Translation is notoriously difficult and especially so when the final product is a cascade of translations through many different languages. The party game of "telephone" comes to mind.
This book takes the original Aramaic words of Jesus and directly renders them in modern english in one leap. Aramaic is a poetic language in which each letter of a word has an archetypic meaning which can be used to amplify the meaning of the word. Jesus was also fluent in the mystical tradition in which the words are numerically converted into a "hidden" implied word. This allows a masterful poet to speak on multiple dimensions simultaneously. Unfortunately, our King James Bible misses much of this implied poetry, having come to us by the long chain from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to Old English.
Compare the phrase in the KJV:
Thy Kingdom come.
to Douglas-Klotz's rendering:
Create your reign of unity now - through our fiery hearts and willing hands. Let your counsel rule our lives, clearing our intention for co-creation. Unite our "I can" to yours, so that we walk as kings and queens with every creature. Desire with and through us the rule of unversal fruitfulness onto the earth. Your rule springs into existence as our arms reach out to embrace all creation. Come into the bedroom of our hearts, prepare for us the marriage of power and beauty. From this divine union, let us birth new images for a new world of peace. Create you reign of unity now!
Heady stuff - maybe even radical. I'd encourage anyone interested in the message of the historical Jesus to check out this book.
Review contributed by Rick Walker....
Contributions are welcome.
coho_walker@omnisterra.com