FOREWORD

The Analytical Greek New Testament is a result of the creativity and energy of Timothy and Barbara Friberg. While a candidate for a Ph.D. degree in linguistics, Mr. Friberg developed, with his wife’s indispensable assistance, a computer-stored research database to enable him to prepare a dissertation on the word order of the New Testament. As the database grew and news of it spread among biblical scholars, we began to receive requests for computer printouts and magnetic tape files of portions of the Greek New Testament organized and analyzed in various ways. Mr. Friberg at first responded to this demand by providing such materials through the University of Minnesota Computer Center. But when the increasing number of requests threatened to interfere with his research, we were led to the idea of publishing his research materials in book form. Baker Book House showed an early interest in publishing his work and has contracted with the Fribergs and the University of Minnesota to publish not only the Analytical Greek New Testament but also two concordances, one organized lexically, the other grammatically. These materials will also be available on magnetic tape from the University Computer Center for New Testament scholars in need of computer assistance. An analytical New Testament lexicon will be the final publication in Baker’s Greek New Testament Library.

The University Computer Center supported the computing aspects of this research as part of a broad program, conducted at the University of Minnesota during the past five years, to encourage the application of computing to the humanities. The Fribergs’ project, one of the more ambitious, could not have come about without the cooperation and expertise of faculty and staff who have fully supported this program. Many of these people and their contributions and projects are described in a recent volume, Computing in the Humanities. The work of University of Minnesota graduate students finds a place in this book as well. The development of the Fribergs’ database and its application to discourse analysis are presented as the volume’s leading chapter.

We have all been challenged by the Fribergs’ dedication to this research project in computational linguistics and impressed with the great dividends the published by-products promise to pay students of the New Testament. This husband-and-wife team brings a rich legacy of expertise to their chosen profession, which is the documentation of little-known Asian languages and the translation of the New Testament into those languages for the benefit of their native speakers.

Peter C. Patton

Director

University Computer Center