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 6/27/09

EMail me at jeffesu@earlham.edu

New Testament Greek III

I will be teaching a two-semester (1.5 course credit each semester) Greek III course starting late August 2009. This course is structured as a group independent study; we will be reading and discussing John's gospel, one chapter at a time, over the course of the two semester.

I typically teach online seminary level biblical Greek I-II for Bethany in alternate years; the next scheduled Greek I online course will be fall 2010. Whether you're enrolled or not, you're welcome to use the material in the Greek I pre-course 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 plan to teach an online Intro to Biblical Languages course (including both Hebrew and Greek) in the summer of 2009, for the Church of the Brethren's Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center (see below).

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 (March-May 09) and the next session to start in the summer of 2009. Here is a typical pre-Orientation assignment, 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.

Church of the Brethren's Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center

In the 2009-10 academic year, I'll be teaching online courses on the books of Judges and 2 Corinthians. These are continuing education type courses, available to Brethren Academy students and interested others. 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.

In June-August 2009 I am also teaching an online Intro to Biblical Languages course (including both Hebrew and Greek) through SVMC, which I hope to repeat in following summers.

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 2009 I'm teaching an online self-paced introduction to Biblical Languages, which includes both Hebrew and Greek -- check it out! I hope to offer this course again next summer as well. And, in the September 2009 I'm scheduled to teach online biblical Greek I-II for Knox College (part of University of Toronto).