Dead Sea Scrolls- authors never existed

[Rosh Yeshiva]

Scholar Claims Dead Sea Scrolls 'Authors' Never Existed
By TIM MCGIRK

Biblical scholars have long argued that the Dead Sea Scrolls were the work of an ascetic and celibate Jewish community known as the Essenes, which flourished in the 1st century A.D. in the scorching desert canyons near the Dead Sea. Now a prominent Israeli scholar, Rachel Elior, disputes that the Essenes ever existed at all - a claim that has shaken the bedrock of biblical scholarship.

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So who were the real authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls? Elior theorizes that the Essenes were really the renegade sons of Zadok, a priestly caste banished from the Temple of Jerusalem by intriguing Greek rulers in 2nd century B.C. When they left, they took the source of their wisdom - their scrolls - with them.
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Link to full article below:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2009031...88542100/print

[Sister Alvear]

wow...

[coadie]

"Sixty years of research have been wasted trying to find the Essenes in the scrolls,"

Interesting English statement. The english language was also not invented at that time. It seems to be less than 200 years old at the time of king James.


13Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

14And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.

15So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Scripture actually tells us the account of the resurrection would be deliberately disputed.

[JN Anderson]

"Elior, who teaches Jewish mysticism at Jerusalem's Hebrew University."

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Sabellius

"Elior, who teaches Jewish mysticism at Jerusalem's Hebrew University."

That says a mouthful right there!

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Rosh Yeshiva

Scholar Claims Dead Sea Scrolls 'Authors' Never Existed
By TIM MCGIRK

Biblical scholars have long argued that the Dead Sea Scrolls were the work of an ascetic and celibate Jewish community known as the Essenes, which flourished in the 1st century A.D. in the scorching desert canyons near the Dead Sea. Now a prominent Israeli scholar, Rachel Elior, disputes that the Essenes ever existed at all - a claim that has shaken the bedrock of biblical scholarship.

.........................


So who were the real authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls? Elior theorizes that the Essenes were really the renegade sons of Zadok, a priestly caste banished from the Temple of Jerusalem by intriguing Greek rulers in 2nd century B.C. When they left, they took the source of their wisdom - their scrolls - with them.
.........

Link to full article below:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2009031...88542100/print

It really ends up being "6 of one and a half dozen of the other..." The writer is merely offering an alternative and more detailed account of the origins of the "Essenes" and refers to the with a term taken from the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves. Interesting, but hardly a foundation shaking hypothesis unless you're truly desperate to sell newspapers.

[Rosh Yeshiva]

Originally Posted by pelathais

It really ends up being "6 of one and a half dozen of the other..." The writer is merely offering an alternative and more detailed account of the origins of the "Essenes" and refers to the with a term taken from the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves. Interesting, but hardly a foundation shaking hypothesis unless you're truly desperate to sell newspapers.

Great difference between a few heretic priests, and an ascetic and celibate Jewish community of several thousand.

But even more serious is the claim of Josephus penning an outright conscious lie.

[Michael The Disciple]

So what doctrinal truths that we ALREADY HAVE are vindicated by the scrolls?

Most of the stuff we consider to be apocryphal do we not?

It seems little important truth is gained by them.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Rosh Yeshiva

Great difference between a few heretic priests, and an ascetic and celibate Jewish community of several thousand.

But even more serious is the claim of Josephus penning an outright conscious lie.

The numbers are always problematic, just like today and often for the same reason - what constitutes a "true believer" in a particular sect? You'll always have camp followers and hangers on. An entire village may come over to a particular way of thinking outwardly while their private lives betray other intentions. The angle of their lives a contemporary writer reports would then become "canon" until more evidence turned up.

A writer could have been mistaken, or been fed bad information. There's no need to assume there's always an "outright lie" at work. And, the word Essenes has been used almost carelessly at times. It's become almost a shorthand for "Messianic apocalyptic Jewish sect that wasn't either Pharisees and the Sadducees..." and there were a lot of those.

The Albigensians and Cathari would an example socially, though their beliefs were obviously quite different. The Cathari were the inner circle of the group. They were the celibate devouts, eschewing all worldliness. This rather small group of "the Perfect" were then supported and housed by sympathetic villages and others in the region. Meanwhile, back in Paris and in Rome it was reported that the whole of Provencal had gone celibate and Gnostic!

If we handle the initial reports and contemporaneous accounts with a bit of reserved skepticism then we don't have to "rewrite all of our textbooks" every 5 to 10 years.

The same goes for newer evidence and theories. It's all good, and it all contributes to a complex tapestry of the past, but no one thread appears to be holding the whole picture together.

[Rosh Yeshiva]

Originally Posted by pelathais

A writer could have been mistaken, or been fed bad information. There's no need to assume there's always an "outright lie" at work.

Generally speaking your post is well reasoned as to the sentence above, perhaps Philo or Pliny the Elder were mistaken, however Rachel maintains that Josephus Flavius outright fabricated.

Remember Josephus was also the only "reputable" non-Christian first century (and even he was born after the crucifixion) historian who mentioned Yeshua as messiah.