1 Clement Greek Reading Group

If you live in Southern Saskatchewan and have a reading knowledge of Greek, you are invited to join a group of us who have begun reading through 1 Clement in Greek this semester.

We meet on Thursday's from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in my basement. (Contact me for the details if you need them.) This Thursday we will pick up at chapter 3--which means we are averaging a short chapter per week.

Here's a slightly modified excerpt from my introductory email:

I’d like to begin reading through 1 Clement, a letter usually attributed to Clement of Rome, one of the “Apostolic Fathers,” to the church in Corinth. 1 Clement is usually dated toward the end of the first century, which makes it one of the oldest surviving Christian texts outside of the New Testament. We will read about how some of the apostles died, experience how Clement, at least, interpreted the Old Testament as Christian scripture, and learn how the church developed at the tail-end of the NT era. How can that not be fun?

I suspect that parts of Clement’s letter will be more challenging Greek than what you have encountered so far, but that’s okay. There’s no requirement to prepare in advance (although you are welcome to do so), and I’ll have some lexical aids and English translations ready if we get stuck. The point is continued exposure to Koine Greek in a fun, low pressure context.

There are a few different editions of the Greek text available for free online. I recommend Lake’s version (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/lake/fathers2.ii.i.html) because the font is clear and the whole text displays at once. For more information on 1 Clement see http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/1clement.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistles_of_Clement.

This is my first time through 1 Clement in Greek although I read the "Apostolic Fathers" in English a decade ago. I avoid preparing in advance partly because I don't have a lot of time, but mostly because the experience of diving into an unfamiliar text and discovering that one can make their way is both healthy and fun. It's the Greek geek's equivalent to stepping into a half-pipe or catching a wave.