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

JAMES H. CHARLESWORTH 133
the furious wrath of the God of the wrath of God (3:36)
vengeance (1QS 4.2–3)
blindness of eyes (1QS 4.11) the eyes of the blind (10:21)
in the fullness of his grace (1QS 4.4; cf. 4.5) full of grace (1:14)
the works of God (1QS 4.4) the works of God (6:28; 9:3)
Because of their isolation from the Temple, the priests who followed
the Righteous Teacher into the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord,
acting out the prophecy of Isa 40:3, perceived reality in stark ways and
developed a unique form of dualism with sharply focused technical
terms. The Fourth Gospel certainly reflects the dualism developed in the
Dead Sea Scrolls. In some ways the Johannine School and its Gospel have
been impacted by Essene concepts and terms. What is new today after
over fifty years of research and the ability to study approximately eight
hundred scrolls? First, the discoveries that this dualism is defined, and its
technical terms amassed, are only in 1QS 3 and 4. Second, the candidates
for admission into the Qumran Community were most likely forced to
memorize this section. Third, other Qumran compositions indicate that
these terms reflect the mind-set of the community and overflow into
other Qumran compositions.
One should not jump to the conclusion that the Fourth Gospel is virtually
a Qumran composition. As Schnackenburg points out, the “important
contrast between life and death, however, which dominates
Johannine thinking, has no parallel at Qumran.” To him, this discovery
is the “strongest argument to show that Johannine ‘dualism’ cannot have
been taken over from Qumran.” Johannine dualism is certainly influenced
by the Essenes, but it was not unreflectively borrowed from them
without incorporation into the prismatic Christian kerygma. As
Schnackenburg stresses, “One can hardly say more than that the
Johannine ‘dualism,’ based on Jewish thought, has in many respects its
closest parallels in Qumran, especially with regard to ‘light-darkness’. But
then there are profound differences which stem from the Christian faith
and its doctrine of salvation.” 113 The uniqueness and brilliance of
Qumran dualism and its technical, well-developed terms are stunning in
the history of human thought. To proceed by recognizing that they shape
the mentalité—though not the esprit—of the Fourth Gospel is the correct
track to follow, as we seek to discern how and in what ways Qumran conceptions
and expressions shaped the presentation of the Fourth
Evangelist’s narrative, conceptuality, and terminology. 114
113. Ibid., 1:131–32.
114. In using these terms I wish to express my indebtedness to R. de Vaux, P.
Benoit, M.-É. Boismard, and J. Murphy-O’Connor. During my time at the École