Semester 1, 2017 th 9 11th February 2017 10.00am-6.00pm daily (6 hours of lectures excluding coffee breaks and lunches) Course Instructor: Dr Benjamin Wold (3-credit hours elective for TEE/2-credit hours for BD/MDiv) Course Description: In the region of Judea during the Greek and Roman periods there was great discontent with religious leaders and institutions, corrupt politics, disparity between rich and poor, and strife and hardships were part of daily life. Among reactions to this situation were two popular teachers: a priest now known only by his nickname, the Teacher of Righteousness, and Jesus of Nazareth. Although these two figures and their groups never met, their religious thought worlds, patterns of thinking, and fierce unhappiness with the status quo are remarkably similar. The Dead Sea Scrolls preserve literature that reflects the religious and theological world of the Teacher of Righteousness, as the New Testament expresses that of Jesus and his followers. The aim of this course is to introduce students to the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the study of the Bible. Topics to be covered: Introduction to the discovery of the Scrolls The Archaeology of Qumran The significance of the DSS for the study of OT and NT The development of Jewish groups from the second cent. BC to second cent. AD Messianic Ideas in the DSS Biblical interpretation in the DSS Course Textbooks (see fuller bibliography further below): Magness, Jody., The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002). Collins, John J., The Sceptre and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature (New York/London: DoubleDay, 1995). Methods of Assessment: 1) Write a research paper of approximately 2,500 words on ONE of the following topics (60%):
1. Assess the ways Scripture is interpreted in the Dead Sea
Scrolls and how this has influenced our understanding of the use of Scripture in the New Testament. 2. Evaluate figures presented as Messiah in the Dead Sea Scrolls and discuss continuities and discontinuities with the portrayal of Jesus as Christ in the Gospels. 3. Was Qumran inhabited by Essenes and why does it, or does it not, matter for the study of Christian Origins? 4. Do the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gospels share a common aetiology of demonic beings? 5. Compare and contrast the Teacher of Righteousness and Jesus of Nazareth. 6. Discuss the role the discovery of the Scrolls has playe in conversations related to the New Perspective on Paul. 2) Write a critical review of ONE of the following books (approximately 1,500-2000 words) (20%) 1. Magness, Jody., The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002). 2. Collins, John J., The Sceptre and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature (New York/London: DoubleDay, 1995). 3) Write a reflection paper on how by understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls could aid you in the understanding the NT/OT and how this could be used in your preaching/teaching ministry in your ministerial context. Give specific examples in your reflection. (approximately 2,000 words) (20%) Deadline for submission of all papers: 12th May 2017 (Friday), 4.00pm Bibliography Allegro, J.M. The People of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1958). Allegro, J.M. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth (Newton Abbot: Westbridge Books, 1979) Baigent, M. and Leigh, R. The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception (London: Cape, 1991). Baumgarten, J., Who Cares and Why Does It Matter? Qumran and the Essenes, Once Again! Dead Sea Discoveries 11 (2004): 174-190. Betz, O. and Riesner, R. Jesus, Qumran and the Vatican (London: SCM Press, 1994).
Black, M. The Scrolls and Christian Origins (New York: Scribner,
1961). Black, M. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Doctrine (London: Athlone Press, 1966). Black, M. The Scrolls and Christianity (London: SPCK, 1969). Boccaccini, G., Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 1998). Brooke, G. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament (London: SPCK, 2005). Campbell, Jonathan G. Deciphering the Dead Sea Scrolls, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996, 2002). Charlesworth, J.H. (ed.), The Messiah (Mineapolis: Fortress Press, 1992). Coloe, Mary L. and Thatcher, Tom (eds.), John, Qumran, and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Sixty Years of Discovery and Debate (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011). Collins, John J., The Sceptre and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature (New York/London: DoubleDay, 1995). Collins, John J., Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls (New York/London: Routledge, 1997). Collins, John J., The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984). Collins, John J. Scriptures and Sectarianism, WUNT 332 (Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014). Cross, F.M. Jr. The Ancient Library of Qumran (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995, 3rd ed., 1958, 1961). Dunn, J.D.G., The New Perspective on Paul, Revised Edition (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2008). Eisenman, R. and O. Wise, M.O. The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered (Shaftsbury, Maine: Element Books, 1992).
Eisenman, R. Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians and Qumran: a new
hypothesis of Qumran Origins (Leiden: Brill, 1983). Eisenman, R. James the Just in the Habakkuk Pesher (Leiden: Brill, 1986). Eisenman, R. James the brother of Jesus: the key to unlocking the secrets of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: Viking Press, 1997). Fitzmyer, J. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Origins (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000). Golb, N. Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? (New York: Scribner, 1995). Harrington, Daniel J. Wisdom Tests from Qumran. (London/New York: Routledge, 1996). Lim, Timothy H. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: OUP, 2006). Lim, Timothy H. & Collins, John J. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford: OUP, 2010). Magness, Jody, The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002). Milik, J.T. Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judaea (London: SCM Press, 1959). Rowley, H.H. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament (London: SPCK, 1957). Schiffman, L.H. Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1994). Schiffman, L.H. & VanderKam, J.C. (eds.), The Dead Sea Scrolls Encyclopedia, 2 vols. (Oxford: OUP, 2000). Stuckenbruck, L.T. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, in Qumran and the Bible: Studying the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (eds. N. David & A Lange; Leuven: Peeters, 2010) 131-70. Ulrich, E. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999).
VanderKam, J.C. The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1994). VanderKam, J.C. JCVKs monograph on the Calendar at Qumran (London: Routledge, 1998). VanderKam, J. & Fint, P. (eds.) The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment, vol. 2 (Leiden: Brill, 1999/2002). VanderKam, J. & Flint, P., The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance for Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus and Christianity (New York: Harper Collins, 2002).