The Dead Sea Scrolls & Tom's Theology

I found this subject fascinating in the 80's, but there wasn't much translational information available. It's hard to believe that politics could play such a role, but those who were assigned segments of the scrolls seemed to hold out for more work. Why?? I hate to think that $$$ were to blame, but there were knowledgeable folks who no doubt saw a book deal that smelled like money. Anyhow, the vast majority of what was available has now been translated (many small segments remaining) and published. The results from this work, coupled with the works of Josephus tell a very interesting tale.

It has long been my opinion that Jesus cousin John knew of the Qumran community, and that both he and Jesus were aligned with Essene theology. John wandered in the desert eating grasshoppers and honey. He lived off the land...A country boy of sorts. We have no knowledge of any city life referencing John. He was a devout Jew, unhappy with the Roman occupation of the Holy Land. The Temple scroll depicts the historical Essene Community. The Essenes were devout... They had Scribes that worked in the scriptural replicating Sacred Writings and Religious Texts, and rigid rules for daily life and worship.

Scholars of Biblical Theology long thought that the Qumran scrolls were from the Temple in Jerusalem, moved for their safety just before the Romans destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem in 66 AD. Following their translation, it appears that this was not the case, nor were they moved from Masada. These scrolls were community property preserved in clay jars that do not resemble any such pottery from Jerusalem or anywhere else and safely hidden in caves near the community.

Why the big deal about the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Well, there is religion.... There is Theology.... And, more importantly there is Faith. But, Faith in what?

I believe that God reveals himself to man (woman) in two ways. No doubt the Bible is an example of God's divine Revelation. Some care has to be taken in reading the Sacred Writings in order to come to grips with the message that jumps off the pages of the Bible. For example: We know the story of Jonah being swallowed up into the belly of a great fish. If you recall, God wanted him to go to the great city of Nineveh and spread a message of repentance, but Jonah opted for Tarshish which was the opposite direction. Well, God got His way and the "Great Fish" spewed Jonah up on the seashore of Nineveh. So, there laid Jonah on the beach in this large puddle of fish puke. There is a problem here within the story. If the writer had ever been to Nineveh, he would know first hand that the city is in the desert. In fact, ancient Nineveh is the modern city of Mosul Iraq. Plenty of beach all right...There is sand as far as the eye can see, but it lacks a large body of water. So...What do we know about this story? What is the meaning that God is revealing?

There is a definitive message that this story delivers that has little to do with a great fish or laying in a puddle of fish puke. The meaning of the story comes out in the understanding that God reveals Himself to His people, through His people. And, because He is God, He can use any means at his disposal. Just as Jesus spoke in Parables, some of the Old testament is written in a similar form. That does not mean that one "story" is true while another isn't true. The stories are all true, but their meaning often lies just below the surface where some digging and understanding reveals a deeper meaning. That's precisely why the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Rosetta Stone and codiciles of later apocrypha are important. They lead us to a greater understanding, and that leads us to a deeper Faith and belief in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, God reveals Himself through His people...Both past and present. From the past we link the developing Church with "Ecclesiology" and the people such as Jerome who produced the Latin (Vulgate) Bible largely from Greek sources in the early centuries along with St. Augustan, St Francis, Constantine, St Theresa, and on through a large list to the modern day Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, Pope John XXIII, and countless others. It does not take the Church as a whole or an entity to establish the Holiness or righteousness of a person... All it takes is a reasonably in formed, fairminded person.

So... The importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls lay in the new information presented along with old information confirmed. One of the more complete scrolls is the Isaiah Scroll. It represents almost the entire book of Isaiah as we know it in our modern Bibles. Then, there is the Copper Scroll. It is an inventory of all the goods of the Temple in Jerusalem. We know that the goods of the Temple were removed...We can read about the Roman incursion in the works of Josephus. But, what happened to the goods? The Copper Scroll does not add any information to help us locate the Temple goods. At least not at the moment.

We think that the settlement at Qumran were Essenes. The Temple scroll is a rule of order for the Quamran community similar to what St Benedict established many years later for the Benedictine Religious Order. In particular, the Qumran community practiced obedience, truthfulness, continence, justice, and temperance which were key to the lives of the Essenes. Both lived simple lives of devotion.

Rather than replicate work that already has been done, please use the following link to Bryan Huie's page on the Pharisees and Saducees. It is a fine piece of work that details these two groups. http://users.aristotle.net/~bhuie/pharsadd.htm

The Temple Scroll refers to the leader of the Qumran Community as "The Teacher of righteousness". An interesting corollary to both John the Baptist and Jesus. Further, the Community teaches celibacy...a lifestyle of both John and Jesus. The cemetery at Qumran supports this practice in that it is an all male cemetery.

Following Bryans Huie's page on Pharisees and Saducees, the Essenes are a totally different group. The former groups are political, the latter is Spiritual. The former is very public and the latter is contemplative and private. John and Jesus lives seem aligned with the Essenes.

So what?? Jesus was an Essene...Who cares??

Remember the big deal made about the Movie the Divinci Code?? The main plot had Jesus married with kids and living in France. Wow!! That's a yarn and a half and people bought into the controversy. Well, if Jesus was an Essene (and there's far more evidence of that than living in France raising kids), he was celibate. And, that's just a fact. It's in the Temple Scroll, and in the works of Josephus...and both of those are facts.

My Jesus was Yeshua ben Joseph, a carpenters son from Nazareth. He lived a life that by it's existence alone told everyone that God the Father is a loving God and forgiving to those who repented (the message of Jonah). He stood up to the establishment bravely and with dignity. He died on the cross for me and for you as an act of charity...an act of kindness...and act of love. He confessed to our crimes and took our punishment. He left the Holy Spirit with those who choose to believe as a sign to those who came after Him that He lives. The best part is, He lives today as Jesus, Son of God..as all loving, caring Father God and as God the Holy Spirit. That is the Good News!!!