Hidden Scrolls

by Neil Silberman

Tells the story of those responsible for the composition of the Dead Sea scrolls, discusses their historical significance & explains why they've been hidden from public view for 50 years.PrefaceA Way in the wildernessDiscovery at QumranThe Inner circleSecret messiahThe Treasure Sons of light, sons of darkness The Final battleJudgement dayBibliographical NotesSources ConsultedIndex

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Research, Christianity, History

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Mu-tien Chiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I filtered this book out from my reading list after browsing through, so that I admit that I did not read it form cover to cover.
But I left a review because I stumbled upon a 5-star review of this book in 2018 which, in my opinion, betrayed grave misinformation, caused apparently by this book’s ideological-driven, suspicious approach to history and historical scholarships.

There are many better alternatives published between 1997-2005, for which I am not withholding my appraisals in my reviews and other published writings that are not exclusively in English. This one is not even close in term of academic rigor and robustness.

I am specifically correcting some historical presentations
Many scroll manuscripts clearly dated before 63BC when Romans conquered Palestine. And there was a half century’s time, up to to 6AD, when Judea, Perea, and Samaria were governed by a local vassal monarchy, called the Herodic dynasty. The Herodians and the Essenes were in amicable accord, not least seen in the fabled account of Menahem the Essenes and young Herod. The Qumran Essenes opposed foremost the Hasmonean government. Among their most treasured scrolls, only 1QHab and a revised version of War Scroll showed knowledge of history that was after 63 BC. The scribal activity dropped significantly after the earthquake in 31 BC shattered the foundations of their camp. After its resumption three decades later, clear the new generation concentrated on copying and preserving rather than recording original and newly received revelations.

Unless Christianity was completely reinvented after 70 AD, which was highly improbable due to the presence of at least four authentic Pauline epistles that reflected a historical Christianity around the 50s AD, we must see that both the earliest Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity exhibited a strong aversion to radical Zionism and political messianism after two disastrous wars. If we are being academically honest, instead of being driven by an anti-antisemitism agenda, it is clear that Christian writings in the second century and beyond (as all four canonical gospels in the present, survived form are) preserved much more political zeals and apocalyptic orientations ad motifs, than their Jewish counterparts, albeit highly spiritualized and nonviolent in character.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am curious why there are as yet no reviews of this book. This is one of the best books I have ever read. This book details what happened with the greatly delayed publication of the Dead Sea scrolls--who had the fragments and what they were doing with them, and how the academic monopoly a few had over the scrolls got busted. It also discusses simply and clearly the way that Christian scholars have interpreted the contents of the scrolls to support a particular notion of history at the time of the Hasmoneans, Jesus, and the Zealots. If you remove the Christian preconceptions from a reading of the scrolls, it becomes clear that the religious, Jewish sect at Qumran moved to the desert not because they were critical of "evil Jews" but were Jews radically opposed to Roman rule after Rome took over the Temple in Jerusalem and that it was from that group of Jews that Christianity was born and that Christianity in its inception was a radical, zealous, political movement opposed to oppression not by the Jews but OF the Jews by the mighty Roman Empire. That message was taken by the Romans, and twisted around and turned viciously on the Jews who had authored it for fear that Jewish radicalism would spread throughout the Empire and destabilize Roman rule. Christianity became a religion of compromise with the oppressor. That twisting is what has built to the anti-semitism we have seen in our times. I think this book should be widely read. If you read only one book on the Dead Sea Scrolls, this is it. It is simple, clear, and comprehensive. Silberman keeps to the important points, and is direct about what matters. It's a great book.