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

98 A STUDY IN SHARED SYMBOLISM AND LANGUAGE
ideas, most likely, of some Sadducees and Pharisees (or their precursors),
some traditions associated with the Samaritans, some books produced by
the Enoch groups, and other types of Jews within Early Judaism. While
the library raises the question of the nature of the Qumran Community,
surely it was not merely a marginal group, as was once assumed. 3
The result of the study of these once-lost compositions has caused a
paradigm shift in the study of Second Temple Judaism (or Early
Judaism). Before 1947 world-class scholars had formulated a notion of
the typical features of Judaism during Jesus’ day, which in light of discoveries
from 1947 to the present is simply false or misleading. The purpose
of the present paper is to seek to discern how and in what ways, if
at all, the newly revealed ideas preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls help us
better to comprehend the origin and thought in the work known now as
“the Gospel of John.”
The central question becomes: How have the ideas found in the Dead
Sea Scrolls helped improve the study of the origins of Christianity and,
in particular, provided a better understanding of the Fourth Gospel? That
is, how have the ideas in these ancient scrolls changed our understanding
of Jewish thought during the time of Jesus? How have they shifted our
perception of the origins of Christianity?
These questions have caught the imaginations of many, including
scholars who have devoted decades to seeking answers representative of
the challenging discoveries. Such assessments have opened something
like newly found windows through which we can gain a better glimpse
of life and thought in and near Jerusalem before and during the time of
Jesus of Nazareth.
According to scholars—Jews, Roman Catholics, and Protestants—the
Dead Sea Scrolls have revolutionized our perception of Judaism before
the burning of the Temple in 70 C.E. 4 The unique terms and concepts in
these ancient scrolls have also dramatically altered our understanding of
Christian origins. 5 The scrolls have appreciably enriched and at times
3. The question, “How central or marginal was the Qumran Community?” is
ostensibly the issue addressed in Timothy H. Lim et al., eds., The Dead Sea Scrolls in
Their Historical Context (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2000).
4. I dedicated the earlier version of this work to Professor D. Moody Smith. I am
indebted to the editors and publisher for allowing me to prepare a revised, expanded,
and updated version of that work: “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gospel according
to John,” in Exploring the Gospel of John: In Honor of D. Moody Smith (ed. R. A. Culpepper
and C. C. Black; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1996), 65–97.
5. See the following introductions: Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Responses to 101 Questions on
the Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: Paulist Press, 1992); Hartmut Stegemann, Die Essener,
Qumran, Johannes der Täufer und Jesus (Freiburg: Herder, 1993); James C. VanderKam,