What the scrolls teach

Christian Century, June 12, 2007

WHAT THE SCROLLS TEACH: It's been 60 years since the Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered by an Arab sheepherder. To mark this anniversary, Biblical Archaeology Review (May/June) launched a series of articles in which scholars recount how working on the scrolls changed their lives and what the significance of this discovery has been.

Frank Moore Cross, one of the original members of the scroll publication team, says the scrolls have helped us learn about "apocalyptic Judaism," and the fact that there was "a thriving bunch of apocalypticists and their followers" at the time when Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism emerged. Sidnie White Crawford, a younger scholar, says that we now know that both the biblical text and the biblical canon were much more fluid during the period of Second Temple Judaism than was previously thought. In a humorous vein, Martin Abegg, an American based in western Canada, says that when he traveled to Seattle to talk about the scrolls, a U.S. customs official asked him the purpose of the visit. When he mentioned the Dead Sea Scrolls, she asked: "Oh, and what kind of band is that?"