The Dead Sea Scrolls

Today, Kris reflects on the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls by a Bedouin shepherd boy searching for a lost sheep in 1947. They were found stored in sealed earthenware jars in caves near Wadi Qumran, the historic site of a strict Jewish fundamentalist community - "Men of the Light", sectarian, male-dominated. Written between 200 and 80 BCE, multiple copies of these restored scrolls of the Jewish Tanakh, allowed comparisons with the scriptures of the Old Testaments and the Tanakh, today. The corroborative relevance of these scrolls to our Judeo-Christian heritage makes them, arguably - the most significant archaeological discovery of the 20th Century. Over a third of the scrolls were not scriptural in nature. They included Essene community rules, astrological calendars, hymns, psalms, apocalyptic and apocryphal (non-canonical) biblical works, and a giant "jigsaw puzzle" of scroll fragments to be pieced together. Some scrolls were written in code. While no New Testament gospels were found in the caves, Kris points to contextual links with the New Testament such as an early "forerunner" to The Beatitudes that Richard read to us today, from the Dead Sea Scrolls. These may have influenced Jesus' Beatitudes, in the "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5:3-12) or the "Sermon on the Plain" (Luke 6:20-38) - so beloved by Christians and many Unitarians today. Kris also refers to other New Testament comparisons with the Dead Sea Scrolls. One scroll - made of copper, purports to describe the location of a vast cache of buried bullion - gold and silver, as yet undiscovered! Or was it a spiritual treasure to be found by those who searched? Listen on for more of Kris's reflections on the significance and relevance of these "Dead Sea Scrolls". They have inspired more than a film of two!