The Scrolls and the New Testament [Dead Sea Scrolls]

by Krister Stendahl

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B000J58H3I
• Release Date: January 1957
• Publisher: Harper & Brothers
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A pioneering work

As James Charlesworth says in his introduction, this book is a classic collection of essays regarding the 'hot topic' in scroll scholarship of how the scrolls relate to the New Testament. As most of the scroll scholars in the beginning were among the Christian academic ranks, the connections and interest was natural. While the connections to Judaism were very apparent in many ways, how the scrolls influenced, paralleled and related to early Christianity was another matter. It is still a topic of intense discussion and debate in and out of the academy. Krister Stendahl (who I had the honour to meet several years ago at an AAR conference) is an acknowledged expert in New Testament and Christian studies, having an international reputation as an author and scholar. Using this reputation, he drew together a strong collection of scholars to contribute to this volume - while much as been written in furtherance of the topic, this volume still remains a standard, and a foundational work for the field (Charlesworth uses the appropriate word 'pioneering' in his description). Stendahl penned the opening chapter, setting the framework for the further discussions in the essays, which include philosophical, historical, linguistic and other matters. Stendahl cautions against hasty judgements that link the texts of the scrolls to the New Testament writings, or linking the Qumran and Essene communities to the early Christian communities. However, as the scrolls illuminate early Judaism, and in particular Judaism around the advent of the Christian era, the background this provides for a better understanding of Pauline and Johannine texts is unmistakable. The list of contributing scholars is impressive, and at the risk of giving just a boring list, I offer this list of the writers included: Raymond Brown, W. H. Brownlee, Oscar Cullman, W. D. Davies, Joseph Fitzmeyer, Nahum Glatzer, Sherman Johnson, Karl Georg Kuhn, Bo Reicke, Kurt Schubert, Krister Stendahl, and Ernest Vogt. Those familiar with biblical studies, New Testament studies and scroll scholarship are likely to recognise many of the names in this impressive list. It is truly an international collection of scholars, ecumenical and inter-faith in scope. This collection examines many aspects - personalities (John the Baptist, Hillel, Paul, etc.), rituals and practices (Lord's supper/communal meals, early ecclesiology, etc.), beliefs and doctrines (the Sermon on the Mount, spirit vs. flesh issues in different texts, etc.), as well as community identities. Most important aspects of New Testament scholarship are addressed in some way in these essays. The book concludes with useful indexes of authors, passages, notes, and a selected bibliography of relevant texts for further reading, arranged topically. This is a great book for anyone interested in the scrolls and New Testament origins and connections.