Steve Berry - The Alexandria Link

He reached beneath the podium and depressed a button disguised as one of the stainless-steel screws. From an axis at one corner, he swung the top third of the case away from the remainder. Inside the bottom two-thirds rested nine sheets of brittle papyrus.

“These, on the other hand, are quite precious. My father also bought them, decades ago, from the same person who sold him the codex. Some were written by Eusebius Hieronymus Sophronius, who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries. A great church father. He translated the Bible from Hebrew into Latin, creating a work known as the Vulgate that ultimately became definitive. History calls him by another name. Jerome.”

“You’re a strange man, Alfred. The oddest things excite you. How could those wrinkly old sheets have any bearing today?”

“I assure you, these have great relevance. Enough to perhaps change our thinking. Some of these were also written by Augustine. These are letters between Jerome and Augustine.” He saw that the American still was not impressed.

“They had mail in those days?”

“A crude form. Travelers heading in the right direction would take messages back and forth. Some of our best records from that time are correspondence.”

“Now, that is interesting.”

Hermann came to the point. “Have you ever wondered how the Bible came to be?”

“Not particularly.”

“What if it was all a lie?”

“It’s a matter of faith, Alfred. What does it matter?”

“It matters a great deal. What if the early church fathers-men like Jerome and Augustine who shaped the course of religious thinking-decided to change things? Remember their time. Four hundred years after Christ, long after Constantine sanctioned the new Christian religion, at a time when the church was emerging and eliminating philosophies contrary to its teachings. The New Testament was just then coming into being. Various Gospels assimilated and arranged into a unified message. Mainly that God was gentle and forgiving, and that Christ had come. But then there was the Old Testament. What the Jews used. Christians wanted it to be part of their religion, too. Luckily for those early church fathers, Old Testament texts were few, and all were written in Old Hebrew.”

“But you said this Jerome translated the Bible into Latin.”

“Exactly my point.” He reached into the case and lifted out one of the tanned sheets. “These are written in Greek, the language of Jerome’s time.” Beneath the parchments lay typed pages. He lifted them out. “I had the letters translated. By three different experts to be sure of the work. I want to read you something, then I think you’ll see what I’m referring to.”

I am aware what ability is requisite to persuade the proud how great is the virtue of humility, which raises us, not by human arrogance, but by divine grace. Our task is to assure the human spirit is lifted and that the message is clear through the words of Christ. Your wisdom, offered when I began this task, has proven correct. This work that I labor over will form the first inter pretation of the ancient Scriptures into a language that even the most uneducated could understand. For there to be a connection between the old and the new seems logical. For these Scriptures to be in conflict seems self-defeating and would only elevate the Jewish philosophy to a superior position, since it has existed much longer than our faith. Since we last communicated, I have struggled through more of the ancient text. The progress is made difficult by so many double meanings. Once more I seek your guidance on a critical point. Jerusalem is the sacred city of the old text. The word yeruwshalayim is used often to identify the location, yet I have noticed that nowhere in the old text is ìyr yeruwshalayim ever used, which clearly means “city of Jerusalem.” Let me demonstrate the problem. From the Hebrew, in Kings, Yahweh says to Solomon, “Jerusalem, the city/capital that I have chosen in it.” Farther on, Yahweh states, “so that the city in Jerusalem recalling the memory of David be fore me-the city where I have chosen to establish my name-may be pre served.” My brother, can you see the dilemma? The ancient text speaks of Jerusalem not as a city but as a territory. Always it is the “city in Jerusalem,” not Jerusalem itself. Samuel actually speaks of it as a region where the Hebrew says “the king and his men set out for Jerusalem against the Jebusites who in habited the region.” I have struggled with the translation, hoping for some error to be discovered, but it is consistent throughout the Hebrew usage. The word yeruwshalaim, Jerusalem, always refers to a place comprising a number of cities, not to a single city by that name.

Hermann stopped reading and stared up at the vice president. “Jerome wrote this to Augustine while he was translating the Old Testament from Hebrew to Latin. Let me read you what Augustine, at one point, wrote to Jerome.”

He found another of the translations.

My learned brother, your work seems both arduous and glorious. How amazing it must be to reveal what scribes gone for so long have recorded and all with the divine guidance of our most glorious God. You are certainly aware of the struggles that we all endure in this most dangerous of times. The pagan gods are dying away. The message of Christ is growing. His words of peace, mercy, and love ring true. Many are discovering our new message simply because it is be coming available. Which makes your effort to bring to life the old words that much more important. Your letters clearly explained the problem you are facing. Yet the future of this church, of our God, rests with us. To adapt the message of the old with that of the new is not a sin. As you have said, the words possess many double meanings, so who is to say which is right? Certainly not you or I. You asked for guidance, so I shall give it. Make the old words true to the new. For if the old be different from the new, we surely will be at risk of confusing the faithful and fueling the fires of discontent, which our many enemies keep burning. Yours is a great task. To be able for all to read the old words will mean much. No longer will scholars and rabbis possess control over so important a text. So my brother, work hard and be well knowing that you are doing the work of the Lord.

“You’re saying they intentionally changed the Old Testament?” the vice president asked.

“Of course they did. Just this reference to Jerusalem is a good example. Jerome’s translation, which is still accepted as correct today, denotes Jerusalem as a city. Jerome’s Kings reads, Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen . That’s absolutely contrary to what Jerome himself wrote in the letter. Jerusalem, the city/capital that I have chosen in it. Huge difference, wouldn’t you say? And this description of Jerusalem is used throughout Jerome’s translation. The Jerusalem of the Old Testament became the city in Palestine because Jerome made it so.”

“This is crazy, Alfred. Nobody’s going to buy any of it.”

“It’s not necessary that anyone buy it. Once the proof is found, there will be no denying.”

“Like what?”

“An Old Testament manuscript penned before Christ should be definitive. Then we can read the words without the Christian filter.”

“I wish you luck.”

“Tell you what. I’ll leave the governing of America to you and you leave this to me.”

THORVALDSEN WATCHED AS HERMANN REPLACED THE SHEETS into the display case and closed the compartment. The two men lingered for a few minutes, then left the library. The hour was late, but he wasn’t sleepy.

“They’re going to kill the president,” Gary said nervously.

“I know. Come, we need to leave.”