I would imagine that a translation of Jesus’ speeches in the Gospels, or the apostles’ speeches in Acts, from Greek back into Aramaic could reveal some interesting features (e.g., wordplay that the Greek does not retain). Has any scholarly work been dedicated to this exploration? If so, what are the findings?

Thanks for your insight. Stay safe and God bless you.

> To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law.

• NRSV

This seems to imply, to me, that Paul wasn’t born Jewish but rather converted.

To elaborate, my professor told us that the first half of Acts is what the early church should be rather than what really was at the time (ie they sold their belongings, helped the poor and needy etc.) While the second half - ie Paul's journey could be considered a more "historical" account if we compare it to the first half.

I see this a lot from Baptists

There are multiple times in which Jesus said his disciples would not taste death and would still be alive when the "Second Coming would occur. What's more, the disciples believed it, using such phrases as "then we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord", as well as Paul warning believers that they in should not marry, because Jesus was coming back soon. Even in Revelation, John claimed he had a vision from Jesus saying he was coming soon.

The Apostles all died with no return. 2000 years later there has been no return. Jesus lied, or only thought he would return but didn't know. Therefore, Christianity should have faded away then and there, and if it weren't for the Romans enforcing it it might have gone the way of the Greek and Egyptian stories: myths that were once seen as religious truth.

EDIT: By "discarded" I mean "as a widespread belief of faith" not "as something that was historically present". More along the lines of how we view the mythologies of the Mayans, Greeks, Ancient Romans, etc.

EDIT 2: Have a lot of passages:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Matthew 24:29-35)

"There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:28)

"Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Mark 13:30-31)

"He also said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.” (Mark 9:1)

"Peter turned and saw

Bringing poor women from Europe to an inescapable desert in order to be married off to old men. Stupid typo.

Acts 10:25-26 New International Version (NIV)

25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

Something is always lost and something is always added in translation. In the case of the Bible, secular undertones have reshaped religious terminology. A modern day reader might think of Jesus’ teachings on the law and lawlessness as references to government regulations. However, there is only one law in the entire Bible and that is the Mosaic Law.

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me you who practice Lawlessness.’”

In Judaism, the primary definition of sin is the violation of the Mosaic Commandments.

“Whoever commits sin also commits Lawlessness, and sin is Lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4)

“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice Lawlessness.” (Matthew 13:41)

Jewish Christian followers such as James, the brother of Jesus as well as the first bishop of Jerusalem, reinforce this adherence to the Mosaic Law:

“they are all zealous for the Law” (Acts 21:20)

“For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10)

“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the Law” (James 2:12)

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but no deeds? Can such faith save them?” (James 2:14).

“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, you have Paul who takes an entirely different view of the Mosaic Law and introduces an entirely new concept:

“By what Law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the Law.” (Romans 3:27)

In Greek, there’s no variation in wording between deeds, action, and works; they all come from the same Greek word. The same “works of the Law” (Romans 3:28) that Paul so heavily repudiates throughout his ministries.

When the Jerusalem Church gets wind of Paul’s unorthodox teachings, multiple waves of representatives were sent to return the sheep to Mosaic Law compliance. First, “Certain ones having come down from Judea were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to

Cause you got these two 90 year old guys trying to cement the church’s homophobic rhetoric, which these younger guys will have to be the guys to face an inevitable showdown with the public and federal government. With the proclamation being declared canon, not only will it look bad to switch up really quick, you’ll have all kinds of members who will still hold to it as canon (basically a repeat of the 1886 Revelation debacle)

I know there are plenty of things that would make someone feel scared they will lose this child for eternity, but I also believe there’s got to be something that says that’s not the case. Am I crazy to think something like this exists?