05-14-2009, 11:30 AM
Many within the Hebrew Roots movement are being taught to reject the original Greek manuscripts of the NT, in favor of Aramaic or Hebrew primacy, or a combination of the two. While we have the thread Greek is the Language of the NT > http://www.seekgod.ca/forum/showthread.php?tid=4 , it seemed a good idea to discuss this, in this manner. 
We have seen some lists out on the internet which declare that there are scholars and researchers like "Howard Gordon, Charles Cutler Torrey, Robert Balgarnie Young Scotts, James Trimm, Paul Younan, Andrew Gabriel Roth, Christopher Lancaster" and claims of hundreds of others who are reportedly providing a myriad of evidence and documentation to show the impossibility of a Greek primacy for the New Testament.
The above list is actually propagated by some on various websites as accurate. Originally, it appears to come from a sacred name/kabbalist/Hebrew roots/charismatic/anti-Christian/anti-Jesus source. That is, mashiyach.com.
It is common for the kabbalah and talmud to be found within the writings of Two House/Ephraim proponents. It is also common to be found among those claiming to be messianic or claiming to believe in Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Christ. But, many also make that claim when using Yahshua, or many other non Biblical variations, which are used because Jesus is viewed by them as a Greek pagan name which leads to Him being declared a greek pagan god.
First, though, the elimination of the trust of the NT by claiming the over 5000 manuscripts in Greek, are all wrong. And "the Greeks" who wrote these things did so from a Greek mindset instead of a "Hebraic mindset." And we have those in HR leadership who are going to tell us what things really mean. Or so they say.
Looking at the list of "scholars and researchers", we see:
Howard Gordon > What research or scholarly work that he has done, is an unknown at this point as the only source in that context appears to originate from the mashiyach.com website and others regurgitating the undocumented information.
Charles Cutler Torrey > Aramaic primist - translated the Gospels [1933] by retroverting from the Greek back to Aramaic. Which Aramaic? None of the dialects of the first century exist today. Using the Greek manuscripts and translating to Aramaic is not proving aramaic primacy. It proves one can translate from the Greek to any language, which has been done for years.
Robert Balgarnie Young Scotts > Hebrew primacist --Was a clergyman of the United Church of Canada [a blend of Presbyterian and Methodist] and a hymn writer. He argued that the book of Revelation was originally written in Hebrew. Arguing does not make it so.
James Scott Trimm > James Trimm is most well known for his Hebraic Roots Version [HRV] of the Bible - he plagiarized the NT and used corrupt manuscripts such as the Shem Tov, Hebrew Matthew and changed the Names of God, Jesus, and Lord to the Sacred Names. See: http://www.seekgod.ca/topichrministries.htm#james
Mr Trimm took prepaid pre-orders for the complete HRV four-five years before it was published. Then those who had ordered it never received the version and were told that the money was for a "donation", not for product. Some people spent a good sum having ordered multiple copies for their congregrations at $50-60 each.
Although some finally received their version, it was of inferior quality, with grammar and spelling issues. Which should not have been a surprise as James Trimm is known to be inept at spelling. He also came out with a NT commentary based on his NT HRV that was loaded with kabbalah. Mr Trimm has many kabbalistic teachings via his email forums as well.
He has "translated" several pseudographical books [Apocrypha] which he accepts as inspired scriptures. Mr Timm has no degrees in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek, but promotes himself as "Dr" Trimm with a "doctorate" from a diploma mill. He has never provided proof of either a BA or a Master's Degree which are mandatory prerequisites for a doctorate in any field of study. According to language scholars that have spoken with him, he is not familiar with either Hebrew or Aramaic.
Mr Trimm's private life is blatantly unscriptural. Pornographic material has been seen in his home by credible witnesses, and he and his wife had a soap opera forum promoting an ungodly life style. At one point, Mr Trimm was involved in an adulterous affair, all the while promoting and writing his teachings. At this time he was also begging for money for his family via the internet. Mr Trimm admitted to the adultery via his email forums, but the full story was disclosed on another forum by one of his associates at that time. It can be read here, which includes the legal removal of Mr Trimm from his Beit Din:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Messianic_...sage/14317
Christopher Lancaster >Aramaic pimacist whose real name is Raphael Christopher Lataster, which name he has gone back to using in favor of the English pseudonym of "Christopher Lancaster" since 2007. Lataster is a financial planner, investor, pharmacist, philanthropist, justice of the peace, and sometime author. He is also the web master for the Aramic Peshitta Bible Repository which promotes the Lamsa Peshitta. He has no degree in any linguist or language venues, but has written a book "proving" that the entire NT was originally written in Aramaic.
From a degreed language and linguistic scholar referring to Lataster: "A general trend I perceive is that he seems unaware of general linguistics, principles of comparative linguistics and Bible translation techniques. Thus sometimes his examples seem far-fetched. He does not indicate any awareness of factors in Bible translation into other languages, like critical textual evaluations and standard procedures for determining between textual variants.
Lancaster seems unaware of language history and the standard science of Historical and Comparative Linguistics, which has amassed a considerable literature and techniques related to the languages he refers to and the claims he makes. He exhibits a singular tunnel vision that views all of history in terms of Aramaic. This leads him to accept, apparently, the ethnocentric and imperialistic attitude of the Assyrian church that Aramaic was the original Semitic language!"
http://orvillejenkins.com/reviews/lancasteraramaic.html
Other critics argue that Lataster's work has little scholarly support, and that his many qualifications are irrelevant in the field of scholarly Bible study. His "verification" comes by way of Andrew Gabriel Roth.
Paul Younan > Aramaic primacist - is an Assyrian and translator of the Aramaic Bible on peshitta.org - a website dedicated to the collection, preservation and dissemination of religious materials in the Aramaic language. Mr Younan believes that the original NT was written in Aramaic. As a lifelong member of the Assyrian Church of the East, he believes that by preserving the Aramaic of the Peshitta, he is preserving the words as they were spoken by Jesus and His disciples. quote: "Many of our Assyrian people in America unfortunately are unaware of the key which we hold to the Scriptures, and especially to the New Testament, through the Aramaic language, the language which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke and preached during His mission on Earth." [Jesus is >] Mar Eshai Shimun, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East."
The Peshitta website has the Paul Younan Bible, George M Lamsa Bible, Murdock and Etheridge Bible translations, and the Khabouris Codex there, as well. This website attempts to show how the Peshitta points out the "problems" of the Greek NT and "solves" them.
Andrew Gabriel Roth > Aramaic primacist - was raised in New York as a Reform Jew, and took an early interest in Hebrew prayer and liturgy. He believes that the NT was originally written in Aramaic and has written his own English translation from the Peshitta. He states that the Greek NT has lost the original understanding because of the inability of the Greek to accurately convey the true meaning of the text.
Andrew Roth denies the trinity. In his book "Ruach Qadim", he goes into great detail of the use of kabbalah within the writings of the NT and specifically Paul.
Andrew Roth's Aramaic skills have been questioned by the Aramaic scholars, other than the group at the Peshitta website. Mr Roth does not appear to have any language credentials, so this is no surprise. He translated the word "sheep" in the NT as defined as males only. His "Maryah" definition finds strong disagreement within the credentialed Aramaic community as well [outside of the Messianic venue]. It is no wonder that his work is so readily and eagerly accepted by other non-scholars and fellow kabbalists like James Trimm.
Christopher Lancaster, Andrew Gabriel Roth, Paul Younan and others have published a book called "Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?" This book deals with suggested Greek Bible contradictions, Greek variants, split words (polysemy), mistranslations, idioms, Aramaicisms, Semiticisms, Biblical poetry in the Peshitta Bible, and includes featured articles dealing with Koine Greek and Biblical Greek comparisons, Semitic syntax in the Greek NT, and Bible codes that are found in the Aramaic Peshitta.
Bible codes are merely kabbalistic gematria. That means the occult.
We have seen some lists out on the internet which declare that there are scholars and researchers like "Howard Gordon, Charles Cutler Torrey, Robert Balgarnie Young Scotts, James Trimm, Paul Younan, Andrew Gabriel Roth, Christopher Lancaster" and claims of hundreds of others who are reportedly providing a myriad of evidence and documentation to show the impossibility of a Greek primacy for the New Testament.
The above list is actually propagated by some on various websites as accurate. Originally, it appears to come from a sacred name/kabbalist/Hebrew roots/charismatic/anti-Christian/anti-Jesus source. That is, mashiyach.com.
It is common for the kabbalah and talmud to be found within the writings of Two House/Ephraim proponents. It is also common to be found among those claiming to be messianic or claiming to believe in Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Christ. But, many also make that claim when using Yahshua, or many other non Biblical variations, which are used because Jesus is viewed by them as a Greek pagan name which leads to Him being declared a greek pagan god.
First, though, the elimination of the trust of the NT by claiming the over 5000 manuscripts in Greek, are all wrong. And "the Greeks" who wrote these things did so from a Greek mindset instead of a "Hebraic mindset." And we have those in HR leadership who are going to tell us what things really mean. Or so they say.
Looking at the list of "scholars and researchers", we see:
Howard Gordon > What research or scholarly work that he has done, is an unknown at this point as the only source in that context appears to originate from the mashiyach.com website and others regurgitating the undocumented information.
Charles Cutler Torrey > Aramaic primist - translated the Gospels [1933] by retroverting from the Greek back to Aramaic. Which Aramaic? None of the dialects of the first century exist today. Using the Greek manuscripts and translating to Aramaic is not proving aramaic primacy. It proves one can translate from the Greek to any language, which has been done for years.
Robert Balgarnie Young Scotts > Hebrew primacist --Was a clergyman of the United Church of Canada [a blend of Presbyterian and Methodist] and a hymn writer. He argued that the book of Revelation was originally written in Hebrew. Arguing does not make it so.
James Scott Trimm > James Trimm is most well known for his Hebraic Roots Version [HRV] of the Bible - he plagiarized the NT and used corrupt manuscripts such as the Shem Tov, Hebrew Matthew and changed the Names of God, Jesus, and Lord to the Sacred Names. See: http://www.seekgod.ca/topichrministries.htm#james
Mr Trimm took prepaid pre-orders for the complete HRV four-five years before it was published. Then those who had ordered it never received the version and were told that the money was for a "donation", not for product. Some people spent a good sum having ordered multiple copies for their congregrations at $50-60 each.
Although some finally received their version, it was of inferior quality, with grammar and spelling issues. Which should not have been a surprise as James Trimm is known to be inept at spelling. He also came out with a NT commentary based on his NT HRV that was loaded with kabbalah. Mr Trimm has many kabbalistic teachings via his email forums as well.
He has "translated" several pseudographical books [Apocrypha] which he accepts as inspired scriptures. Mr Timm has no degrees in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek, but promotes himself as "Dr" Trimm with a "doctorate" from a diploma mill. He has never provided proof of either a BA or a Master's Degree which are mandatory prerequisites for a doctorate in any field of study. According to language scholars that have spoken with him, he is not familiar with either Hebrew or Aramaic.
Mr Trimm's private life is blatantly unscriptural. Pornographic material has been seen in his home by credible witnesses, and he and his wife had a soap opera forum promoting an ungodly life style. At one point, Mr Trimm was involved in an adulterous affair, all the while promoting and writing his teachings. At this time he was also begging for money for his family via the internet. Mr Trimm admitted to the adultery via his email forums, but the full story was disclosed on another forum by one of his associates at that time. It can be read here, which includes the legal removal of Mr Trimm from his Beit Din:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Messianic_...sage/14317
Christopher Lancaster >Aramaic pimacist whose real name is Raphael Christopher Lataster, which name he has gone back to using in favor of the English pseudonym of "Christopher Lancaster" since 2007. Lataster is a financial planner, investor, pharmacist, philanthropist, justice of the peace, and sometime author. He is also the web master for the Aramic Peshitta Bible Repository which promotes the Lamsa Peshitta. He has no degree in any linguist or language venues, but has written a book "proving" that the entire NT was originally written in Aramaic.
From a degreed language and linguistic scholar referring to Lataster: "A general trend I perceive is that he seems unaware of general linguistics, principles of comparative linguistics and Bible translation techniques. Thus sometimes his examples seem far-fetched. He does not indicate any awareness of factors in Bible translation into other languages, like critical textual evaluations and standard procedures for determining between textual variants.
Lancaster seems unaware of language history and the standard science of Historical and Comparative Linguistics, which has amassed a considerable literature and techniques related to the languages he refers to and the claims he makes. He exhibits a singular tunnel vision that views all of history in terms of Aramaic. This leads him to accept, apparently, the ethnocentric and imperialistic attitude of the Assyrian church that Aramaic was the original Semitic language!"
http://orvillejenkins.com/reviews/lancasteraramaic.html
Other critics argue that Lataster's work has little scholarly support, and that his many qualifications are irrelevant in the field of scholarly Bible study. His "verification" comes by way of Andrew Gabriel Roth.
Paul Younan > Aramaic primacist - is an Assyrian and translator of the Aramaic Bible on peshitta.org - a website dedicated to the collection, preservation and dissemination of religious materials in the Aramaic language. Mr Younan believes that the original NT was written in Aramaic. As a lifelong member of the Assyrian Church of the East, he believes that by preserving the Aramaic of the Peshitta, he is preserving the words as they were spoken by Jesus and His disciples. quote: "Many of our Assyrian people in America unfortunately are unaware of the key which we hold to the Scriptures, and especially to the New Testament, through the Aramaic language, the language which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke and preached during His mission on Earth." [Jesus is >] Mar Eshai Shimun, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East."
The Peshitta website has the Paul Younan Bible, George M Lamsa Bible, Murdock and Etheridge Bible translations, and the Khabouris Codex there, as well. This website attempts to show how the Peshitta points out the "problems" of the Greek NT and "solves" them.
Andrew Gabriel Roth > Aramaic primacist - was raised in New York as a Reform Jew, and took an early interest in Hebrew prayer and liturgy. He believes that the NT was originally written in Aramaic and has written his own English translation from the Peshitta. He states that the Greek NT has lost the original understanding because of the inability of the Greek to accurately convey the true meaning of the text.
Andrew Roth denies the trinity. In his book "Ruach Qadim", he goes into great detail of the use of kabbalah within the writings of the NT and specifically Paul.
Andrew Roth's Aramaic skills have been questioned by the Aramaic scholars, other than the group at the Peshitta website. Mr Roth does not appear to have any language credentials, so this is no surprise. He translated the word "sheep" in the NT as defined as males only. His "Maryah" definition finds strong disagreement within the credentialed Aramaic community as well [outside of the Messianic venue]. It is no wonder that his work is so readily and eagerly accepted by other non-scholars and fellow kabbalists like James Trimm.
Christopher Lancaster, Andrew Gabriel Roth, Paul Younan and others have published a book called "Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?" This book deals with suggested Greek Bible contradictions, Greek variants, split words (polysemy), mistranslations, idioms, Aramaicisms, Semiticisms, Biblical poetry in the Peshitta Bible, and includes featured articles dealing with Koine Greek and Biblical Greek comparisons, Semitic syntax in the Greek NT, and Bible codes that are found in the Aramaic Peshitta.
Bible codes are merely kabbalistic gematria. That means the occult.
