Keywords

Dead Sea Scrolls, Early Christianity, New Testament

Abstract

Since their initial discovery in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls have generated a great deal ofinterest, ranging from responsible scholarly inquiry to public sensationalism.1 During the years 1947–1956, local Bedouin and eventually archaeologists found scrolls and primarily scroll fragments (many thousands of them) in eleven caves proximate to the small archaeological site of Qumran, near the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. Stories of the initial discovery of major scrolls by Bedouin cousins in what is now called Qumran Cave 1 vary in certain details and have been often recounted, as have stories about the intrigue involved in the authentication of the scrolls and the Israeli acquisition of most of them. Therefore, these accounts are not repeated here.2

Original Publication Citation

“The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament,” in New Testament History, Culture, and Society: A Background to the Texts of the New Testament, ed. by Lincoln H. Blumell (Provo and Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book, 2019), 109-121.