A Near Eastern guide into the heart of the gospel, illuminating difficult and puzzling passages and offering unparalleled insight into the character and behavior of Near Eastern Semites.

Aramaic Light on the Gospel of John, like its predecessors Aramaic Light on the Gospel of Matthew and Aramaic Light on the Gospels of Mark and Luke, carries you back into the Near Eastern, Semitic times of Jesus of Nazareth. It is unique in that it provides insight into the Aramaic language and Semitic customs of almost two thousand years ago. If you instinctively shy away from "commentaries"-This one will surprise you. No dull theological seminary textbook, the approach is simple, informative, and scholarly, without using specialized theological terminology. This inimitable commentary acts a Near Eastern guide, revealing to the Western mind a more intimate picture of the socio-religious and psychological environment of the period. It offers an understanding of the character and behavior of Near Eastern Semites. This is the field of Dr. Errico's and Dr. Lamsa's research and expertise. They bring clarification to many misunderstood passages and sayings of Jesus. Learn the Semitic meanings behind such terms as "the Word," "Light," "Life," "Christ." Understand what Jesus meant when he said "No man comes to the Father except through me" and many other sayings that appear to be sectarian and exclusive. This volume is more than a revision of Dr. Lamsa's commentaries, Gospel Light, 1936, and More Light on the Gospel, 1968. Dr. Errico has edited, expanded and annotated these previous works in the new format that Dr. Lamsa desired. In addition, this book contains unpublished material that the two of them outlined just before Dr. Lamsa died in 1975. Dr. Errico completed these comments and has added information derived from his continual research in Near Eastern Semitic studies.

If you instinctively shy away from commentaries "Aramaic Light on Exodus through Deuteronomy" will surprise you! No dull theological seminary text, it carries you back almost 4000 years, providing an unusual perspective on the Torah books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This inimitable commentary acts as a Near Eastern guide, revealing to the Western mind a more intimate picture of the socio-religious and psychological environment of the period. Its approach is simple, informative, and scholarly, without using specialized theological terminology. The comments are written in narrative form, opening a doorway into the ancient Near Eastern culture of the times. Dr. Errico and Dr. Lamsa unlock and clarify many misunderstood passages of the Torah Moses symbolic dreams and visions, his leadership, the war between the Hebrews and Egyptians, the crossing of the Red Sea, the Divine tabernacle in the wilderness, how water came from a rock, fire from heaven, many Levitical laws, the miracles and adventures in the desert, the laws of Deuteronomy, and more. They also address the most important questions of all: Does God participate in the murder of men, women and children so that the Divine Will might be fulfilled? Did God tell Moses to commit any atrocities that are found in these biblical books? This volume is not just a revision of Dr. Lamsa s Old Testament Light commentary, 1964. Dr. Errico has edited, expanded, and annotated the previous comments. In addition, this book contains unpublished material that the two of them had only drafted prior to Dr. Lamsa s death in 1975. Dr. Errico completed these comments, adding information derived from his continual research in Aramaic word meanings and Near Eastern Semitic Studies.

It can no longer be assumed that most people--or even most Christians--have a basic understanding of the Bible. Many don't know the difference between the Old and New Testament, and even the more well-known biblical figures are often misunderstood. It is getting harder to talk about Jesus accurately and compellingly because listeners have no proper context with which to understand God's story of redemption. In this basic introduction to faith, D. A. Carson takes seekers, new Christians, and small groups through the big story of Scripture. He helps readers to know what they believe and why they believe it. The companion leader's guide helps evangelistic study groups, small groups, and Sunday school classes make the best use of this book in group settings.

This is the complete Bible in one volume (3rd edition), translated entirely from the Aramaic text of the 1st century Peshitta Bible. Aramaic was native tongue of Jesus, the Jewish people and the Middle East in the 1st century. The Peshitta New Testament is the original inspired writing of Rukha d'Qoodsha- The Spirit of Holiness in the language of The Christ, his Apostles and of Israel and the Middle East.The Greek NT came a bit later as a translation of the Aramaic originals for Greek speaking Roman citizens. The Peshitta OT was translated in the 1st century from even older Hebrew mss. which had not been "standardized" by the Scribes of Jesus' time.This is the hard cover 6x9 edition. No notes are included, and 740 pages is the max. size for a 6x9" printed book. Notes are available in other separate OT and NT print editions. 724 pages

In Let There Be Light, Howard Smith, a research astrophysicist and traditionally observant Jew, explores how modern scientific understandings of the cosmos complement Judaism's ancient mystical theology, the Kabbalah. He argues that science and religion are not only compatible, but that a healthy, productive dialogue between the two sheds light on ethics, free will, and the nature of life, while at the same time rejecting fundamentalist misinterpretation and the pseudoscience of creationism. Written for a general audience, yet supported by the most current and accurate scientific research, the book discusses topics such as modern quantum mechanics and mystical notions of awareness; how Kabbalah's ten sefirot mirror the developing phases of an inflationary universe; and the surprising parallels that exist between the Big Bang theory and Kabbalah's origin theory. Smith delves into complex ideas without resorting to jargon or mathematical equations, creating an intelligent, authoritative work accessible to all readers.

This Aramaic study of Yeshua’s spiritual teachings offers profound new insights into the New Testament, the Essenes and Dead Sea Scrolls, Mary Magdalene, and much more. Lars Muhl has had a lifelong burning interest in Jesus, not only as an archetype, savior, bodhisattva, and elder brother, but also in relation to the Essenes from the Dead Sea. The Law of Light is the result of his many years spent studying Aramaic and the techniques of Yeshua (Jesus). Yeshua spoke Aramaic. Through the Aramaic language, his teachings offer not just another interpretation of the New Testament, but the unveiling of a secret message that attempts, once and for all, to settle centuries-old conceptions of sin, and to once again connect man with the heavenly spiritual source. The core of Yeshua’s Aramaic message is intimacy, freedom, selfless awareness, unconditional love, compassion, and forgiveness. In all he says, there exists a hidden invitation to us to be present in, and dedicated to, everything with which we engage. Five minutes of total devotion is worth more than hours of hectic exertion. The aim is to set mankind free and to dismiss everything that is bound up in false notions.

The ancient Near Eastern mode of thought is not at all intuitive to us moderns, but our understanding of ancient perspectives can only approach accuracy when we begin to penetrate ancient texts on their own terms rather than imposing our own world view. In this task, we are aided by the ever-growing corpus of literature that is being recovered and analyzed. After an introduction that presents some of the history of comparative studies and how it has been applied to the study of ancient texts in general and cosmology in particular, Walton focuses in the first half of this book on the ancient Near Eastern texts that inform our understanding about ancient ways of thinking about cosmology. Of primary interest are the texts that can help us discern the parameters of ancient perspectives on cosmic ontology—that is, how the writers perceived origins. Texts from across the ancient Near East are presented, including primarily Egyptian, Sumerian, and Akkadian texts, but occasionally also Ugaritic and Hittite, as appropriate. Walton’s intention, first of all, is to understand the texts but also to demonstrate that a functional ontology pervaded the cognitive environment of the ancient Near East. This functional ontology involves more than just the idea that ordering the cosmos was the focus of the cosmological texts. He posits that, in the ancient world, bringing about order and functionality was the very essence of creative activity. He also pays close attention to the ancient ideology of temples to show the close connection between temples and the functioning cosmos. The second half of the book is devoted to a fresh analysis of Genesis 1:1–2:4. Walton offers studies of significant Hebrew terms and seeks to show that the Israelite texts evidence a functional ontology and a cosmology that is constructed with temple ideology in mind, as in the rest of the ancient Near East. He contends that Genesis 1 never was an account of material origins but that, as in the rest of the ancient world, the focus of “creation texts” was to order the cosmos by initiating functions for the components of the cosmos. He further contends that the cosmology of Genesis 1 is founded on the premise that the cosmos should be understood in temple terms. All of this is intended to demonstrate that, when we read Genesis 1 as the ancient document it is, rather than trying to read it in light of our own world view, the text comes to life in ways that help recover the energy it had in its original context. At the same time, it provides a new perspective on Genesis 1 in relation to what have long been controversial issues. Far from being a borrowed text, Genesis 1 offers a unique theology, even while it speaks from the platform of its contemporaneous cognitive environment.