This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. I realise that in the the eastern half of the Mediterranean Greek was the lingua franca, and in the west this was Latin, and that the first Christian manuscripts were in Greek, but still.
Considering Christians believe Jesus is the son of god, and that Jesus spoke Aramaic, why didn't Aramaic become an important language in Christianity? Do we have any Christian manuscripts in Aramaic, and is there an explanation why the holy book of the Christians was first written down in Greek rather than the language the book's main character spoke?
Thanks!
There is, indeed, a considerable body of Christian literature in Aramaic, specifically the form of Aramaic that is usually referred to as "Syriac." This language, moreover, remains the liturgical language of millions of Christians around the world.
The reason for the writing of the New Testament in Greek has much to do with the way that Greek was used in the Mediterranean world at the time of its composition. Greek was the language of high culture for people from a wide variety of linguistic backgrounds. Thus, in AD 200, an educated person from Gaul or Spain would have been able to converse with an educated Syrian or Egyptian in Greek. Similarly, if an author wanted to write for the broadest possible audience, he would have done so in Greek.