Learn Aramaic, a sacred language and a cultural heritage of humanity! Watch the script splendor of this blessed language where words so much written, so much implored, so much meditated and so much sung, they have become living icons from where gusheth light and which exhale now and ever more the scent of incense.

New Book by Rev. Misick on Assyrian Language & Literature

After the successful release of The Words of Jesus in the Original Aramaic Stephen Andrew Missick has recently published his follow up Treasures of the Language of Jesus: The Aramaic Source of Christ’s Teaching.

“I was very concerned about how so many Christians know nothing at all about Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, and know nothing about the Assyrians who still speak this ancient language,” Missick said, “I wanted to make this information available in an interesting and accessible form.” Missick’s first book The Words of Jesus in the Original Aramaic attempted to introduce Aramaic and the Assyrian Christian heritage through Aramaic terms that would be familiar to people who know the New Testament well. This includes words like “Maranatha” found in 1 Corinthians 16:22. “Maranatha” is Aramaic for “Come, O Lord,” and names such as Kefa, meaning “stone” and found in John 1:42, Martha meaning “lady” found in Luke 10:38 and Thomas, which means “twin” in old Aramaic and is found John 20:24. The New Testament calls the place where Jesus was crucified “Golgotha” at Mark 15:22 which is an old Aramaic word meaning “Skull-place.” The New Testament contains so many Aramaic words scattered throughout its Greek text that the vast majority of scholars are convinced that Aramaic was the language spoken by Jesus of Nazareth and his original followers. “The Aramaic terminology used by Jesus is very significant theologically,” Missick says, “To Jesus God was Abba-Father. The great Aramaic scholar Joachim Jeremias considered Christ’s revolutionary Aramaic “Abba” doctrine to be the central message of Jesus. Jesus calls God the Father “abba” in Mark 14:36 and this Aramaic word repeated by Saint Paul in Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6. Jeremias  proved that the Jews of Christ’s day avoided referring to God as “Father” as do the Muslims today. Jeremias proved that when Jesus called God “Abba” Father he was revealing God as an intimate and caring Father who dearly loves His children. This teaching deeply offended the Jewish leaders of His day. This is a uniquely Christian concept.” Reverend Missick also included a section on the Passion of Christ in his first book for those who were exposed to Aramaic through the movie on the crucifixion of Jesus entitled “The Passion of the Christ” that was directed by Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson filmed this movie in Aramaic in order to capture authenticity.

In the second book Treasures of the Language of Jesus Missick wanted to cover some new ground. “I decided in this book to break apart the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic phrase by phrase and to carefully examine it. I do the same thing with the Beatitudes in Treasures of the Language of Jesus. I also wanted to include in the Treasures book a brief historical overview of the Assyrian Christians from the time of their conversion by the Apostle Thaddeus to this very day.” Reverend Missick served as a soldier in the United States Army in Iraq during 2003 and 2004. Missick was stationed in Baghdad and while there he was able to associate with Iraqi Aramaic Christians. “I am very concerned with the hardships faced by Christians in Iraq and am trying to increase awareness within the Evangelical community of the terrible plight of Assyrian Christians in Iraq.” Missick is currently working on a comic book entitled “The Assyrians: The Oldest Christian People. “With the comic book I want to help Assyrians learn about their own proud Christian heritage and to also have an easy way to explain to curious people, and to other Christians, what it means to be an Assyrian.”

Reverend Missick is also the author of “The Assyrian Church in the Mongolian Empire” Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies, Vol XIII No. 2 1999, “Mar Thoma: The Apostolic Foundation of the Assyrian Church and the Christians of St. Thomas in India” Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies Vol. XIV No. 2, 2000, “Socotra: The Mysterious Island of the Church of the East” Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies Vol. XVI No. 1 2002. These scholarly articles on the history of the Assyrian Church of the East are available online at the Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies at www.jaas.org. Reverend Missick is also the author of  Mary of Magdala: Magdalene, The Forgotten Aramaic Prophetess of Christianity and distributes a short monthly newsletter entitled “Aramaic Herald.” Stephen Andrew Missick’s books can be purchased at www.amazon.com, www.aramaicbooks.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.