Showing papers on "Dead Sea Scrolls published in 1979"

The Books of Enoch and the Traditions of Enoch

Abstract: The figure of Enoch and the books associated with him are among the most fascinating products of Judaism during the period of the Second Temple. Revealer of heavenly secrets, regulator of the calendar, inventor of books and learning, Enoch is a multi-faceted and rich figure. The study of the literature of Enoch has been greatly enhanced in recent years by the publications of J. T. Milik. To him were entrusted the fragmentary manuscripts of the books of Enoch discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and he has published the results of his studies of them in two important articles and most recently in The Books of Enoch (Oxford 1976). 1 The first publication of the Ethiopic version of the Book of Enoch by the Englishman Richard Laurence in 1821, was followed by a series of discoveries of fragments of the text in various Greek versions and in Syriac. 2 Up to the discovery of Cave 4 at Qumran, no fragments of the original were known. The publication of the Ethiopic version of this work in the last century was a major factor in arousing interest in the Jewish background against which Christianity arose. In its length, diversity and richness it is unparalleled among the Jewish apocalypses and it forms a cyclopaedia of Jewish religious thought and speculation in a very crucial period. The timeliness of Milik's publication is enhanced by the concern with the Jewish apocalypses which has come to the fore again in recent years.3

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth

Abstract: Was Jesus of Nazareth a real historical person or a fictional character in a religious legend? What do the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal about the origins of Christianity? Has there been a conspiracy to suppress information in the Scrolls that contradicts traditional church teaching? John Allegro addresses these and many other intriguing questions in this fascinating account of what may be the most significant archaeological discovery of the twentieth century. As one of the original scholars entrusted with the task of deciphering these ancient documents, Allegro worked on some of the most important texts, including the Biblical commentaries. In 1961, King Hussein of Jordan appointed him to be honorary advisor to the Jordanian government on the Dead Sea Scrolls. In his engaging and highly readable style, Allegro conveys the excitement of the initial archaeological find and takes the reader on a journey of intellectual discovery that goes to the heart of Western culture.Allegro suggests that Christianity evolved out of the Messianic theology of the Essenes, the Jewish sect that wrote the "Dead Sea Scrolls". This new edition of Allegro's book also contains an essay in which he describes the in-fighting among the scholars assigned to study the scrolls and his thirty-year battle to release all of the texts to the public. Allegro was one of the first scholars to protest the long delay in publishing the Scrolls and to criticise his colleagues for their secretive and possessive attitudes. This issue has recently been the focus of national media coverage, with the result that after forty years, open access to all of the Dead Sea Scrolls has finally been permitted. If he had lived to see it, John Allegro would have been very pleased by this resolution of the controversy.

Keeping up with Recent Studies III. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Reflections on some Recent Publications

Abstract: worldly power and status and, in course of time, even claiming royal rank. Bevan, with rare artistry, gives vivid pen-pictures of such men, beginning with Simeon the Righteous of pre-Maccabean days during whose period in office ’the red cord upon the head of the scapegoat turned white, a symbol of the national sins put away, the lamps in the Temple never went out, and the flame on the altar burnt always clear and strong’ (p. 69). But not all the High Priests were like Simeon. With discerning eye Bevan traces the early growth of a priestly aristocracy, amassing for itself considerable wealth and, with that wealth, an ever-growing influence in affairs of state. Soon these priests appeared on the scene as protagonists of that Hellenistic culture which seemed to sweep all before it and which was anathema to the loyal Jew. The story told in this book is, in effect, that of the struggle between ’Hellenism and Hebraism’. Beginning with