The Mystic Christian Reader

A couple friends asked me where I was getting the Bible verses I was quoting (which translation), so I decided to feature my Favorite Book in this post.

The Bible I use most often, although I ALWAYS reference 2 or 3 others (till I learn to read Biblical Greek and Syriac myself), is "The Holy Bible from the Ancient Eastern Text" translated by George Lamsa. This book is an English translation of the Peshitta, the official Bible of the Eastern Orthodox Church. This text is written in Syriac, a language also called "Eastern Aramaic," which is similar to the Aramaic spoken by Jesus and his contemporaries, though not identical (think Mexican Spanish vs Spanish Spanish). Lamsa felt that growing up in a Semitic, Aramaic-speaking desert tribe made him especially qualified to translate and comment on the Bible and the teachings of Jesus.

I enjoy Lamsa's work because he approaches his subject matter as a scholar, doing well for the most part of keeping his personal theology out of the matter at hand and approaching the translation from the view of a "cultural insider" without ramming his personal views on God or the Spiritual World down his readers' throats.

Those familiar with the Hebrew/Greek or KJV-based translations will not feel like they're in completely new territory as they plumb the depths of the uniquely Semitic Biblical world that this book illuminates. Lamsa does his best to use similar phraseology and style to the KJV (occasionally, even, at the expense of a more mystical reading of the work), which eases us into this new way of reading old stories.

Generally speaking, reading "The Holy Bible" is like getting a hopeful second opinion after your Dr. tells you the cancer is inoperable. Lamsa explores the dual (or triple) meanings of words in Semitic languages (like Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic) and shows us that the physical, "Literal" and Non-Mystical interpretation of these well-known scriptures may not have been inherent in their writing (as they seem to be from the Latin and Greek texts) but that there may be MANY meanings for a particular verse, some which even seem "Eastern" in the sense of Buddhist or Taoist.

So READ THIS BIBLE, and USE IT; either as your primary Bible, or to supplement your well-worn "Western" Bible.

Get it at amazon.com HERE

You can also read it online for free HERE

For further Aramaic and Peshitta resources, check out the works of Neil Douglas-Klotz HERE

And the Church of Lamsa's protege, Rocco Errico HERE

Shalom