WordWolf

Fine with me-take it, Chas!

One of the myspace guys DID say that twi would answer if asked but no one asked. That was incorrect for several reasons. One, people asked. Lots of posters here asked. Two, they were not given straight answers. Answers were actually questions-"Why do you want to know?" or accusations "Why are you questioning God's One True Ministry?" "Questioning twi is doing the devil's work", et al.

Not quite... Correct....

NuqDaH yuch daPol?

Here's the recap. Almost the entire New Testament was written first in (Koine) Greek. We're debating whether some of the Gospels were in Aramaic first, but everything else is pretty solidly documented as Greek first. vpw said it was first in Aramaic-specifically the Palestinian Aramaic dialect used in Palestine (duh). Twi used the EASTERN Aramaic dialect for research- specifically the Peshi++a text, which featured Estrangelo script. IIRC, the sole reference to any of this was one mention in the Orange Book which makes several errors concerning the historical documents of Scripture, but DID correctly identify "Estrangelo" as a lettering style and not a dialect. However, vpw never reinforced this anywhere else, so the entire corps (excepting a few in the research dept) all learned it wrong- that "Estrangelo Aramaic" was a dialect like "Eastern" or "Palestinian." ===== Those of you who wonder what lcm taught should go back and re-listen to his old tapes. Tape 1055: "Believing Images of Victory" was the one where he said "I'd like to close in Romans, chapter 8, reading the entire chapter, in Estrangelo Aramaic." *waits while audience chuckles* As you can tell from the structure of the sentence, (and the following one, where he suggests Bernita might actually do this later), lcm was pretty clear that "Estrangelo" wasnt just a style of writing, because that would NOT affect reading it ALOUD.

I just wanted to add a few things. A) I recommend this book heartily, particularly the 3rd edition mentioned here. B) I bolded the part that mentions what Mark and I said, that is, that part of the gospels was probably written first in Aramaic. My position is not based on "twi said it", but partly on looking around OUTSIDE twi. I found a copy of "the Aramaic Origin of the 4 Gospels" in my college's library, back when. (The thing looked old and dog-eared, and I don't know if it's been reprinted since the 1950s or earlier.) If that is true-that at least one of the Gospels was written first in Aramaic, it explains certain problems with the text that are resolved if they were just a mis-read from Aramaic. (The camel/rope thing, and the Samaritan/devil thing.) I've never seen evidence to support a position that "the New Testament was written first in Aramaic", unless you count "vpw said it, I believe it" as "evidence".

I can tell you how I'd feel NOW-with my CURRENT mindset- if I was at a meeting with all the Christians I'd want to meet currently living- if lcm was there. (I can make a hypothetical based on CURRENT mindset.) I would just avoid him, neither approaching nor acknowledging him unless I ended up face-to-face with him. I'd care about others, but be indifferent to him. Anything else, I'll have to wait and see.

"I have misjudged you." "Join the club. We've got jackets." "They just want to give us their blessing." "Oh, great! Now I need their blessing?" "Well, if you want to be part of this family, yes." "Who said I want to be part of this family?" "Uh, YOU did? When you married me?" "Well, THERE's some find print for you." "Working hard, or hardly working?" "Today, I repay my debt." "You got a puppy? All I got in my room was shampoo." "...we are in pursuit of a white bronco..." "..Whatever happens, I must not cry...you cannot make me cry..."

I disagree about "in twi." Remember, getting yourself out of twi, for some of us, was 20 minutes and the bum's rush out the door. However, getting twi out of YOURSELF can take YEARS. (And for a few of us, it will take divine intervention to finish the job.)

Millions of people-some Jews, some not-were killed horribly for the "crime" of existing. Your lack of humanity will cripple you all your life- until you overcome it, possibly thru having your life destroyed, and receiving compassion from the "lesser" Christians you scorn. Once again, you think incorrectly.We actually examined the evidence, the testimony, and so on. Ever meet someone who was THERE, who was tattooed with one of the numbers, and listened to them? I have. On the other hand, you're ready to believe the most ridiculous notions, discard the most ironclad of evidence, all on the say-so of a man who's been proven to lie, exaggerate, and do sloppy research all the time. Make up your mind-I thought they supposedly controlled all the money. The US was SOLELY responsible for the current Israel? I'm sure the other Europeans who fought in World War II would disagree with you. In fact, I'm sure the Russians-who fought the Nazis long before we did-would disagree strongly. In some areas of Russia, they lost 75% of their population during World War II. You've never heard that, I'm sure. There are villages with markers for that to this day. So, you'd prefer the holocaust have been allowed to continue until all Jews were killed? Largely where they are now, just more persecuted,with Middle Eastern countries vowing to obliterate them. You're discarding all proof of the numbers-including the records the Nazis themselves kept-all because vpw said so, right? You might try thinking for yourself. It's underestimated.

...and sang the song IN the Blues Brothers movie, as well. I once saw a Betty Boop cartoon posted online, featuring this song and a VERY young Cab Calloway shown singing it briefly before the cartoon proper began. Your turn, wasway.

I think they didnt have anything else useful to add at the moment beyond what they already posted, so they didn't add anything not-useful. :)

I'm very happy for you, but you're probably thinking of the wrong title and artist.

vpw parroted George Lamsa on the subject. Lamsa is the one who pushed the "Aramaic first" position. This was advantageous to Lamsa, as he put forth he was THE Aramaic expert, which would make himself THE Bible expert. For Lamsa, I think this was a deliberate attempt to inflate his own importance. vpw was NEVER a good researcher. His "best work" was photocopies of the work of others, and often the deeper things showed a lack of understanding of what he was copying. (That's why his definition of "word of knowledge" is INCORRECT, despite being derived from Leonard's definition, which IS correct.) So, when Lamsa made a convincing-sounding case for Aramaic, vpw lifted Lamsa's claims entirely. If vpw had done his own research, he would have seen that his own claims of the earliest texts being from the FOURTH century were off by at least 200 years, as was known at least 20 years before he put this error in writing. See, in Bullinger's time, (a century ago), such a claim would fly. The last century, however, has seen many new manuscripts come to light, and the dates of the earliest texts now can reach VERY far back, compared to what was available before then. So, I think it was LAZINESS and BAD RESEARCH. ==== Another possibility-which is not exclusive, BOTH may be true- was that it was what he WANTED to say, since it was the opposite of what the establishment was saying. Remember that twi was marketed as counter-establishment and counter-culture, back when. Making a case that sounds convincing and says most Christians are WRONG was right up vpw's alley.

Actually, while it is true that Estrangelo is the script the Aramaic was written in, twi taught that the NT was originally written in "Estrangelo Aramaic", said as if that was a specific dialect of Aramaic, like Palestinian Aramaic (which was spoken in Jesus' time) or Eastern Aramaic (which twi used for their books.) twi taught that the ENTIRE NT was originally written in Aramaic FIRST, and translated to Greek later. Most evidence shows that the Greek came first for the NT, with the possible exception of the Gospels. Mark's answer that at least one Gospel (Matthew) was written first in Aramaic, and at least one Gospel (Luke) was written first in Greek, makes a lot of sense to me, and helps explain disparate POVs from people who actually studied the stuff.

Both. This is not dissimilar to the example in pfal that vpw gave. (Sometimes he had a valid point.) He claimed someone said there was a disparity in a census, where one verse said the Israelite army had a certain number of men, and a different verse said the Israelite army had a smaller number of VALIANT men. Both verses were using different criteria for a count- one of all the men in the army (including conscripts), and one for the army regulars and veterans. The point is a LITTLE clearer when looking at the NASB rendering of some of the verses. Genesis 7:2,3. "You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female, and of the animals that are not clean, two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth." All animals were collected in PAIRS. Most animals were collected as ONE PAIR. "Clean" animals and birds were collected as SEVEN PAIRS. Myself, I find it curious that modern shipbuilders confirm the ratio for the Ark's dimensions to be close to optimal for the design of a ship. If this was simply one man's invention, he's a BRILLIANT guesser. Of course, all of you may believe whatever you wish.

"He took her down to Chinatown And showed her how to kick the gong around"

"I have misjudged you." "Join the club. We've got jackets." "They just want to give us their blessing." "Oh, great! Now I need their blessing?" "Well, if you want to be part of this family, yes." "Who said I want to be part of this family?" "Uh, YOU did? When you married me?" "Well, THERE's some find print for you." "Working hard, or hardly working?" "Today, I repay my debt." "You got a puppy? All I got in my room was shampoo."

She's a KILLER, QUEEN. (Queen) :)

I'll give some of them a shot. That's fairly consistent until the time of the Flood,and the lifespans drop catastrophically at that point, until they more closely resemble current standards. That's consistent with what one would expect if a species' genetic variety was severely hampered by a sudden limitation in the breeding population. (Certain animal breeds are prone to problems as a result of severely limited breeding-so this is not without other instances.) In short, we had better-bred humans, so they had longer lifespans. Now, the genetic variation is crippled by comparison, so we have poorer-bred humans. Genesis starts "in the beginning." By definition, no fossil record can preceed "the beginning." (Otherwise, that would be "the beginning.") Genesis does NOT include a date for "the beginning." Different people have different opinions about when "the beginning" is. Some claim it was something like 4000 BC. Others say it was millions or billions of years ago. The fossils predate a 4000 BC account but not the others. The opinions that accept the Bible tend to explain "the beginning" as follows: A) Young-Earth Theory. The earth started about 4000 BC. Nothing is older than this. The Young-Earth position suffers when facing scientific evidence. B) Young-Earth with appearance of age. The earth started about 4000 BC, and God included some things that APPEAR older, but are NOT. This is purely a faith-based position. Technically, it can neither be proven nor DISproven. God certainly CAN do this. DID He do this? That's the relevant question there. As such, scientific types skip this one. C) Gap Theory. The earth started a very long time ago, then came a war in heaven, and sometime AFTER that we get the current timeframe. This one accounts for the huge span of time. D) Progression Theory. The earth started a very long time ago, and God started various processes long ago, culminating in humans. Each "day" was a period of time. This one accounts for the huge span of time. Personally, I find the last 2 hold water, and prefer not to deal with the first one. Actually, given the "Cambrian Explosion", when the Earth went fromhaving virtually no life-forms (according to the fossil records) to suddenly having MILLIONS of species, I question just how much ANIMALS have evolved, let alone humans. We can show ADAPTATION, but the "macro-evolution" postulated by some people has been imposed on the system, and is not supported by a fossil record DEMONSTRATING it. Lots of people. Just nobody in twi. You can look at some of it on http://www.doesgodexist.org

The Muppet Movie Frank Oz The Blues Brothers

"I have misjudged you." "Join the club. We've got jackets." "They just want to give us their blessing." "Oh, great! Now I need their blessing?" "Well, if you want to be part of this family, yes." "Who said I want to be part of this family?" "Uh, YOU did? When you married me?" "Well, THERE's some find print for you."

Last time I checked for references to twi in magazines was 1988, I believe. I found 3 articles. 1) 1970 Life Magazine feature article, "the Groovy Christians of Rye". Positive article. 2) 1971 Time Magazine short article on vpw. Not precisely negative. Includes a pic of him on a tourbike. 3) 1985(1986?) article in Christianity Today. "Infighting Trims Branches at the Way International." It was a page on the JAL/Dubovksy/et al split. =========== Considering the tiny "blip" on the radar that translates into, it's small wonder that the majority of US citizens have never heard of twi, vpw, pfal, lcm, etc.

"I have misjudged you." "Join the club. We've got jackets."

Well, that narrows it down. That's "BIG FISH."