I Might Have Joined the AAC, the Ancient Aramaic Church, and Why I Didn't.
I am often inspired by Victor Alexander's translations from the ancient Aramaic version of the Bible, and I exchanged some e-mails of encouragement and support for his translation work, because I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE MYSTICS WHO WROTE THE BIBLE SAID.
If we want to find out what the mystics, the prophets of old ACTUALLY wrote so that we can learn what they ACTUALLY meant, then we can either become them--mystics--ourselves or get an accurate translation of the ancient Aramaic.
The only tenet, if you would, of the Ancient Aramaic Church is that the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures are the only authentic Scripture, which, I told Mr. Alexander, I do not believe. Alexander responded:
"To be a member of the AAC would limit you to the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures and their mindset. You'd have to respect their terminology, and so you wouldn't be free to indulge your imagination beyond the actual Texts of the Scriptures."
This I cannot do. The only authentic Scripture to me is the sense the Manifestation of God "speaks" to our hearts, the emotional element of our imaginations, and that usually doesn't have words that can be scribed. If you have been prostrate in The Presence, you know what I mean. In the pursuit of God and right, we cannot possibly indulge our imaginations ENOUGH.
The imagination is our connection to God. I cannot subject my connection to God to any "their mindset" or "their terminology." My theology being too "new," Mr. Alexander requested I stay outside and do what I feel I need to do about it.
I do agree that the ancient Aramaic version of the Bible is the best and most authentic version of the Bible by which God can illumine our souls. I am certain that it is easier for God to illumine the words his prophets actually spoke than the politically framed prose of our "Bibles." But I am going to have to go it alone--to find out what the mystics, the prophets of old ACTUALLY wrote so that I can learn what they ACTUALLY meant, I will have to become one of them myself. Thankfully, God is still in the business.
AND, now I have an accurate translation of the ancient Aramaic.
I am under no illusion that Alexander's translations are perfect, and I haven't read all of them, but what I have read tells me that he is trying to put the original ancient Aramaic text out as clearly as he can in English. I do not think he even knows all the time what the text means, it is just "this is what it says" as best as he can figure it. That is more than I can find anywhere else, and I appreciate what he is attempting ever so much. I am elated with the jewels of insights I find in his texts. They are why I haven't read them all--I can't get very far before I am completely blown away and sent on tangents of contemplation:
"O God, is that what you meant?" I experience great joy and elation for having found the truth, and great grief for having misread his words for so long a time and for the waste of time involved.
The Ancient Aramaic Church. The scriptures they had in their hands then . . . in our hands now, time not withstanding . . . the same words they read and we read in our own tongues and times . . . quickened by the same Almighty God.
The AAC is a wonderful idea, but that last bit I penned, "quickened by the same Almighty God," no, I am not going to give that up or subject myself or limit God to any "their." Mr. Alexander has his agenda as a translator, and God bless him for it. I encourage you to support him. But I also have my own agenda for having encountered God--that ruined me for anything less than knowing Him! I appreciate Mr. Alexander for the tools has given me for this war, but it is a war and they tools for war, and this old Navy man will take his ship and sword and steer into the midst of the battle inside, "mindsets" and "terminology" be damned.
I don't know, but does having been rejected by the AAC make me the first modern Ancient Aramaic heretic? Look out, Brother Joseph Cupertino!
If you are in the Corona, CA area, please leave a comment.
If we want to find out what the mystics, the prophets of old ACTUALLY wrote so that we can learn what they ACTUALLY meant, then we can either become them--mystics--ourselves or get an accurate translation of the ancient Aramaic.
The only tenet, if you would, of the Ancient Aramaic Church is that the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures are the only authentic Scripture, which, I told Mr. Alexander, I do not believe. Alexander responded:
"To be a member of the AAC would limit you to the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures and their mindset. You'd have to respect their terminology, and so you wouldn't be free to indulge your imagination beyond the actual Texts of the Scriptures."
This I cannot do. The only authentic Scripture to me is the sense the Manifestation of God "speaks" to our hearts, the emotional element of our imaginations, and that usually doesn't have words that can be scribed. If you have been prostrate in The Presence, you know what I mean. In the pursuit of God and right, we cannot possibly indulge our imaginations ENOUGH.
The imagination is our connection to God. I cannot subject my connection to God to any "their mindset" or "their terminology." My theology being too "new," Mr. Alexander requested I stay outside and do what I feel I need to do about it.
I do agree that the ancient Aramaic version of the Bible is the best and most authentic version of the Bible by which God can illumine our souls. I am certain that it is easier for God to illumine the words his prophets actually spoke than the politically framed prose of our "Bibles." But I am going to have to go it alone--to find out what the mystics, the prophets of old ACTUALLY wrote so that I can learn what they ACTUALLY meant, I will have to become one of them myself. Thankfully, God is still in the business.
AND, now I have an accurate translation of the ancient Aramaic.
I am under no illusion that Alexander's translations are perfect, and I haven't read all of them, but what I have read tells me that he is trying to put the original ancient Aramaic text out as clearly as he can in English. I do not think he even knows all the time what the text means, it is just "this is what it says" as best as he can figure it. That is more than I can find anywhere else, and I appreciate what he is attempting ever so much. I am elated with the jewels of insights I find in his texts. They are why I haven't read them all--I can't get very far before I am completely blown away and sent on tangents of contemplation:
"O God, is that what you meant?" I experience great joy and elation for having found the truth, and great grief for having misread his words for so long a time and for the waste of time involved.
The Ancient Aramaic Church. The scriptures they had in their hands then . . . in our hands now, time not withstanding . . . the same words they read and we read in our own tongues and times . . . quickened by the same Almighty God.
The AAC is a wonderful idea, but that last bit I penned, "quickened by the same Almighty God," no, I am not going to give that up or subject myself or limit God to any "their." Mr. Alexander has his agenda as a translator, and God bless him for it. I encourage you to support him. But I also have my own agenda for having encountered God--that ruined me for anything less than knowing Him! I appreciate Mr. Alexander for the tools has given me for this war, but it is a war and they tools for war, and this old Navy man will take his ship and sword and steer into the midst of the battle inside, "mindsets" and "terminology" be damned.
I don't know, but does having been rejected by the AAC make me the first modern Ancient Aramaic heretic? Look out, Brother Joseph Cupertino!
If you are in the Corona, CA area, please leave a comment.
posted by Daniel C. Branham-Steele at
9:04 PM
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