FTR-RSMAR102 In-Class Presentation

• Godsdienst
• WO
• Studiejaar 1

In-Class Presentation

Radboud University

 2021-2022

Scribes and Scrolls at Qumran FTR-RSMAR102

Kevin Sven Reuter

Masters Student

Studentnumber: S1071403

Instructor: Dr. E. Chia

My goal for today

First time doing a research like this. 

Failed my proposal, wanted to use this opportunity as a last check-up. 

Aiming to deliver good work. 

By your knowledge: Is there evidence for John the Baptist not being at Qumran?

No, for me it was clear John the Baptist was at Qumran

No, I think some evidence should be looked more into

I really don't know, let's find out!

Yes ,there's no evidence I know that he wasn't.

Yes , the evendence speaks for itself

Topic

John the Baptist at Qumran; investigating a link between the Damascus document and Early Christianity.

Thesis

Was John the Baptist at Qumran? If John would be at Qumran evidence will not be found in things like personal belongings, but have to be found in writings. Writings capture the idea's of the people living at Qumran and also captured the idea's of John the Baptist. 

Eisenman sees such a link in the Damascus Document. This is debated and could be looked more into. 

Methods of the paper

Started investigating one side of the debate (Robert Eisenman). Looking at reactions on his work. 

Reading other papers on this topic and looking at the evidence Robert Eisenman himself saw. 

> So mainly comparing evidence.

Tentative Conclusion

• An actual historical connection between John the Baptist and the Qumran Community is and remains a hypothesis.
  
• The Qumran and Johannine communities are no longer seen as requiring firsthand contact. 
  
• This finding cast a light on the situation from which the Christian and Johannine movement emerged. And identifies it as authentically jewish.
  
• Eisenman probably isn't right, parallels may be strong. But how to identify those parallels? We leave with more questions than questions answered...
  

Example

Why Relevant?

Proposed Christian roots in Jewish work or...

 aiming to show some insight on the Judean roost of Christianity. 

Sources

Primary	Secondary
Damascus Document: (Dutch Translation) 4Q266 4Q267 4Q268 4Q269 4Q270 4Q271 4Q272 4Q273 5Q12 6Q15	Coloe, Mary L. John, Qumran, and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Sixty Years of Discovery and Debate. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2011.
	Eisenman, Robert. 1994. “Theory of Judeo-Christian Origins : The Last Column of the Damascus Document.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 722 (1): 355–70.
	John A. T. Robinson. “The Baptism of John and the Qumran Community: Testing a Hypothesis.” The Harvard Theological Review 50, no. 3 (1957): 175–91.
	Mowry, Lucetta. “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Background for the Gospel of John.” The Biblical Archaeologist 17, no. 4 (1954): 78–97.

Any questions?(may be answered in Dutch)

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