History of the Peshitta
Matthew
The Peshitta is the official Bible of the Church of the East. The
name Peshitta in Aramaic means "Straight", in other words, the
original and pure New Testament. The Peshitta is the only authentic
and pure text which contains the books in the New Testament that were
written in Aramaic, the Language of Mshikha (the Messiah) and His
Disciples.
In reference to the originality of the Peshitta, the words of His
Holiness Mar Eshai Shimun, Catholicos Patriarch of the Church of the
East, are summarized as follows:
"With reference to....the originality of the Peshitta text, as the
Patriarch and Head of the Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church of the
East, we wish to state, that the Church of the East received the
scriptures from the hands of the blessed Apostles themselves in the
Aramaic original, the language spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself, and that the Peshitta is the text of the Church of the East
which has come down from the Biblical times without any change or
revision."
Mar Eshai Shimun
by Grace, Catholicos Patriarch of the East
April 5, 1957
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