THE GOODevil SCROLL


Book Description

A small Jewish sect calling itself "The Pure Believers",worships in Babylon during the period of Jewish Exile,in the 6th century BCE. It mysteriously disappears from the pages of history,and nothing is known about it for two thousand years,when it is suddenly mentioned by a Vatican scholar at an international conference. What does the scroll actually say? Where was it found? Just who are these “Purists” with their lofty claims of truly knowing the Creator God? Were they just one of the many obscure religious sects persecuted out of existence by mainstream Judaism, or were they a religious creed that was growing like a wildfire, and could have swept the ancient world, and quickly consolidated into a major movement, threatening the very existence of the established Jewish faith. This book covers the journey of the scroll, its theft, loss and burial in the largest book collection in the world. It is a fascinating account of active attempts at suppression, intrigue and courage shown by one man, who is determined to expose to the world such ancient truths, and radical views of the Creator. Well may we ask, why we have always been told that we were born of sin and that we needed all the theatre of incense and bells of formal religion to find God, for ourselves? When in reality our Creator has always been within us, fully aware of our individual limitations, and expecting nothing from us, always knowing the reasons for our every action.




Wealth in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Qumran Community


Book Description

This volume is concerned with exploring sectarian attitudes toward wealth and the economic practices that gave rise to and issued from those attitudes. It argues for several biblical rationales for the practice of shared wealth.




Josephus' Description of the Essenes Illustrated by the Dead Sea Scrolls


Book Description

This study provides an analysis and commentary on Josephus' description of the Essenes in the light of the new material from Qumran. A fresh translation is provided alongside the Greek text of the passages in Josephus, as well as a full commentary on the major passages in which he describes this group.




The Dead Sea Scrolls in the Context of Hellenistic Judea


Book Description

This volume situates the Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls within Hellenistic Judea. By so doing, this volume shows how the Dead Sea Scrolls participate in broad, cross-cultural intellectual discourses that surpass the Jewish group that produced and collected these scrolls.




The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea


Book Description

Ever since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in caves near the site of Qumran in 1947, this mysterious cache of manuscripts has been associated with the Essenes, a 'sect' configured as marginal and isolated. Scholarly consensus has held that an Essene library was hidden ahead of the Roman advance in 68 CE, when Qumran was partly destroyed. With much doubt now expressed about aspects of this view, The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea systematically reviews the surviving historical sources, and supports an understanding of the Essenes as an influential legal society, at the centre of Judaean religious life, held in much esteem by many and protected by the Herodian dynasty, thus appearing as 'Herodians' in the Gospels. Opposed to the Hasmoneans, the Essenes combined sophisticated legal expertise and autonomy with an austere regimen of practical work, including a specialisation in medicine and pharmacology. Their presence along the north-western Dead Sea is strongly indicated by two independent sources, Dio Chrysostom and Pliny the Elder, and coheres with the archaeology. The Dead Sea Scrolls represent not an isolated library, quickly hidden, but burials of manuscripts from numerous Essene collections, placed in jars in caves for long-term preservation. The historical context of the Dead Sea area itself, and its extraordinary natural resources, as well as the archaeology of Qumran, confirm the Essenes' patronage by Herod, and indicate that they harnessed the medicinal material the Dead Sea zone provides to this day.




Scrolls From the Soul Presents Scrolling Through the Bible


Book Description

About Us Hello, my name is Joe. I am the author of the "Scrolls from the Soul." I started writing these scrolls more than twenty years ago. Belinda has loyally run a card ministry for more than twenty-five years where she has continually put the loving in "love thy neighbor." Both my wife and I are disabled. Doing any kind of conventional mission work has been very challenging. In 2014, we launched the "Scrolls from the Soul" website (biblescrolling.com). I do the writing and my wife furnishes nature photos, all of which she has taken personally. At this point, we have decided it is time to open this site to more than just family and friends. This is a simple outreach and we are asking you to look over the site and let people know where it can be found. Converting that website into this book has been a new adventure for us, and we pray that God will guide us every step of the way.




The Immortal Maiden Equal to Heaven and Other Precious Scrolls from Western Gansu


Book Description

Following thirty years of suppression as feudal superstition, Chinese popular religion has made a spectacular comeback since the 1980s. One aspect of this phenomenon has been the return of precious scrolls as ritual and entertainment in several regions of China, most notably the economically advanced Wu-dialect area and the poor countryside of Western Gansu. As these texts were performed once again, they have been collected, edited, and published as part of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage. These materials greatly broaden and deepen our knowledge of popular literature, ritual, and religion and open a new window into the values and customs of local society. The texts also offer unique insights into the history of the region as seen through the eyes of the local population who had to confront the harsh environment and frequent incursions of nomadic groups. Given the wealth of knowledge to be gained, it is not surprising that these materials are attracting the growing attention of scholars. The Immortal Maiden Equal to Heaven and Other Precious Scrolls from Western Gansu by eminent Sinologist Wilt Idema is thus a significant foray into the area. This unprecedented book provides complete and annotated translations of six precious scrolls that have never before been translated. An insightful and helpful introduction precedes each translation. The study includes a general survey of the development, origin, context, and popularity of the narrative and concludes with a discussion of available modern editions.




The Scrolls of Heaven


Book Description




T&T Clark Companion to the Dead Sea Scrolls


Book Description

The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the last century. They have great historical, religious, and linguistic significance, not least in relation to the transmission of many of the books which came to be included in the Hebrew Bible. This companion comprises over 70 articles, exploring the entire body of the key texts and documents labelled as Dead Sea Scrolls. Beginning with a section on the complex methods used in discovering, archiving and analysing the Scrolls, the focus moves to consideration of the Scrolls in their various contexts: political, religious, cultural, economic and historical. The genres ascribed to groups of texts within the Scrolls- including exegesis and interpretation, poetry and hymns, and liturgical texts - are then examined, with due attention given to both past and present scholarship. The main body of the Companion concludes with crucial issues and topics discussed by leading scholars. Complemented by extensive appendices and indexes, this Companion provides the ideal resource for those seriously engaging with the Dead Sea Scrolls.




The Wisdom Texts from Qumran and the Development of Sapiential Thought


Book Description

This volume comprises the lectures delivered at a conference on the sapiential texts from Qumran hosted by A. Lange and H. Lichtenberger in Tubingen (1998) as well as a number of additional contributions. This literature, although found in the Qumran library, is mostly of non-Essene origin and can be dated to the third and second century BCE with a single exception which might be even older. The sapiential texts from Qumran add to the sparse corpus of postexilic sapiential literature and shed new light on the later Israelite and Jewish wisdom as well as on the sources from which early Christian wisdom traditions originated. Therefore, the volume attempts to understand the wisdom literature from Qumran in the broader context of sapiential thought in the Ancient near East, the Hebrew Bible, Ancient Judaism and the New Testament. Beyond this, the volume further includes treatments of introductory and linguistic questions as well as articles on specific sapiential texts.