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

132 A STUDY IN SHARED SYMBOLISM AND LANGUAGE
own works, while the Qumranites taught an esoteric wisdom reserved
only for full initiates, some of their ideas, symbols, and technical terms
were known by other Jews. Indeed, Josephus knew a vast amount about
their theology, and that observation alone puts to rest the claim that
Essene theology was a secret known only to full initiates at Qumran. This
caveat, however, does not dismiss the uniqueness of Qumran thought or
make it indistinguishable from other forms of thought in pre-70 Judaism.
These observations lead us to focus more deeply on the Fourth
Gospel. Rudolf Schnackenburg concludes that apocalypticism has not
influenced John as much as Qumran thought. He contends that “the frequently
recurring concepts of ‘truth,’ ‘reveal’ and ‘know,’ the importance
of the divine Spirit, the longing for the heavenly world and also the close
brotherly union seem to establish a close affinity between the Qumran
community and the circle which one must envisage behind the Johannine
writings, from their mentality and diction.” 112 Schnackenburg represents
the consensus among specialists who have focused intensive research on
the Dead Sea Scrolls and their relations with the Fourth Gospel.
Since many, perhaps most, Johannine experts see some Essene influence
on the Fourth Gospel, we might continue to explore more deeply
the ways that Essene thought and symbolism may have helped to shape
the Fourth Gospel. I have organized these initial probes into thirteen
areas:
1. Cosmic dualism and its termini technici. Both the sectarian Qumran
Scrolls and the Fourth Gospel express a dualism in terms of two cosmic
spirits. The evil spirit causes the presence of evil in the world. Technical
terms for expressing this conception were developed in a unique way at
Qumran, and members of the Johannine School inherited these terms
from Essenes. At Qumran and in the Fourth Gospel, we hear about “the
spirits of truth and deceit” (1QS 3.18–19; 4.21, 23; John 14:17; 15:26;
16:13; cf. 1 John 4:6), the “Holy Spirit” (1QS 4.21; John 14:26; 20:22),
and “the Sons of Light” (1QS 3.13, 24–25; John 12:36). The Johannine
Paraclete and Jesus himself (the “Light of the World,” John 8:12; 9:5)
function in many ways as do “the Spirit of Truth” and “Angel of Light”
at Qumran (1QS 3.25). Note these shared termini technici:
Dead Sea Scrolls—Fourth Gospel
in the light of life (1QS 3.7) the life of life (John 8:12)
and they shall walk and who shall walk
in the ways of darkness (1QS 3.21; cf. 4.11) in the darkness (12:35; cf 8:12)
112. Schnackenburg, The Gospel according to St John, 1:129.