Greek Mailing List, B-Greek.

I also teach online NT Greek courses for the Church of the Brethren's Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center (see below) and for Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, using similar materials but in different formats. Google "online biblical greek jeffers" for more information.

Introduction to Biblical Studies

This course is primarily for students in the TRIM (TRaining In Ministry) program of the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership. There is a session currently in progress, and the next session will begin at Academy Orientation June 23-26, 2008, and continue with 8 weeks of online coursework. I will post pre-work here in case you'd like to get some idea what the course will be like.Two online resources I expect students in this class to use: my Biblical Studies Glossary and my reference sheet for interpreting the valuable NRSV Text & Translation Notes.

Bethany's Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center

As of this writing, we're finishing up a course on the book of Jeremiah. Fall of 2008 I'll be teaching the book of Matthew with special emphasis on the Church of the Brethren's engagement with this biblical book; spring 2009 I'm scheduled to teach on the book of Ezekiel. Check back for more information. Summer of 2008 we're planning on offering NT Greek once again. These are continuing education type courses, available to Brethren Academy students and interested others (even Quakers!) They are completely online and the cost is nominal. For courses on particular books of the Bible, I generally use volumes of the Believers Church Biblical Commentary Series to complement our primary focus on the biblical text. In each course we also study a little bit of the original language, Hebrew and/or Greek as appropriate.

ESR Alumni/ae

If you're an Earlham School of Religion alum (which includes folks who took ESR classes but didn't graduate), subscribe to the ESR Alum EMail list.

Learning Biblical Hebrew and Greek

I continue to explore venues for helping persons with an interest in the Bible get started learning Greek and Hebrew. I generally include a short introduction to the Hebrew language in my OT courses, and the Greek language in my NT courses. I've prepared several workbooks and audio CDs, in an effort to help students learn enough to sound out words and appreciate thoroughly-explained examples. Here's one of my recent efforts -- even if you don't know the Hebrew alef-bet! First open the explanation document in one window, and then play the sound file to hear the verse pronounced. For other online resources for learning the biblical languages, visit http://www.read-the-bible.org/LearnLanguages.html; although I have to confess I've not updated it for quite some time! Oh -- and I've posted the powerpoint slides and additional resources from a presentation Sandra Hack Polaski and I made at the November 2005 Society of Biblical Literature meeting, called "Tips for Teaching Greek Online." Summer 2006 I'll be teaching a self-paced introduction to Biblical Greek -- check it out!