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long been criticized as being inaccurate. Originally only the wrapping around them were tested,
because they didn’t want to destroy any text in order to date them. However, new techniques
need less material to achieve the same results. But remember, what is being dated is the material
that was written on. If a fragment was dated back to 200 BC, there is no way of knowing whether
it was actually written on at that time, or maybe 300 years later. This knowledge makes it
difficult to assume the accuracy of any dating.
We must also take into account, whether or not a document is describing actual events, or if
it is just plain fiction. For example, it is commonly accepted that some apocryphal books such as
Tobit, and Bel and the Dragon were works of fiction, and for that reason were not included in the
Bible. Many apocryphal writings were found at Qumran. When it comes to analyzing the
contents of a text, how do you decide that it is a historically accurate document, if you don’t
know the intention of the writer, or even who the writer was. Just as the writers of the Gospels
have been accused of embellishment, do some of the Qumran texts contain embellishments.
Because of the initial secrecy surrounding the Scrolls, how will we really know that all of the
fragments found, will be released. It was said that some fragments had been taken to the Ecole
Biblique. Were they ever returned to the Rockefeller Museum? I guess, what I am thinking here,
is that if they had discovered something that would have shaken the very foundation of the
Christian Church, would the Scroll team have allowed it to remain, or would it have found its
way into the dark recesses of the Vatican, never again to see the light of day, or perhaps only
locked away for a short time, to be released when the time is right.
As Price maintains, there may very well be nothing to the negative slant that has been applied
to the Scrolls; and yet, it is very hard not to think conspiratorially because of all the
circumstances surrounding them. I believe that the Scrolls are part of the ‘last days’ trigger, and
as such, I believe that they are going to be used in some way to perpetuate an end-time
deception.
In addition, how about the existence of other scrolls which haven’t made their way into
official hands so they can scrutinized by scholars. Strugnell revealed the existence of four other
scrolls from Cave 11. Of the two he saw, one was a complete copy of the Book of Enoch. On his
deathbed, Lankester Harding, the director of Jordan’s Department of Antiquities, claimed to have
seen two more scrolls that Strugnell had not seen. All four are located in Jordan. Stories have
also circulated about Bedouin discoveries which were not given to de Vaux, and have yet to
surface. Plus there have been other optimistic forays into the area which could eventually turn up
more scrolls or fragments. In one case, archaeologists Dr. Gary Collett and Dr. Aubry L.
Richardson, using sophisticated equipment developed by NASA (which can sense non-visible
elements of the electromagnetic spectrum and interpret the type of molecules found in its
makeup), claimed that there were still unexplored caves, including one which may contain up to
40 intact jars, of the kind used to store manuscripts, and evidence of another copper scroll. A dig
was initiated, sanctioned by the Israeli government, to reach this cave, which had not turned up
anything.
My feeling is that there hasn’t been enough substantiation from the Scrolls to make the kind
of claims that have been made. For example, various books in the Bible contain the same
information, and are used to cross reference each other; and that wasn’t possible with the Scrolls,
so, because of that, should their scholarship be accepted, especially when some of the rituals that
are similar to the early Christian Church may be nothing more than natural progression– or
theological evolution.
Because of further archaeological excavation, we may continue to get a steady flow of