Research on Qumran, Early Christians, and Early Rabbinic Judaism
Although fundamentalists in religious life assert that the answers to all human problems are available in inerrant scriptural form, there is still the problem of interpretation. From the beginning, differing stories, differing translations, and differing interpretations of scripture have led to the development of separate communities and sects within communities. The intent in this essay is to look at three separate groups the Qumran community, the Early Christians and Early Rabbinic Judaism exploring their major beliefs and their use of canonical scripture.
Although the community at Qumran was an important one during its time, it was not recovered historically until 1947 when Bedouin shepherds located the Dead Sea Scrolls in caves in the cliffs of the Wadi Qumran. Although there were a number of partial scrolls, there were only about a dozen full, intact scrolls for scholars to work with. Still, they were able to reconstruct quite a bit about what this Jewish sect utilized for worship and guidelines.
Beliefs. This sect and community reached its high point during the first century C.E., and was also destroyed during that time, with the community eliminated by the Romans in approximately 68 C.E. There are similarities between this sect and the early movement that developed around the figure of Jesus. Both were identified as righteous, and as important teachers. They were charismatic figures who gathered a number of followers who were obedient to their teachings. They were both also part of the apocalyptic stream of Judaism after the foreclosure of the prophetic tradition.
However, the leader of this sect did not state that he himself was the messiah who was to be sent. Instead, he seems more similar to a John the Baptist figure, identifying himself as a precursor to the messiah, or the gardener who came before. In addition, there is indication...