Qumran explanation

**Saxon wårolord** · November 18, 2009, 02:38 PM

No one has made a topic about the Qumran manuscripts.....until now!

All you want to know: Just ask!

**~~removeduser_487563287433~~** · November 18, 2009, 02:44 PM

What the

are the crumbum manuscripts?

**KingDave** · November 18, 2009, 02:44 PM

Well this is awkward... no one really cares...

Close thread.

**Saxon wårolord** · November 18, 2009, 02:54 PM

Some do, these manuscripts inform us about Jesus' family.

**Bovril** · November 18, 2009, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by Saxon wårolord

Some do, these manuscripts inform us about Jesus' family.

I've not heard this one. What do they tell us about Jesus' family?

edit: with ref to the below post: Ah, if he's confused the two that would explain it. I was hoping for some bizare reading of the Qumran texts with reference to Jesus' family. Looks like I'll miss out on some good old fasioned crazy.

**~~removeduser_487563287433~~** · November 18, 2009, 03:09 PM

And their relevence?

**~~Ummon~~** · November 18, 2009, 03:35 PM

Thomas 30 Jesus said: "Where there are [three, they are not] without God, and when there is one alone, [I say,] I am with him.

Mt 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

**cfmonkey45** · November 18, 2009, 05:24 PM

The Qumran Manuscripts are the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were found in the caves of Qumran, which overlook the Dead Sea. They are unique in that they are roughly First Century manuscripts of the Jewish Old Testament. The largest and most intact of these yet found. They also contain a vast number of Old Testament literature, writings, hymns, temple records, and priestly thoughts.

There are two main theories on who occupied this location, as it also is among a complex of structures dating from the first and second centuries BC up to the second century AD, just prior to the Bar Kokhba revolt. First, the Essenes, an apocalyptic sect of Jews who believed that the end was imminent. This is believed due to the fact that the region was secluded and thus provided a sanctuary for the popular, yet radical sect. The other theory is that it was the abode of Hasmonean priests. This is believed due to the quality and vast quantity (over 900 scrolls) found there. There is also a very partially excavated cemetery; so far 1,000 bodies have been excavated, but law and cultural norms forbid extensive excavation.

However, I think Saxon Warlord is confusing this with the Nag Hammadi Library, which was a library of Gnostic texts unearthed in Egypt in the 1950s. Christian sources typically don't go into the nature of Jesus' family or his childhood, whereas the Gnostics do in an effort to prove that he adhered to their esoteric beliefs. They are usually written pseudographically under the names of known apostles, from Thomas, to James, to even Judas, with the latter implying that he was fulfilling God's work.