Biblical Languages

In addition to a written examination on Bible content, and a one-hour oral comprehensive examination by representatives from the biblical, ministry, and theological divisions, the faculty of Calvin Theological Seminary requires that students in the M. Div., M.T.S., and EPMC programs successfully sustain examinations in two of the biblical languages, Greek and Hebrew. The administration of these exams has been assigned to the Biblical Division.

Students may select from the following ways to satisfy the Greek and Hebrew Biblical Languages Comprehensive requirement:

  1. Written examinations.

    A written examination administered by the Biblical Division on assigned dates. These dates are included in the academic calendar. Students receiving 70% or higher on the exam are deemed to have successfully completed the examination. These examinations are scheduled five times a year. For the academic year 2006-2007 the remaining dates are:

    • Greek: April 23, May 28, 2008
    • Hebrew: March 19, May 21, 2008

    Requirements for this exam may be found in the Student Handbook, sec. I.N.2 (p. 33); for rules governing exam retakes and taking exams out of sequence, see the Student Handbook, sec. I.N.5 (pp. 33-34).

  2. Course work.

    Any student who has obtained the grade of B+ or higher in OT 158 The Art of Hebrew Narrative and/or NT 244 Intermediate Greek Reading of the New Testament will be exempted from taking the comprehensive in that specific language. EPMC students who have taken equivalent courses elsewhere and received a grade of B+ or higher will be exempted from taking the comprehensive in that specific language. The Biblical Division will assess the equivalency of the language courses taken elsewhere.

  3. Libronix Seminar.

    The Libronix Seminar option is available to all EPMC students who have completed the Hebrew and Greek language sequences and the required core courses in Old and New Testament exegesis at another seminary that is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools.

    A student who successfully completes an intensive seminar using the Libronix computer program for biblical exegesis using Hebrew and Greek is exempted from taking the comprehensive examination in the language(s) sustained. The seminar will be offered two times a year, at the end of the EPMC summer seminar (this year, May 27-30, 2008), and at the end of the Fall quarter (this year, November 18-20, 2008). Those selecting this route are committing themselves to attend the seminar from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, to have in their possession a computer (laptop or desk-top) loaded with the Libronix Scholar's Edition program, and to successfully complete graded exercises based on the work of the seminar. Retakes are limited to the times when the seminars are offered.

    The Biblical Division offers the following information about the option to take the LIBRONIX seminar in order to help students prepare themselves and to help them understand the division's expectations:

    1. The LIBRONIX seminars offered in 2008 are free of charge.
    2. The LIBRONIX seminar will only be offered at regularly scheduled times. Unfortunately, retakes are limited to the times that the LIBRONIX seminar is offered during the academic year.
    3. The LIBRONIX seminar will be offered only on campus at CTS.
    4. To take this seminar, students must own a copy of LIBRONIX Scholar's Edition and have it installed on their PC laptop or desktop (which must be brought into the seminar). The PC must be installed with a version of Windows no older than Version XP. CTS students who do not yet own a copy of this Bible software can purchase it at a 50% discount at the following on-line web address:
    5. To take this seminar, students must register with Professor Carl J. Bosma, prior to May 30, 2008 (for the June seminar) and/or November 8, 2008 (for the November seminar).
    6. The three-day seminar will consist of 2 ½ days of training and ½ day (the afternoon of the third day) of completing exercises through which students will successfully demonstrate (by achieving a score of 70% or higher) their competency in working with this Bible software to exegete texts from the O.T. and from the N.T. and to discuss relevant grammatical and syntactical features of these texts.
    7. To prepare for this training session, it is suggested that students review their working knowledge of Greek and Hebrew grammar and syntax. The LIBRONIX program can give the meaning of the vocabulary and can also parse. It will not, however, inform the user why, for example, a biblical writer used a perfect verb, nor why a Hiphil verb was used. Furthermore, students should know how to delimit the clauses in a Greek and Hebrew text and explain how the clauses are related to each other in the texts under study.
    8. Students who are not sure of their understanding of Greek or Hebrew Syntax are urged to acquire the following add-on LIBRONIX products:

      For Greek:
      Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

      For Hebrew:
      Either Waltke and O'Connor, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, or Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar. Some editions of the LIBRONIX software have Christo van de Merve's A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar.