Basics of A Grammar with Readings and Exercises from the Christian Tradition by Derek Cooper introduces students, independent learners, and homeschoolers to the basics of Latin grammar with all readings and exercises taken from texts in the Christian tradition. As part of the widely-used Zondervan Language Basics series of resources, Cooper's Latin grammar is a student-friendly introduction. It helps students learn Basics of Latin provides an ideal first step into this important language and focuses on getting the student into texts and translation as quickly as possible.
Derek Cooper (PhD, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) is associate professor of world Christian history at Biblical Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including Exploring Church History and Christianity and World Religions: An Introduction to the World's Major Faiths, and he is the coeditor of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture volume on 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles.
The book begins with a great premise: Latin writings by the classical authors "constitute at most 0.01 percent of the total output" of the Latin language. On the other hand, "approximately 80 percent of Latin comes from Christian authors." Thus Cooper intends to create a grammar with its exercises drawn from the Christian tradition, including authors like Bede, Augustine, and Anselm (pp. xvii-xix). This is promising, of course, and the exercises (which for whatever reason are placed in an appendix) are drawn directly from those sources.
However, this is where the book runs astray. There are countless editorial errors in the book, and when I write up a full errata I will send it into Zondervan for future editions ;). Here are some:
The vocab list in chapter 22 is the same as the vocab list in 11. Chapter 16 Opusculum Theologicum translates the same Latin sentence in two different, incompatible ways (pp. 156, 157). The imperfect passive subjunctive is just the wrong chart (p. 205).
Then there are other features that make the book difficult to use. For example, the exercises include words not in the glossary and grammatical concepts not yet introduced in the book if you follow it sequentially (which really makes the most sense).
There's a whole lot to like about this book, especially since it is among the best examples of a Latin grammar focused on Christian authors. With some more careful edits and a revamped set of exercises, this would be a great book.
It was my first time learning Latin and this book has been helpful. It is in need of a second edition for some editorial errors. Otherwise, I found it to be a helpful format. The exercises could be a bit more connected to the vocab and corresponding grammar in each chapter.