If you do and you have heard about "aspect" or "aspect theory" or "verbal aspect" and you wonder what in the world is going on, I urge you to read this book: Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek
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If you learned Greek more than twenty years ago you probably learned about tenses and a present tense meant something was going on right now and an aorist meant it happened in the past. Then along came the "aspect gang" and pounded the sense of time right out of Greek tenses and left most everyone confused.Until now: Constantine Campbell, in 33 succinct but very readable pages, explains what "aspect theory" is. Basically, Greek tenses (as aspects) reveal the viewpoint of the author and not the time at which something happened. The second half of the book works it out with more examples, but this book is written for the person who needs an introduction, for the person who needs a refresher, and for the one who long ago forgot her or his Greek and needs a little shot in the arm.
One of the most stimulating features of this book is seeing the present tense as a "super-present" tense. Very interesting.
If I were teaching Greek again I'd use this book with all students of Greek syntax.
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Does Con Campbell pound some sense of time (tense) back into Greek verbs? Asked by one who learned Greek over 20 years ago. :)
thanks for pointing the book out, it looks helpful.
my greek teachers in seminary definitely pointed out aspect. we sort of crawled with tenses in first year with an awareness that aspect is out there . . . then in second year took the toddler steps towards aspect. i don't know if this is typical, but all 3 of my hebrew teachers were very in tune with verbal aspect as opposed to tense. of course now i'm talking OT to a NT guy, although if you're a sucker for biblical studies you tend to love both.
Con Campbell blogs over at www.readbetterpreachbetter.com
If you have the time, check it out. He's got a lot of great material there and a few co-writers too.
"Basically, Greek tenses (as aspects) reveal the viewpoint of the author and not the time at which something happened."
Anti-realism (http://www.philosophyprofessor.com/philosophies/anti-realism.ph) (http://www.fitelson.org/164/realism.html ) has already made its splash in the philosophy of science. Now it seems to be doing the same in Greek! It is only a matter of time until this postmodern infatuation with individuals penetrates all areas of knowledge. Whether this is good or not depends on your prior metaphysical commitments, that is, whether you are a realist or a nominalist. Isn't it amazing how that old battle is still being fought on ever new fields?
I came across this a decade ago in a class - we used Stanley Porter, Idioms of the Greek NT. I thought he made a pretty interesting case, but I've never seen anyone take it anywhere and I haven't heard it mentioned outside that class until now. How widespread is this?
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