Refutation to Aramaic primacists

[ScorpioSniper2]

ScorpioSniper2 are you being serious?? Lets keep this simple. Arameans and Assyrians are not Ephesians or Corinthians are they? Problem solved!

Quit being so rude about it. If you wish to convince me of your position, speak in a civil manner. No, Assyrians and Arameans were not the primary citizens of Ephesus and Corinth, but neither are Mexicans and Canadians the primary components of the United States' population. Don't put words in my mouth. In parts of Turkey, Aramaic was widely spoken. Ephesus is in modern day Turkey (so was Tarsus actually). Corinth was a port city, so you have various different ethnic groups with various different languages. Just like there was a Jewish diaspora (speaking Aramaic), there were also Assyrian and Aramean diasporas in Europe during the Apostolic period.

So, was Aramaic the primary language of Corinth or Ephesus? I don't think so. Aramaic primacists are basically saying something akin to a person writing a letter to English speaking Americans in the Russian language. That is the exact equivalent of what they are saying. Yes their are Russian speaking people in America, yes there are Italian speaking people in America, but they all communicate on the whole in broader society in English, right?? Hello??

First of all, prove to me that Paul was writing only to Greeks in his letters. "Gentiles" are not just Greeks and Romans, but also Assyrians, Arameans, Arabs, Chaldeans, Elamites, and many other Semitic peoples. This Gentile audience was obviously at least part Greek, but Assyrians were also a big part of 1st century Christendom, being some of the first Gentiles to accept the Gospel message. Paul Younan told someone on here once that even today, high ranking priests in the Church of the East write letters to churches in the United States in Aramaic and have them translated for the benefit of those that don't speak Aramaic. This is quite possibly what happened in the early churches in Greek cities.

Now here's some scriptural quotes to help you...

1: Acts 17.4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks A GREAT MULTITUDE, and of the chief women NOT A FEW.

Okay, this just proves that there were a lot of Greek Christians. This is not disputed by believers in Aramaic primacy.

2: Acts 17.12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women WHICH WERE GREEKS, and of men, NOT A FEW.

Again, it just proves that there were a lot of Grecian believers.

3: Acts 14.1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that A GREAT MULTITUDE both of the (Hellinest Greek SPEAKING) JEWS, AND ALSO OF THE GREEKS believed.

Ummm, the text does not actually say that these Jews were Hellenists. Don't read into the text. There were Jews in Greek nations that didn't use Greek in their everyday speech, just like it is with many foreigners in the United States. Yet again, this only shows that there were Greek Christians.

4: Acts 18.4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and THE GREEKS.

See point 1!

5: Acts 19:10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that ALL THEY which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both (Hellinest Greek SPEAKING) JEWS AND GREEKS.

Quit adding to the text in order to support your beliefs, as it does not say that these were Hellenists. Aramaic was prevalent in parts of Turkey. As for the Greeks, see point 1!

6: Acts 18:4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the (Hellinest Greek SPEAKING) JEWS, AND THE GREEKS.

See point 1 and 3.

7: Acts 19:7 And this was known to ALL the (Hellinest Greek SPEAKING) JEWS, AND GREEKS also dwelling at EPHESUS; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

See points 1, 3, and 5.

8: Rom 1:14 I am debtor both to the GREEKS, and to the Barbarians.

Are you saying that Paul preached only to Greeks and Barbarians?

9: 1 Cor 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and GREEKS, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Did Paul only preach to Jews and Greeks? The Aramaic Peshitta also says "Arameans" instead of "Greeks".

There are times also in the New Testament that Paul refers to the Greeks as Gentiles; either way, the title of Pauls epistles clearly shows that the majority of the audience was Greek speaking Greeks, and (Hellinest Greek speaking) Jews, living in those provinces. Which begs the question, why on earth would anyone on this planet write an epistle to such people in Aramaic???????????????????????????????????????????? I rest my case, again! <!-- s:whaasup: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/whaasup.gif" alt=":whaasup:" title="Whaasup" /><!-- s:whaasup: -->

Your case is very weak and shallow. None of the Scriptures you cited really proved anything. We do not deny that Paul preached to Greeks as well as anyone else he got the opportunity to preach to. Paul's audiences could easily have been very diverse in both language and ethnicity. Considering that Greece had so many immigrants from the Middle East, it is not implausible that many of the churches in Greece and Asia consisted of Semitic Gentiles, as well as European Gentiles.