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

JAMES H. CHARLESWORTH 131
Shammai) group, which gave us the Mishnah, and the Jesus group (or
sect), which gave us the New Testament. In 68 C.E., the Qumran
Community was burned, and it disappeared from history. It also vanished
from view except for the upper portions of the northern tower,
until Roland de Vaux excavated what many had erroneously judged to
be a Roman fortress. After 70, and the burning of Jerusalem, the
Qumranites and other Essenes were murdered or eventually, perhaps
slowly, disappeared.
SUMMARY AND RECONSTRUCTION
A reevaluation of the relation between “Qumran and John” should begin
by emphasizing a new perspective. 110 Forty years ago we imagined that
Qumran was perhaps an isolated group living in the wilderness. Now we
know that only a small percentage of the writings found in the Qumran
caves were composed at Qumran. The Qumran Scrolls represent writings
from many other Jewish groups, including at least the Books of Enoch,
Jubilees, the Jewish substratum to the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, early
versions of the Temple Scroll and the Damascus Document, Qumran
Pseudepigraphic Psalms, the Prayer of Joseph, Second Ezekiel, and the Copper
Scroll. We now take far more seriously Josephus’s reference to two types
of Essenes. And we recognize that Essenes lived throughout ancient
Palestine, including the southwestern section of Jerusalem.
In the process of seeking to comprehend the extent of Essenism in
antiquity, we have become much more aware of the unique features of
Qumran theology. To be taken seriously is David Flusser’s comment that
the Qumran Community “is the only group within Second Temple
Judaism to develop a systematic theology.…The Dead Sea Sect, in the
paradoxical restriction of its ideas, created a system which later influenced
the history of all mankind.” 111 As I have repeatedly stated in my
110. Here I am succinctly collecting my own reflections over thirty years. I am not
reviewing the research by Qumran and Johannine experts nor merely summarizing
the previous discussion. Hence, it is not possible to present an exhaustive report of
the best research. For bibliographical assistance, consult Bastiaan Jongeling, A
Classified Bibliography of the Finds in the Desert of Judah 1958–1969 (STDJ 7; Leiden:
Brill, 1971), 1–29; Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Major Publications and Tools
for Study (rev. ed.; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990), 173–79; and Florentino García
Martínez and Donald W. Parry, A Bibliography of the Finds in the Desert of Judah 1970–95
(Leiden: Brill, 1996).
111. David Flusser, The Spiritual History of the Dead Sea Sect (Tel Aviv: MOD Books,
1989), 46.