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Note that this says nothing about the Dead Sea Scrolls in general, which are absolutely real, and mostly in the custody of the State of Israel: https://en.m.wik
by nardi 7y ago
Note that this says nothing about the Dead Sea Scrolls in general, which are absolutely real, and mostly in the custody of the State of Israel: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls
- inglor 7y agoYeah, as an Israeli I saw this and was shocked since the Israel museum's collection is a pretty big deal here and a family member helped excavate the dead sea site and wrote a book above it (he has since passed) but forgery seemed very unlikely.
- joshspankit 7y agoI don’t keep up on what apparently seems to be issues with the museum, but this was what drew my eye: if all dead sea scrolls were forgeries that would shake the foundation of [Abrahamic] theology.
- analog31 7y agoI doubt it. The stories would persist even if one set of written copies were cast into doubt. They have been more or less in their present-day form since long before the dead sea scrolls were discovered. That span of time and space has attracted hucksters and forgers for centuries, and theology has carried on.
- joshspankit 7y agoNo, I think you’re right. After your comment I did some research and I had grossly overestimated the importance of the dead sea scrolls. I had no idea the silver scrolls existed until a couple hours ago.
- atombender 7y agoNo, that wouldn't be so. The Dead Sea Scrolls refer specifically to those found in the Qumran caves, believed to be the writings of one particular enclave of Jewish settlers near the Dead Sea. They're not foundational texts by any means, as I understand them. They add detail to existing texts — some of the fragments are clearly different versions of well-known texts — and add to our understanding of Jewish culture in Palestine at the time. It's true that they're some of the oldest texts we have from the Old Testament.
- joshspankit 7y agoThank you, it seems I need to clean up my knowledge around the dead sea scrolls! I had thought that they were the only record of the bible being that old, but that’s from a Christian upbringing, not scholarly research. I appreciate your taking the time to share the info, as well as extending the kindness in the last sentence.