The Aramaic Bible Web Log is a forum for discussing the origins of the Bible and the value of translating the Scriptures from the Ancient Aramaic Texts of the Ancient Church of the East directly into English. I believe that the Ancient Aramaic language is the true scribal language of Scriptures. My translations are posted at http://www.v-a.com/bible/. If you send me appropriate questions or comments, I will post them on this Web Log and attempt to answer or respond to them as best as I can. I will only post what I consider proper. I will not include e-mail addresses, but only your name as you wish it to appear on this blog. Click here to submit your questions or comments via e-mail. Or you may use the FORM MAIL at the bottom of this blog.
Bonfire of Vanity.
The history of the world can be told from the perspective of Western Christianity's rejection of the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures.
It is ironic that the Muslim World has risen in the defense of their dignity and veneration of their God's prophet at a time when Christians in America are removing God from their official proceedings and the symbols of Christianity from their public institutions. The Muslims are burning the embassies of Christian nations who have adopted secular humanism and turned their backs on God's Word, the Holy Bible.
The Muslims may have a different doctrine, but there is one thing that they have which is universally true and that is they believe in one God.
It does not matter who their prophet is; they have the right to be respected for their faith in God. Making fun of their prophet is the same as insulting their faith and their holy book, the Quran.
Christianity's rejection of the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures began in the mid-19th Century when the first archeologists began their careers. French and English explorers discovered the ancient civilization that had flourished in Mesopotamia thousands of years before the barbarian invasions destroyed Nineveh, the last capital of Ashur in 612 BC.
Henry Botta and Austen Henry Layard were among the first that discovered the ancient ruins in Mesopotamia in the mid-19th Century, but more intriguingly they discovered a people that lived among the ruins who had preserved the Apostolic Faith of the 1st Century of Christianity.
The news of this discovery ignited Christianity in the West like wildfire. "What, there are Christians in the East who have retained a faith that is independent of the Catholic Church and the Reformation? What do they believe in, is their Bible the same as ours?" These were the burning questions of the day during the turn of the 20th Century, the century when Christianity lost its mooring.
How to discredit this alien form of Christianity that had not gone through the Greek to Latin to English evolution of the Bible? However, the Catholic Church was ahead of the game; they had been purchasing the ancient, hand-copied manuscripts of the Church of the East for centuries. These are still kept under lock and key in the Vatican Library.
The American Protestant churches who wished to wrest the Bible from the English, who clung to their King James Version, decided to send missionaries to Northern Mesopotamia, which straddled North-Western Iran and South-Eastern Turkey, and these missionaries learned the modern Aramaic language (Syriac) and began the translation of the Protestant Bible into Neo-Syriac, the vernacular of the Christians in Urmia, Iran.
To their credit it must be mentioned that the Anglican Church refused to be involved in this translation or attempt to proselyte among the Church of the East members. The Protestant missionaries, on the other hand, led by the Presbyterians, did not know the Ancient Aramaic language. Ancient Aramaic was already a dormant language that was no longer spoken by anyone or used as a literary language, and there were simply no theologians or scholars of the Ancient Aramaic left.
The modern Syriac translation was not made by these missionaries from the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures; it was made from the American Standard Version of the late 19th Century, (which was eventually published in 1901.)
Ultimately, the controversies between the churches undermined the discovery of this ancient Apostolic Faith and the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures, which remained un-translated until I stumbled into this knowledge. However, the interests of the established churches are so well-entrenched that my translation has been covered by an avalanche of misinformation on the Internet.
But despite everything, it is possible now to discern how Christianity is affected by the onslaught of evil committed against the Apostolic Faith based on the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures.
When we look at the events of the last three and a half centuries, we can see how the rejection of the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures brought ruin to so many cultures that refused to adhere to the ancient faith.
Today, Christianity is tottering on the edge of the abyss, as its defenders have abandoned their posts. By abandoning the words of Jesus Christ recorded in the original tongue, Christianity has drifted toward secular humanism.
The atheists in the West have run amuck and the Muslims are now the only ones defending the integrity of their faith. Maybe there is a lesson in this for us Christians.
posted at: 15:54 | path: | permanent link to this entry
Although Christianity is under attack in the world, we need to stay objective in discussing the origins of the Scriptures. The Internet provides an opportunity for free discussions. Thank you for participating and expressing your opinions, as I have.