03-11-2009, 10:49 PM
Questions:
1) You say: "the Peshitta did not emerge in the fourth century, that it emerged from the hands of the Apostles themselves." Can you support this tradition with the testimony of outside sources (i.e. scholars, Western Church Fathers, etc)? For one, the majority of biblical scholars agree that the Gospels have unknown authors, writing and rewriting under pseudonyms (i.e. Odes of Solomon, Book of Enoch, Book of Adam and Eve) until their final canonization. Let's assume that scholars have only examined the Greek tradition, even Syriac speaking communities other than in Persia, and unfairly included your neck of the woods into the mix. What proof does it offer that effectively counters these scholars' research? For instance, do you have different samples of Apostolic signatures? DNA samples extracted from hair? In other words, do you have something---anything---dating back to the 1st century that is irrefutably from the Apostles? Does the COE even possess knowledge of the Apostles' burial sites?
2) How does the internal/external evidence suggest that the Peshitta, as we know it today, is the direct descendant of the prototypal New Testament when its first copy and copies of copies are lost (and possibly altered), (2) eastern Church Fathers (or whomever), in Persia, failed to preserve its fragments through quotations, and (3) no one bothered to memorize it? Do we have something earlier than the Diatessaron to compare it to? Perhaps a Syriac Gospel carbon-dated between the mid and late 1st century? How about early 2nd century (100-125 CE)?
I can accept your belief derives from Church tradition, but I want to know if it has historical merit. And I say this with all due respect.
1) You say: "the Peshitta did not emerge in the fourth century, that it emerged from the hands of the Apostles themselves." Can you support this tradition with the testimony of outside sources (i.e. scholars, Western Church Fathers, etc)? For one, the majority of biblical scholars agree that the Gospels have unknown authors, writing and rewriting under pseudonyms (i.e. Odes of Solomon, Book of Enoch, Book of Adam and Eve) until their final canonization. Let's assume that scholars have only examined the Greek tradition, even Syriac speaking communities other than in Persia, and unfairly included your neck of the woods into the mix. What proof does it offer that effectively counters these scholars' research? For instance, do you have different samples of Apostolic signatures? DNA samples extracted from hair? In other words, do you have something---anything---dating back to the 1st century that is irrefutably from the Apostles? Does the COE even possess knowledge of the Apostles' burial sites?
2) How does the internal/external evidence suggest that the Peshitta, as we know it today, is the direct descendant of the prototypal New Testament when its first copy and copies of copies are lost (and possibly altered), (2) eastern Church Fathers (or whomever), in Persia, failed to preserve its fragments through quotations, and (3) no one bothered to memorize it? Do we have something earlier than the Diatessaron to compare it to? Perhaps a Syriac Gospel carbon-dated between the mid and late 1st century? How about early 2nd century (100-125 CE)?
I can accept your belief derives from Church tradition, but I want to know if it has historical merit. And I say this with all due respect.