Posted on 08/26/2008 9:56:35 AM PDT by Alouette
Two of the most memorable moments in my faith life : 1) Climbing the cliffs of Qumran in June 2006, and 2) Taking my sons to see the Scrolls exhibited in San Diego in July 2007. /vanity
I can think of many things, if not "more" important, equally so.
Ancient texts on the sciences, philosophy and law, which are squirreled away in private "State" collections come to mind: The Book of Tells, for example, or the Diaries of Christopher Columbus. The private library of the family of The Seventh Duke of Medina Sidonia, the leader of the Spanish Armada is just a further example of what comes readily to mind.
In addition, there is a wealth of ancient cartography which may never be seen by most of humanity, when they can all easily and readily be shared forever with today's technology.
"Most important" is not only profoundly subjective, but arguably so. Makes no sense to belabor the obvious.
Of course the feasts that were removed were the ones strictly for the nation of Israel under the Law Covenant. That law was fulfilled with Christ, and so Christians are under no obligation to keep those feasts.
Emperor Constantine, Emperor of the Roman Empire He had issued an Edict making Sunday the day of rest In 321 CE, while a Pagan sun-worshiper, the Emperor Constantine
They ruled: "Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day."
This is the Decree from the first Pontiff of the Roman church to all the world.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach Adonai
declared that Sunday was to be a day of rest throughout the Roman Empire: "On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest,
Council of Laodicea circa 364 CE ordered that religious observances were
and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture
may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day
is not suitable for gain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment
for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost."
to be conducted on Sunday, not Saturday. Sunday became the new Sabbath.
I truly hope that you mean "translations", not interpretations; therein is where all mischief lies: interpretation can be innocent or profoundly evil, depending on the perspective.
Take the Hadith, as the most currently important evil example...
As for translations, there are many, among which is The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, by Geza Vermes, Allen Lane, the Penguin Press, 1997, ISBN 0-7139-9131-3
Thanks for the ping, though I prefer the Massoretic texts.
When will we get the interpretation of the scrolls? I am no Hebrew scholar. Photos of the scrolls, no matter what quality, would not help me.
It's my recollection that there was an announcement that when the scrolls were found and the research into their contents was organized, the scrolls were divvied up among scholars who were expected to publish their findings. The trouble turned out to be that the work of putting together all the bits and fragments and interpreting the scrolls turned out to be an order of magnitude more of a project than originally assumed - so instead of getting the results after a few years we have scholars spending their professional lifetimes and still not being ready to publish.
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Thanks Alouette. |
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Interesting!
Having texts so much older than the masoric texts (and so similiar) is profoundly significant evidence of the textural continuity.
Indeed, given that the texts where there are differences come from Cave 4 -— where they were not in glass jars — indicates to me that Cave 4 was the dumping ground for the “iffy” texts.
Thanks for this info. I was in San Diego last December and got to see a small portion of the scrolls that were on display at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
.....what was the real hold up on this....
money?
Indeed, given that the texts where there are differences come from Cave 4 -— where they were not in glass jars — indicates to me that Cave 4 was the dumping ground for the “iffy” texts.
Considering that the purest form of the Word of G-d is the kosher Torah Scroll, and that they are all inevitably victims of organic decay, the simple fact that they have been copied correctly for three thousand years is sufficient.
I have a serious karaite streak in me; doubt scribes all the time.
Faith is obviously essential; faith plus knowledge (what is here) is even stronger (or easier, depending on your perspective).
Without scribes and the authentic scribal tradition, there would be no written Bible.
Every Bible has either had to be written or printed on a printing press (within the last five and a half centuries).
Sure, but to effectively eliminate the concern that scribes made errors or cumulative errors over 2,500 years is a good thing.
My understanding was that the previous extant manuscript of Ezekiel was dated circa 860AD, while the Dead Sea Scroll copy of Ezekiel was dated to about 150AD, nearly a millennium older, hence its significance.
The earliest records of the documents are around 150 to 200 BC.
Of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes, I prefer the latter.
Wonder if muslims will link a few letters together and magically reveal the words “allah” and “mohammad” secretly coded?
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