Theos-Talk Archives (May 1995 Message tl00116)

Ann and Judy:

Verily, the "Holy Ghost" in the earliest Christian tradition is
undoubtedly "she." The language of the first Christians [before
anyone had thought to call them such] was almost certainly
Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the territories of the Holy
Land in his time.  The first church headed by James [Jacob] at
Jerusalem after the crucifixion would have used this language, in
which the word for "Spirit" is "Rucha" - a feminine noun, as is
"Ruach" in Hebrew.

The theology that went with this migrated to the East, ie.  the
Persian Empire, where Aramaic was the _lingua franca_ of the
region, just as Greek was in the West.  It was perpetuated by the
Syrian Church (Syriac being another term for Aramaic).

The original Church of the East had its scriptures entirely in
Aramaic, and its remnant church still does.  This is know as the
"Peshitta" (Simple, True) text.  I have a copy of the NT in this
version.  They are mostly Nestorians, and therefore "Heretics" in
the catholic traditions.

For LCC bishops up to 1985 see my "Bishops Irregular, a Directory
of Independent Bishops."

For Early Church origins see my "The Nazarenes" (1989).

[Ask by private e-mail for more info - the latter is available in
ascii text].

Alan.