Thursday, October 06, 2005

AN ACADEMIC PUBLICATION? This article in the Kentucky Lake-Times refers readers to the Quarterly Journal of Nestorian Studies, which is online at www.CatholicosPatriarch.org/home/, where we find the following blurb:
Quarterly Journal of Nestorian Studies
Welcome to the English edition of the Quarterly Journal of Nestorian Studies, an academic publication concerning "the Illustrious Religion" throughout the world. Here you will find articles and translations of historical documents on the Ancient Apostolic Orthodox Nestorian Faith, Aramaic and Nasarean (Nasrani), Essene, Dead Sea Scrolls, and much more. The Quarterly Journal of Nestorian Studies is published in Nasramit by the Catholicos Patriarch Research Centre at Mishqana.

I'm afraid that if you have a look at the brief articles on the page, you will see that they are not academic at all. They are anonymous, quote church authorities for their scholarship, and seem to want to assert that at least parts of the Greek New Testament are based on the Syriac Peshitta. The Peshitta is actually a translation of the Greek New Testament into Syriac, an Eastern dialect of Aramaic rather different from the Palestinian Aramaic Jesus spoke, and no attempts to show that it contain earlier Aramaic material from the mouth of Jesus have ever been found persuasive by specialists. In short, don't believe the label. This site is a religious one that promotes a particular denominational agenda. They're welcome to do that, but they should not label it an "academic publication."

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