When Jesus taught at the synagogues in Jerusalem, he was well aware of the Roman Empire and the Greek Empire that preceded it. The Pharisees and Scribes tried to trap him many times so as he would say something against Rome, but he was wise in his answers. "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."
Jesus also was well aware of the Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and the "birth of democracy" in Greece. However, Jesus did not come to deal with the systems of government or philosophies of man. He said, "My Kingdom is not of this world."
In modern times, the intellectuals and the majority of teachers claim that Western Civilization is based on the Greek philosophers, the scientific discoveries beginning in the Age of Enlightenment, and the secular humanism of the 20th Century. Thus modern art and literature do not glorify God the way they did before, and the educational systems of the Western World refuse to deal with Christianity or the Bible on an equal basis with Western philosophy and science.
Today, the Western Churches insist that the New Testament was originated in Greek and deny that it was first recorded in the Jewish language, despite the fact that the Old Testament verses have lost a significant part of their meaning as quoted in Greek. What are some of the reasons for this denial?
It is undeniable that we are living in an age when Islamic Extremists have risen against Western Civilization, and it is understandable that the Western Churches are feeling the pressure and beginning to unite together in the face of this threat. Thus insisting that the New Testament was originated in the Greek language and that Christianity was to be preached only to "the Gentiles," and that the kingdom that Jesus preached was taken from the Jews and given to "the Gentiles," all makes sense to the Western Churches.
There are some perceived advantages to this stance by the Western Churches. Greek Civilization ushered in a form of democracy that has been the basis of Western governments in modern times. The pagan philosophies of Greece and Rome are more in line with modern scientific thinking. In fact, they are the originators of modern social values, where freedom and democracy mean that fornication and depravity are normal.
Greek logic and the method of discourse, Roman law and public administration are the models for Western nations. These models are in line with the Greek and Latin interpretation of the Scriptures.
Also, the Greek and Latin Bibles give the authority of the Christian religion to European and white races.
The disadvantages of the denial of the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures, as compiled by the Disciples and Apostles of Jesus for the New Testament and the Jewish scribes for the Old Testament, are not so easy for the Western Churches to accept.
If the New Testament Scriptures were first recorded by the Disciples and Apostles of Jesus, (as they most certainly are,) the story of how the kingdom was taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles could not be entertained. The Disciples were Jewish, and Paul certainly was Jewish, he was a Pharisee even; how was the kingdom taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles?
The Roman Empire did not adopt Christianity until Emperor Constantine declared Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th Century, that is four hundred years after Christianity was established in Jerusalem and the East. Christianity had already spread even to Arabia at the time of Apostle Paul. In fact, Paul established it there by building a church.
And as for Peter being the first Pope, well, how could that be? It is said even his bones are buried in the Vatican. Peter died in Babylon, where he established a church and from where he wrote one of his Letters. It is Paul who established the church in Rome, as he established most of the early churches.
Furthermore, all the early churches were made up of Jewish and Aramaic speaking peoples. There were very few Greeks and Romans among their parishioners.
In the 4th Century, Emperor Constantine, after supposedly converting to Christianity, killed the theologians of the University of Urhai (the first university ever) and drove out the Ancient Church of the East from Urhai in Asia Minor (today's Turkey). He declared the Latin translation of the Scriptures as the Bible of the Roman Church, as the Latin language and culture were based on the Greek translations of the Scriptures and the philosophy of pagan Greece.
Moreover, during the Crusades, the Crusaders attacked the Ancient Church of the East bishops and priests in Jerusalem. They killed them while they were celebrating Mass in their temple in Jerusalem. They destroyed their communities in the Holy Lands and drove them into the Persian Empire, where they received protection from the Persian kings until the advent of Islam.
Today, the disadvantages of accepting the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures are many, because we are living in the age of terrorism. The Eastern followers of Jesus are not considered Christian by the Western Churches; they are branded as heretics. It is sad that the Muslims in Iraq and the Middle East are persecuting the followers of the Messiah today because they perceive them as adherents of Western Christianity.
The rights of these minorities are not only denied, these people are being murdered, raped and crucified publicly. Yet ironically, these people are the true followers of (Eashoa) Jesus. Their Scriptures are the genuine Scriptures, still in the original language Jesus spoke. These minorities used to be the inhabitants of the Middle East. Their faith in (Eashoa) Jesus was the dominant faith of the Middle East before Islam came.
It is a disadvantage for these people to be considered as Western Christians.
In these times of war in the world it is difficult to ascertain the truth. It is the Creator's will though that all this should be happening. One can only pray and tell the truth.
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