The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

JAMES H. CHARLESWORTH 5
Qumranites were priests; in the scrolls some of these men are “the Sons
of Aaron,” and others are “Levites.” The Qumranites who hid the scrolls
lived during the time of the two great teachers, Hillel and Jesus. And the
library was found not only in a desert, but also in the Land—the Holy
Land. To these observations we add that this library bears witness to
hundreds of writings unknown before 1947, that most of the documents
were known and probably influential in many parts of ancient Palestine,
and that most of them were deemed sacred by the Jews who read and hid
them. Thereby we begin to grasp why the Dead Sea Scrolls are rightly
judged to be sensationally important. Let us now turn to comprehending
some particulars in this evaluation.
A scandal has been far too rampant for decades. It may be summarized
in four points that I have heard in different parts of the world. First,
the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. Second, they were given to
Christian scholars to publish. Third, they have not all been published.
Fourth, it must follow, therefore, that these Christian scholars came to
realize that the Dead Sea Scrolls disprove the essential beliefs of
Christianity. So mixed, this brew has poisoned the minds of far too
many. The myth, and the general conspiracy theory behind it, even
helped popularize Dan Brown’s book entitled The Da Vinci Code. Too
many readers miss the subtitle: A Novel.
What are the facts? First, Cave 1 was found over fifty years ago, and
it contained Hebrew and Aramaic writings that have been labeled “Dead
Sea Scrolls.” Second, they have been given to Christians and Jews to
publish. Third, all the full scrolls and those that are preserved in large
pieces have been published. More than six hundred documents have
been published so far. Fourth, many of the documents hidden in this
ancient Jewish library are not extant in the approximately one hundred
thousand fragments that are now mixed together; that is, what was hidden
in the first century must not be equated with what was found in the
twentieth century. Putting together over six hundred documents that
were previously unknown and are preserved only in tiny, intermixed
fragments is a Herculean task. Frequently, the script is so difficult to read
that text experts need the assistance of image experts to provide them
with a visible script.
They were not completely cut off from Jewish society since the area was inhabited,
contained defensive installations and presumably paid taxes to the Hasmoneans and
Romans” (5). See Anthony J. Saldarini, Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees in Palestinian
Society (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1989). It is surprising to see that Stemberger disparages
the Essenes and then includes them in his study, while Saldarini sees their
importance but does not include them in his sociological analysis and synthesis.