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Earliest known date attached to four Gospels
#1
Shlama Akhay,

There has been some doubt spread by Dr. Glocester Ridley (and then passed on to J. D. Michaelis-- see last quote below),
on whether the dating seen by J. S. Asseman on a manuscript of the four Gospels is accurate or not. A quote from "The Scattered Pearls" by Barsoum / Afram / Moosa will dispel a considerable amount of doubt and cause the A. D. 78 date mentioned at the end of the manuscript to be very plausible.

[QUOTE OF BOOK PASSAGE AND FOOTNOTE FROM "THE SCATTERED PEARLS" BY BARSOUM / AFRAM / MOOSA] ]
2. The Doctrine of Addai, is a very old treatise indicating the existence of the Apostle Addai and his successor Aggai. It avers that when the King of Edessa, Abgar the Black, heard of the news of Christ and the healing which he did without medicine in Palestine, he wrote to Christ, inviting Him to Edessa to cure the king of his disease and share his kingdom wIth him. The Lord Jesus replied that before His ascension into heaven He would entrust one of His Apostles to cure the king physically and spiritually. Addai, the Apostle who was designated for this task, visited the king after the Pentecost, cured him and called him to Christianity. The king as well as pagans and Jews embraced the new faith. Subsequently, Addai destroyed the heathen temples and built the first church in Edessa which he administered until the end of his days, appointing Aggai his successor. He was buried in the tombs of the Edessan Kings. Orientalists believe that this event took place in the middle of the second century, but in our Eccleseiastical History we have proved that it took place in the first century.(1)

(1) See Al-Durar al-Nafisa, pp. 76 and 197, by this author. For more information on the Doctrine of Addai see Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book 1, xxxii, and William Cureton, Ancient Syriac Documents (London, 1864), 24-35. (tr.)

[END OF QUOTE]



[QUOTE FROM WILLIAM NORTON'S BOOK ON THE PESHITO-SYRIAC AT <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://WWW.ARAMAICPESHITTA.COM">http://WWW.ARAMAICPESHITTA.COM</a><!-- m -->]
A MANUSCRIPT OF THE FOUR GOSPELS IN SYRIAC, BEARING DATE A. D. 78, is mentioned by J. S. Asseman, in his Bibliotheca. The manuscript was preserved at Baghdad on the river Tigris; at the end it had these words under written; "This sacred book was finished on Wedneday, the 18th day of the month Conun, in the year 389," that is of the Greeks, which was A. D. 78, "by the hand of the Apostle Achaeus, a fellow labourer of Mar Maris, and a disciple of the Apostle Mar Thaddeus, whom we intreat to pray for us." This prayer implies that the statement was written after the time of Achaeus (who is probably the person called also Aggaeus), and Dr. Glocester Ridley says that Achaeus died A. D. 48. For this and other reasons J. D. Michaelis says that the statement "is of no authority." (Marsh's Michaelis, 1823, vol. ii., pg. 31).
[END OF QUOTE]


The confirmations seem to outdo the doubts between these two passages. The likelihood of Achaeus and Aggai / Aggaeus being the same person added to the fact that the Apostle Addai did indeed pass the baton to Aggai his successor makes this much more believable despite the dark shadows cast by J. D. Michalis and Dr. Ridley.
Dr. Ridley says he died A.D. 48 (I wish he would at least have quoted his sources) but Apostle Addai couldn't pass his apostleship down after his demise to a dead disciple. Aggai / Achaeus "took up the mantle" and assumed responsibility so this manuscript dated A. D. 78 mentioned by J. S. Asseman takes on considerable veracity.

Shlama w'Burkate, Larry Kelsey
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#2
Shlama Akhi Larry,

I should also point out that reliable Eastern and Western traditions put Matthew's death in the year 60 CE in Ethiopia. Furthermore, Rabbi Gamaliel (yes Paul's teacher) had written a parody of Matthew' Gospel, possibly a rough draft of what would later become known as the Toldot Yeshu, no later than the year 73. Such was a recent discovery of Talmudic mss that miraculously escaped destruction, as was reported widely in June of 2003. One can only assume it would take several years for Matthew's writings to spread to the point where a tacher of Gamaliel's stature felt the need to refute them, so the traditional death date of Matthew works very well in this timeline. I pesonally believe Matthew wrote even earlier than this, prior to the trip to Ethiopia that would later claim his life. Quotes of his Gospel from James and Paul make tie it from the mid 40s to early 50s at the latest.

Gamaliel's original work has not survived, but the references to it are authentic and close enough to the time period to be highly credible. Hope this helps!
Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth
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#3
Shlama Akhay,

To make J. S. Asseman's claim to a manuscipt of the four gospels dated 78 A. D. even more credible, there's a timeline of COE patriarchs on YouTube.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBOrDDIzEYU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBOrDDIzEYU</a><!-- m -->

Mar Agai (as it's spelled on the video) died 81 A. D. instead of 48 A. D. like Dr. Glocester Ridley claims. So we have a copy of the four gospels by the hand of Mar Agai, a fellow-labourer of Mar Maris and a disciple of Mar Addai dated 78 A. D. A person of great literary reputation such as Joseph Simon Asseman would not lie about something this important and dear to his heart! <!-- sSmile --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><!-- sSmile -->

Shlama w'Burkate, Larry Kelsey
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#4
BrotherLarry Wrote:[QUOTE FROM WILLIAM NORTON'S BOOK ON THE PESHITO-SYRIAC AT <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://WWW.ARAMAICPESHITTA.COM">http://WWW.ARAMAICPESHITTA.COM</a><!-- m -->]
A MANUSCRIPT OF THE FOUR GOSPELS IN SYRIAC, BEARING DATE A. D. 78, is mentioned by J. S. Asseman, in his Bibliotheca. The manuscript was preserved at Baghdad on the river Tigris; at the end it had these words under written; "This sacred book was finished on Wedneday, the 18th day of the month Conun, in the year 389," that is of the Greeks, which was A. D. 78, "by the hand of the Apostle Achaeus, a fellow labourer of Mar Maris, and a disciple of the Apostle Mar Thaddeus, whom we intreat to pray for us."
[...]
[END OF QUOTE]

You can find the original quote from Assemani here

Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana

In the left menu, click Volume 2, and then look for the page 486.

shlama
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#5
Thank you Phil !
Wow. What a great site(s), that Bibliotheca and also that Aramaico from your sig.
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#6
shlom lkhun,

Thanks akh Larry for this important reference. Now if only we can get our hands on this manuscript, or at least a copy of it!
So now we have another historical reference to the Syriac Gospel being delivered in 1st century <!-- s:onfire: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/onfire.gif" alt=":onfire:" title="On Fire" /><!-- s:onfire: -->

Also thanks akh Phil, for having made that link available!

I've transcribed the quote (both Latin and Syriac), and translated the Syriac, so we can have quick access to it:

=====================
De quodam pervetusto Evangelio, quod exstabat in sacra Ecclesia AEdium Romaeorum in urbe Bagdado. Erat quodam Evangelium Edessennum (hoc est, Syriacum Edessae exaratum) pervetustum quidem, sed clarum ac dilucidum, ex quo ne jota quiden unum deletum fuerat, legebatur autem clarius quam libri recens exarati, & unus dumtaxat prior quinternio prae antiquitate ex eo exciderat. Ad ejus vero calcem ita scriptum erat.

???????????????? ???????????? ?????????? ???????????????? ?????????? ?????????????????????? ?????? ?????????????? ???????? ???????? ???????????????? ?????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ?????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ?????????????? ???????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????????? ?????????????? ?????????? ????????????:

Absolutus est sanctus iste liber Feria quinta, die 18. Canun prioris (hoc est, Decembris) Anno Graecorum 389 (Christi 78.) propria manu Achaei Apostoli, socii Mar Maris Discipuli Mar Adaei Apostoli, cujus oratio nobiscum sit Amen.

Translation of the Syriac:
This Holy Book was finished on the 5th day in the week, the 18th in December of the year 389 of the Greeks (i.e 78 AD). Handwritten by the hand of the apostle AHay friend of Mor Aday the Apostle; his prayer be with us Amen!
=====================

push bashlomo,
keefa-morun
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#7
A.D. 78 was 45 years after the resurrection of the messiah.

Surely the "Holy Book" that was finished in A.D. 78 was the whole Peshiita. The Western five were probbaly not written until after A.D. 78.

What do you think?

Otto
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#8
This is un-R-E-A-L, thanks for the link!!!
+Shamasha Paul bar-Shimun de'Beth-Younan
[Image: sig.jpg]
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#9
Apparently the correct reference is: Assemani, Stefano Evodio, 1711-1782. Bibliothecae Mediceae Laurentianae et Palatinae codicum mms. [sic] orientalium catalogus. Florentiae. (Ex Typographio Albiziniano, MDCCXLII [1742 i.e. 1743])
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#10
ograabe Wrote:A.D. 78 was 45 years after the resurrection of the messiah.

Surely the "Holy Book" that was finished in A.D. 78 was the whole Peshiita. The Western five were probbaly not written until after A.D. 78.

What do you think?

Otto

Shlama Akhi Otto,

I do believe the manuscript was of the 4 Gospels only, which is very common in our early tradition. Normally the Gospels were in one volume, the Epistles were in another.

I love how the Greek Primacists dismiss this as 'unreliable' because Aggai was supposed to have died in 48 AD, problem for them is that the scribe's name isn't Aggai, it's Akhai.

Kevin, where art thou? Here is what you wanted, a signed (handwritten by Akhai) copy of the Aramaic Gospels from 78AD, singed by a friend of Addai (one of the Seventy disciples).

(edited)
+Shamasha Paul bar-Shimun de'Beth-Younan
[Image: sig.jpg]
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#11
(edited)
+Shamasha Paul bar-Shimun de'Beth-Younan
[Image: sig.jpg]
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#12
shlomo Rafa,

I don't think it is hidden away; we probably need someone with a known scholarly background to get us a copy of it, assuming that they are able to find the codex.
(This an opportunity for those with scholarly contacts to make use of them, to further our study of the Peshitta.)

I think the last person (I'm sure there are others) to get Syriac manuscripts out of the Vatican library was an Assyrian Bishop "Mar Bawai Soro" (although I'm not sure if he is still a bishop with the CoE), which resulted in the "Vatican Syriac Manuscripts: Volume 1" digitization of some of the Syriac manuscripts.


push bashlomo,
keefa-morun
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#13
shlom lkhun,

This an interlinear of the Latin:
(which seems to indicate that this was an ancient copy of the Gospels, written in Syriac. If someone has good knowledge of Latin please correct and complete this interlinear, and/or translate the text as it seems to be a description of the manuscript.)

Interlinear:
De (Of) quodam (that) pervetusto (ancient) Evangelio (gospel), quod (that) exstabat (stands out) in (in) sacra (Sacred) Ecclesia (Church) AEdium (building) Romaeorum (Roman) in (on) urbe (city) Bagdado (Baghdad). Erat quodam (that) Evangelium (gospels) Edessennum (Edessan) [hoc (this) est (is), Syriacum (Syriac) Edessae (Edessa) exaratum (produced)] pervetustum (very old) quidem (indeed), sed (but) clarum (clear) ac (and) dilucidum (distinct), ex (in) quo (that) ne (no) jota (letter) quiden (not even) unum (one) deletum (erased) fuerat (sum), legebatur autem (however) clarius (clear) quam (than) libri (book) recens (recently) exarati, & unus dumtaxat prior quinternio prae antiquitate ex eo exciderat. Ad ejus vero calcem ita scriptum erat.

Translation:
Of that ancient Gospel, that stands out in the Sacred Church Roman building about the city of Baghdad. That the Edessan Gospels [this is, Syriac Edessa produced] very old indeed, but clear and distinct, in that no letter, not even one erased part.

tawdi,
keefa-morun
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#14
Rafa Wrote:Hi Shamasha Paul. Are you saying the Vatican has the autograph of the Peshitta stashed somewhere in some vault and doesn't want us to see it ?

(edited)
+Shamasha Paul bar-Shimun de'Beth-Younan
[Image: sig.jpg]
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#15
Shlama Akhi Paul,

I hope this is not an instance where a previously known manuscript got catalogued but is no longer extant.
I'm trying really hard to stay optimistic, though. <!-- sSmile --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><!-- sSmile --> As stated above in a previous post, Paul's epistles couldn't have been too far behind......

Shlama w'Burkate, Larry Kelsey
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