The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus
By Neil Douglas-Klotz
Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, Quest, 1999. Paperback, [viii] + 222 pages.
While scholars and theologians struggle to disentangle "the historical Jesus" from the "Christ of the Christian faith," Douglas Klotz proposes filtering Jesus' words through the Aramaic language that Jesus actually spoke. Thus "Blessed are the meek" becomes "Healthy are those who have softened what is rigid within." Perhaps such translations simply reflect the information in a good psychology text-book. Using this rhetorical-psychological method, the author attempts to decode the spiritual and prophetic statements expressed in Christian scripture as hidden messages. This book evokes a statement by Jesus indicating that he taught an exoteric message to a general audience and an esoteric message for a select few. But until Jesus' actual expressions are confirmed with certainty, reinterpreting the words in scripture remains a creative exercise. Saying the "same" thought in a different context or a different language is not saying the same thing. All of our translations are really interpretations.
-DANIEL ROSS CHANDLER
March/April 2003