Raphael Lataster

Raphael Christopher Lataster (b. 1984) is an Australian investor, financial planner, pharmacist and Justice of the Peace. He is a prominent advocate for the Peshitta and Aramaic Primacy - the belief that the New Testament was written in Aramaic, instead of Greek. Working with experts in the field such as Paul Younan and Andrew Gabriel Roth, Lataster has built on the research done by George Lamsa and compiled the much-lauded work, Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?

Aramaic Peshitta Bible Repository
Raphael Lataster is the webmaster of the Aramic Peshitta Bible Repository, a website with many Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew research tools, Bible manuscripts, translations, free copies of Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?, and the famous Lamsa Bible. According to Alexa (information correct as of October 2007), the Repository is the most visited Peshitta-themed website on the internet. It is also very highly though-of by other notable Peshitta researchers.

Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?
Lataster's book, Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?, is considered a major introduction to Aramaic Primacy. The book has been read and enjoyed by people in every continent, and some claim that it has saved their faith in God, as it shows that while the Greek versions are imperfect, there is a perfect version, the Peshitta.

Despite being officially unpublished, the book has been converted to BibleWorks format by enthusiasts. Raphael Lataster is not part of the Assyrian community (while he claims to be part-Assyrian, he identifies as having Dutch-German ancestry), but his work has been accepted and lauded by members. While intended to be a primer for the topic, the book has been noted for being very long and thorough.

Textual Criticism
Much of Lataster's arguments are based on textual comparisons of the Greek versions (such as the Byzantine and Alexandrian texts) with the Aramaic Peshitta, showing that Greek differences seem to derive from the one ambiguous Aramaic term. This is known as internal evidence. Much is also said about so-called external evidence, where Lataster applies a common-sense approach arguing that Aramaic was the language of the Middle East in Jesus' day, not Greek, and that Jesus, the Apostles, the Jews, the Assyrians, the Bible writers and the original Christians, were Aramaic-speakers.

It is generally takes as truth by mainstream Biblical scholars, that the Peshitta has been influenced by the Byzantine reading of the Greek manuscript tradition, with no thought that it could be the other way around. Raphael Lataster has been part of some ground-breaking research that shows this to be innacurate. The Peshitta actually demonstrates a mixture of the various Greek traditions. Sometimes a reading will agree with the Byzantine Greek texts, other times with the Alexandrian Greek texts, and even cases were the Peshitta goes against both, and agrees with the Western-type Greek texts. While not only providing evidence against a supposed Byzantine-influenced Peshitta, these studies imply that the various Greek manuscript traditions actually came about due to different translations of certain ambiguous Aramaic words and passages.

Due to his tireless efforts, and the relative small size of those actively researching Aramaic Primacy, he is considered as one of the major voices for the Peshitta and demostrates that one needn't have a relevant degree (Lataster's degree is in pharmacy) to be considered a scholar, or to play a big role in textual criticism.

Controversy
Critics argue that Lataster's work has little scholarly support, and that his many qualifications are irrelivant in the field of scholarly Bible study. Lataster asserts that most Biblical scholars are narrow-minded and defensive, simply assuming Greek primacy to be true due to scholarly consensus, with no actual internal or external evidence. Lataster's work however is verified by Aramaic experts such as Andrew Gabriel Roth, who has spent more than 40 years studying the language of his people, as well as being very knowledgable of Hebrew and Greek.

Future
Though he has accomplished much in the field and in his life so far at the age of 23 (he is also a regsitered pharmacist, investor and financial planner), Lataster has plans to bring the Peshitta mainstream. He intends to use his status in his community and personal wealth to support and encourage other colleagues, and to promote Aramaic Primacy to a greater extent than has been done in the past. It is notable that he seems genuine, not doing this work for profit (the book and resources on the website are freely available) or to push a certain church or set of beliefs (unlike many in the field, Lataster is non-denominational and independant).

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