Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Unlocking the Jewish Roots of Christianity

Bergsma (Stunned by Scripture), theology professor at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, provides an accessible introduction to parallels between the Essenes (an ancient Jewish community) and Christian doctrine. In chapters looking at the Dead Sea Scrolls—remnants of the Essenes’ library at Qumran—Bergsma explores topics such as marriage and celibacy, and the timing of the Last Supper. His observations buttress the uncontroversial view that the scrolls shed light on “the time period of Jesus and the early growth of the Church.” As he summarizes: “In structure, liturgy, and theology, the Essenes and early Christians were remarkably similar, but they diverged sharply” on some major things, such as Christ’s divinity. The work’s biggest weakness is in speculating beyond what is provable according to current scholarship. Bergsma contends that it’s significant that more copies of the Book of Tobit (which is not accepted as scripture by Jews or Protestants) were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls than the number of copies of canonical books. But his argument that the Essenes found that text inspiring ignores the fact that the Dead Sea Scrolls that have been recovered do not represent a complete record of the Essenes’ texts. Despite this, this is a handy entry point for readers unfamiliar with the Essenes or those interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls. (Sept.)