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Re: orion Several
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At 10:33 AM 10/15/97 +0100, Fred wrote:
>Stevenīs notion that the Scrolls were produced by "people taking an oath"
>and that they were accordingly important to them is but a further example
>of circular logic based on a premise accepted only by some Qumranologists.
>Actually, of course, it could be mentioned that Deut was the most popular
>of the Torah scrolls, with a minimum of 29 exemplars in Qumran. Chapter 27
>of Deuteronomy has all of Israel swearing an oath to abide by the
>provisions of the Torah, and the Song of Moses even has heaven and earth as
>witnesses to Israelīs commitment to the covenant. So no doubt all Jews
>regarded the scrolls as fairly important...without needing to invoke any
>"sectarian" hypotheses.
>
>
>Fred Cryer
>
>
It is the last sentences which are particularly important to me. WIth the
help and insight of Dave Washburn we have been kicking around the idea that
the authors of the Qumran texts are actually interested in what might almost
be termed a "revival" intended to return "all-Israel" to its religious
roots. Therefore the scrolls are not "sectarian" at all but "pan-Israelite".
(p.s.- a note on an earlier comment by Fred: not all Americans are
uninterested in theoretical issues).
Jim
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Jim West
Adjunct Professor of Bible,
Quartz Hill School of Theology
jwest@highland.net