Dead Sea Scrolls Books - Page 6

Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Anchor Bible Reference)

James H. Charlesworth

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

helpful background to 1st century southern levant 4 out of 5 stars.
51 of 53 people found this review helpful.

Over the years, the Anchor Bible Reference Library (ABRL) has published an assortment of scholarly books on archeology in the Levant, Jewish history and the origins of Christianity. Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, edited by James H. Charlesworth (©1992) is a nice addition to this series and certainly worthy of examination by any interested in the period of the first centuries BC and AD. This work, is a compilation of articles by renown scholars focusing on areas of commonalty and differences between the teachings of Jesus and the writings found in the caves of Qumrân.

For example, although some eschatological exegesis and scriptural preferences between Jesus and the Essene community at Qumrân can be catalogued, Jesus' ministry was also profoundly different from the Essenes, as well as different from other Jewish leaders including the Pharisees. The Essenes were exclusionary and ritualistic, Jesus demonstrated an inclination to accept all sincere followers. Jesus' parables could be comprehended by all (at least superficially), while the Dead Sea Scrolls are often noted for their obtuseness. The Essenes were even stricter with their interpretation of Mosaic law than the Pharisees. Jesus took a more liberal view on this matter. Yet both groups were devoted to prayer and both acknowledged "the Holy Spirit" (rwh hqws) as did other Jewish leaders.

Comparisons between Essene writings and the Torah abound. For example, Deuteronomy 21:22 commands that a capital offense be punished by death followed by hanging upon a tree for public display. However in the Temple Scroll, this sequence is reversed--the delinquent is to be hanged until death--i.e., crucifixion. Further comparison of symbolic references are made between Jesus and the Essenes. The Qumrân community placed great emphasis on sacrifice and atonement in the Temple at Jerusale--in fact, the Righteous Teacher referred to in many scrolls is thought by some scholars to have been a High Priest and a member of the Zadok family line. Jesus, on the other hand, regarded the Temple as a house of prayer and offered forgiveness outside of the temple cult. The scrolls prepared the community about the coming war against the "sons of darkness", while Jesus instructed his disciples to love their enemies--including Gentiles. The common meal for Essenes signified a conformity to purity rituals, while Christians came to accept this as an expression of Jesus' sacrifice. A later chapter comments on how Jesus saw the Temple and the taxes collected on its behalf as an oppression of the poor.

One item of concern for biblical scholars has been the apparent discrepancy between the synoptic gospels and the account in John regarding the Last Supper--the former indicate this was the Passover meal, while the latter synchronizes Jesus' death with the slaughter of the paschal lamb. Scholars have established that two liturgical calendars were in use in the first century--this may account for the scriptural difference. Another matter commented on was how Jesus regarded impurity. The Jewish society in the first century did not employ precise conceptual definitions but used norms based on law. Jesus considered persons to be defiled only by sin (against God), not by ritual.

Many contemporary researchers have suggested that Jesus did not recognize his divinity or messianic authority. This contention is swiftly dispatched in a chapter written by Charlesworth himself by examining the parable of the vineyard (Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-9, Luke 20:9-19) in which Jesus clearly intends to be identified as the landlord's murdered son. The chapter also includes an analysis on the hymns of the Righteous Teacher as a gardener of eternal planting. In the following chapter, Jesus' criticism of the Essenes is interpreted from the parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-9) including a reference to the prudent economic contacts maintained by the worldly compared to the isolated "sons of light"--a term used by the Essenes to describe themselves. Additional chapters describe archeological investigations regarding the primitive Christian community in first century Jerusalem. A search for the room of the Last Supper is described along with the Essene quarter in the city. Another chapter describes the remains of a crucified man and clinical conclusions that can be drawn therefrom. The final chapter describes the tradition for the ascension of the risen Christ into heaven and the divinity ascribed to Jesus by Christians--according to John's gospel, Christ was logos, God's intermediary form and "light" for the world. This volume, therefore, is a treasure trove of background information for Christians seeking a more complete understanding of the era in which Christ ministered.

Editorial Review:

A leading expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls explains why they are among the most important archaeological finds in history, and explores how they have revolutionized our understanding of Jesus.

Enoch And Qumran Origins: New Light On A Forgotten Connection

Gabriele Boccaccini, Italy Enoch Seminar 2003 Venice

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent Resource 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

For those interested in making sense of Christian origins, this book is extremely useful. And those who see Enochic thought permeating parts of the New Testament might suspect that the Qumran group had a connection with the early Christians. This is largely overlooked here, as this collection of scholarly essays deals with the relevance of the Enoch material to the 'Essene' group who composed the sectarian literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Surely it can only be a matter of time before a smoking gun reveals that the people of the Dead Sea Scrolls were the disciples of John the Baptist, who were mentioned in the New Testament as sticklers for ritual and tradition while opposing the Temple priesthood...

Jesus & the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Unlocking th Secrets of His Life Story

Barbara Thiering

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Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

too much conjecture 2 out of 5 stars.
24 of 33 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book after seeing the TV documentary, which I thought was very interesting. However, by the time I got about half-way through the book, I realized that her conclusions are based upon wild conjecture. Thiering believes that basically everything in the gospels is symbolic and that she has discovered the keys to understanding the real story behind the fiction. The real story, of course, was hidden from the uninitated, and now that hidden knowledge that was lost for thousands of years can be yours! Ya, right. If you like conspiracy theories, this book will probably interest you. If you want a good book about the Dead Sea Scrolls, look elsewhere.

Editorial Review:

This bold, historical detective work--based on Thiering's discovery of the interpretative key to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament--yields a whole new picture of Christianity's origins and the identity of Jesus, as it argues for a Christianity based on the real counterculture and prophetic life of Jesus--not just the mythological surface of the Gospels. Photos.

John Marco Allegro: The Maverick Of The Dead Sea Scrolls (Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature)

Judith Anne Brown

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Editorial Review:

This book is the first to fully explore the life and ideas of John Marco Allegro (1923–1988), freethinker and rebel, whose work on the Dead Sea Scrolls led him to challenge the church, the team of scholars in charge of editing the Scrolls, and most conventional assumptions about the development of Christianity.

As the first British member of the Scrolls editing team, Allegro shared the excitement, the insights, and the eyestrain of deciphering these invaluable ancient fragments. He made it possible for the Copper Scroll to be opened in Manchester and did much to focus worldwide attention on the Scrolls as a whole. But he made his name — or gained his notoriety — from questioning orthodox assumptions about how Christianity began.

Allegro's views soon set him apart from fellow Scrolls scholars and even from the church itself. He asked questions that many people found disturbing if not outrageous. He wondered, for example, about the interweaving of history, myth, faith, and tradition in the New Testament, and about the nature of the church's authority. Allegro went on challenging the establishment all his life, and he relished the arguments he provoked. For over thirty years he campaigned for open access to the Scrolls and for wider debate about their significance. To him it was a campaign for free speech and free opinion.

Judith Anne Brown's John Marco Allegro is a fascinating, probing, inside account of this man of ideas who was independent, irrepressible, and, above all, always original. Making extensive use of Allegro's letters, lecture notes, draft manuscripts, and other previously unpublished writings, Brown brings to life anew the extraordinary discoveries and debates that began in the caves by the Dead Sea over half a century ago.

The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls (set) (v. 1, 2)

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Editorial Review:

The recovery of 800 documents in the eleven caves on the northwest shores of the Dead Sea is one of the most sensational archeological discoveries in the Holy Land to date. These three volumes, the very best of critical scholarship, demonstrate in detail how the scrolls have revolutionized our knowledge of the text of the Bible, the character of Second Temple Judaism, and the Jewish beginnings of Christianity.

Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls: 2 Volume set

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Recommended 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 15 people found this review helpful.

As one might expect, given that many fine scholars contributed, this reference work can be highly recommended. It provides a good interim survey of on-going research from which anyone can learn much. As also ineluctable, no one publication on the lively scrolls research can be fully complete or error-free. There are so many excellent articles to be thankful for. Without minimizing how valuable this collection is, a few critical notes may be worthwhile. I haven't finished reading, so I may err too. It isn't illustrated, perhaps to keep this--relatively--less expensive. And many photos of scrolls and caves, etc., are indeed available elsewhere. Yet some articles are limited by this: scroll reconstruction and photography and computer imaging, for instance. While nearly all the important topics are covered adequately, there are absences. Though Epicurean and Cynicism articles are provided, Stoicism has no article, though the latter is much more relevant to Qumran Essenes or descriptions of them. Yes, Qumran Essenes, though several articles retain the now-pointless politically correct equivocation, as if a badge of methodological rigour. Qumran, we reliably read demonstrated here, was neither a fort to which all scrolls were brought from Jerusalem, nor a salt-seller motel, nor a luxury villa. The late S. Steckoll, though not a noted scholar, did dig at Qumran, so could have merited an article. The "yahad" ostracon (or not "yahad," depending on the scholar consulted) deserved an article, giving differing views (in mine, it relates to year two of initiation). Menahem the Essene (mistakenly indexed) could carry an article. The Qazone burials in the Lisan go unnoted, though known for years. Some articles are less than fully alive to latest research. "Essenes" mostly repeats a rather good book, but a 1988 one. It gives an explicit citation of evidence that the name came, via Greek spellings, from a Hebrew Qumran self-designation 'osey hatorah (observers of torah)--the source in effect predicted by scholars for centuries before the discovery--then unaccountably dismisses such as lack of explicit evidence (see DSS After 50 Years vol.2). We can now see the once-popular Aramaic proposals have no Qumran support. The Pliny article could have noted that his source's description of Essenes at Qumran was written in the rule of Herod the Great, when Ein Gedi (and *not* Jerusalem, as the H. Rackham [d. 1944], not Rackman, trans. has misled many to think) was still destroyed, an ashheap/graveyard, so not a toparchy, from fighting c. 40 BC. Yet another reason Y. Hirschfeld's Ein Gedi site, too late and too small, does not fit Pliny's Essenes. The Damascus article presents sect orgins in Babylon as if obvious, rather than a distinctly minority view. Numismatics well presents Herodian occupation at Qumran, but the later phase proposal raises questions, e.g., just who would accept Judaea Capta coins? Bibliography is endless. But surely the growing list of essays that 4Q448 is *against* Jonathan deserves to be noted. Not least because the two Jonathans --not Simon as one article has it--are the two which have been proposed most often over the last 50 years as "wicked priest," and the good chronological archaeology revisions here by Magness and others now tend to favor the later one, Jannaeus. Why no Dimant article in Angels bibliography? Why not S. Wagner in Pythagoraeans? But full consensus is not to be expected--and has never existed--in all aspects of scroll study. This Encyclopedia overall is an excellent and useful contribution to learning on this important history. I certainly recommend it, especially to libraries which aid history research.

Editorial Review:

This landmark reference work is the first of its kind. Featuring 450 articles by an international community of scholars, it offers the most comprehensive critical synthesis of current knowledge about the Dead Sea Scrolls--and their historical, archaeological, linguistic, and religious contexts. Written in non-technical language this reference work provides authoritative answers and information for all readers.

Jesus in His Jewish Context

Geza Vermes

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Was Jesus just a Galilean Hasid? 4 out of 5 stars.
22 of 22 people found this review helpful.

This edition adds some chapters to Geza Vermes' (1983) Jesus and the World of Judaism. Most of the essays date back to the 70s and 80s. The Qumran related ones are more recent (1996, 1999) and the reflection in the final chapter is taken from Vermes' autobiography, published in 1998.

Vermes is now mainstream, though it appears that thirty years ago this was not the case. He argues for an historical approach, in contrast to what he calls a theological approach. Whereas the latter would focus on Jesus in his New testament context and regard the rest of what was happening in the intertestamental years as background, Vermes takes the opposite view. It is more historically valid and enlightening, in his view, to begin with what we know of the temporal and spatial setting and work back to the representation of Jesus in the synoptic gospels. From that point we can excavate what we think represents actual speech and events in the life of Jesus and what is constructed by the evangelists (ie the synoptics, not John, which Vermes believes has almost no historical validity at all).

I have said that I believe that Vermes is now mainstream - not necessarily that all his conclusions are accepted by the scholarly community, but that a more historically deductive approach is now common. By historical deduction I refer to the process of discovery proceeding from the general historical context to the particular events and characters to be discovered. My belief is not based on expertise, and is open to challenge from those who know better. However, I recently completed a course in biblical studies at a Catholic university that used extensively recent scholarship that did exactly what Vermes was arguing for in the 70s and 80s, ie placed gospel-based interpretations firmly in the context of the time and place of their writing and of the broader contemporary Jewish world. I would think it difficult for New Testament scholars now writing for a wider community to begin with a theological position and then proceed simply to find justification for it.

Vermes writes well and with a degree of passion. There is a degree of polemicism in his style. His wit and pleasure in pith have got him into trouble with sober scholars who have taken him to task for insufficient deference to method or unsubtle summative statements. This book begins with a self-defence from criticism by John Meier arising from a Vermes attempt to be humorous. At another time he argues that people misrepresent him for understanding statements such as "Jesus was a Galilean Hasid" (p. 10) as implying that that's all he was, but it's not an unreasonable inference when considered in the light of Vermes' argument as a whole. On other occasions, Vermes does make the explicit point that he thinks Jesus was in fact a Galilean Hasid, like Honi and Hanina ben Dosa, but much more as well (though still within the parameters of Hasidism).

I have found the three books I've read by Vermes on Jesus enlightening and very readable. They have helped me greatly to understand Jesus in his Jewish context without in any way lessening my faith in the value of Jesus' mission and its subsequent development in the mission of the Church. I believe Vermes would see this as a reasonable outcome of his message to the reader.

Unfortunately, my Fortress Press paperback copy ordered through Amazon fell apart almost immediately. I've not come across such a poorly bound book in many years. I hope it was a one-off, as I know Fortress Press is a quality publisher. I have let them know.

Editorial Review:

In this stimulating work, one of the most renowned scholars of ancient Judaism explores how Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom and the earliest Jesus movement fit into the Jewish world of Judea and Galilee. In this revised edition of an earlier work, Vermes includes five new chapters.

Essene Book of Meditations and Blessings

Danaan Parry

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

For those seeking the nature of spirit 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

For those who seek to attune themselves with the spiritual dimensions of nature, this little book provides the structure for daily practice. In this new age world, it is a breath of sensibility.

Editorial Review:

The verses found in the ESSENE BOOK OF MEDITATIONS AND BLESSINGS were first published in the ESSENE BOOK OF DAYS by Danaan Parry. Inspired by the writings found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Parry created a series of meditations and blessings to reflect the daily physical communions practiced by the Essenes. Designed to help you live in harmony with the earth and its seasonal cycles, this revised second edition can be used alone or as a travel companion to the daily journal found in the ESSENE BOOK OF DAYS.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Angelic Liturgy: Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (Hebrew,Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations)

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

disappointed 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

If you are a super-scholar who likes to do word puzzles, you mike like trying to piece together some of the many fragments of the pseudo-psalms found in this book. I was very excited to buy it because I thought it would give me greater exposure to ancient Hebrew and Aramaic. But there is not much content. There are a few psalms (e.g. 154 & 155), part of an addition to Sirach and not much more.
I had some money to spend, but I wish I had not spent it on this.
Nevertheless, for the right person, I am sure it would be worth it. After all, it is certainly not the publishers fault that there are not many pseudepigraphic and non-Masoretic Psalms to publish. It would have been nice, though, if they published the actual psalms and texts of the Bible from Qumran so that one could compare them with the Masoretic Text- or at least if they published the Rule of the Community, etc. all in one volume.

Editorial Review:

This groundbreaking book accurately presents the texts on the leather papyrus of the Dead Sea Scrolls in a state-of-the-art manner. Photographs.

The Copper Scroll Decoded: One Man's Search for the Fabulous Treasures of Ancient Egypt

Robert Feather

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Shook the very foundations of my beliefs. Top class! 5 out of 5 stars.
25 of 27 people found this review helpful.

The most significant book on Biblical history this century. There are so many goodies in this riveting book as soon as I had finished reading it I started re-reading it! Not only does the author demonstrate where incredible treasure listed in the Copper Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, is hidden he goes on to come to some truly remarkable conclusions about the Old Testament. Ever since the finding of the Copper Scroll in 1952,in what was then part of Jordan and is now part of modern Israel, historians and archaeologists like John Allegro, Al Wolters, Geza Vermes, and Emile Puech have, it appears, been searching in the wrong places for the gold, silver and jewellery described in the Copper Scroll. Not only does the author convincingly show us how he has cracked the Greek coding letters in this 2,000 year-old Scroll, which have defied international scholars for nearly 50 years, he goes on to find some of the listed treasures. Perhaps the author's background in metallurgy has given him an edge in a world of linguists, dry academics and myopic historians. The ramifications of his 'findings' have led to conclusions, often hinted at by others, that Moses was in fact a Prince of Egypt, and that the origins of Judaism and by extension, Christianity and Islam are much more closely linked to Egypt through Pharaoh Akhenaten than has previously been acknowledged. I am aware of previous authors like John Spencer, Sigmund Freud, and more recently Jan Assmann, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Heidelberg,who have made out a reasoned case for links between Moses and Akhenaten, but Feather seems to have come up with so many detailed 'hard' connections that it is difficult to dismiss them. If the author is correct, and I found his arguments powerfully compelling, he shows us the first ever image of the Biblical figure of Joseph and goes on to explain many puzzles in the Bible which seem to fall like clock-work into place in his new 'Egyptian' perspective. Written in an easily readable style of a detective story, the detailed referencing and Foreword by Professor George Brooke, of Manchester University - a world authority on Dead Sea Scroll research, underlines the apparent validity of this incredible work. If what the author says is essentially true, the book will necesitate a re-evaluation of the origins of the main Biblical stories, the history of the Qumran-Essenes - who wrote and possessed the Dead Sea Scrolls, and our present understanding of the ancient Hebrew Community at Elephantine Island in southern Egypt and the existence of the 'Falasha' Ethiopian Jews, - and become a standard work of reference.

Editorial Review:

This is the story of how a professional metallurgist, with a fascination for ancient Jewish and Middle Eastern history, managed to decipher a 2,000-year-old metal scroll whose true meaning has baffled the 'experts' for nearly 50 years - and identified where the fabulous treasures listed in it are hidden.

The Copper Scroll is unique amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls, which record the activities of a secretive Jewish sect - the Qumran-Essenes - who lived by the shores of the Dead Sea at the time of Jesus.

By using his metallurgical knowledge, Robert Feather has identified the connection between the Essenes and the most advanced and rich civilization in the ancient world the Egyptians - a connection which will profoundly challenge our most fundamental beliefs in the origins of the major religions.

The treasure hunt unearths not only vast wealth, but powerful historical truths of immense significance, which will necessitate the re-evaluation of many conventional ideas.