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Dead Sea Scrolls - Mormon View

Has anyone done critical research on the Dead Sea scrolls? I have a few talk tapes about  what was a group of people that lived during the time between Malachi and the New Testament who used to participate in many of the ordinances we conduct in the temple. Does anyone know where these scrolls are and if the church has made any effort to translate them?

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If those are the same talk tapes I have then I know what you are talking about. I think it would be good to do some research in this area as it gave some insight into how close we are to the Truth, but I do not have the time at the moment. Maybe someone else can take up the challenge?

Dead Sea Scrolls - Mormon View Studies Doctrine Mormon

LDS Perspective about Dead Sea scrolls

by Robert A. Cloward

Like many Jews and like other Christians, Latter-day Saints were deeply interested in the announcement that ancient manuscripts from New Testament times were discovered in Palestine in 1947. Initial zeal led to some superficial treatments, sensationalism, and misunderstandings. But in the decades since the initial finds, Latter-day Saints who have followed the more careful analyses have come to appreciate several contributions of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including insights into the literary and sectarian diversity of Judaism at the time of Jesus, new evidence relating to the history and preservation of the biblical text, advances in the science of dating Hebrew and Aramaic documents based on changing styles of script, and valuable additions to the corpus of Jewish texts and text genres.

Certain aspects of the scrolls have particularly interested Latter-day Saints. For example, the Essenes of Qumran accepted the concepts of continuing revelation and open canon much as Latter-day Saints do, in contrast to the current teaching of most Christians and Jews. Qumran commentaries on the books of Habakkuk, Nahum, and other prophets from the Old Testament contain new Essene prophetic interpretations of world events of the last days, and the Qumran Temple Scroll claims to be a direct revelation to Moses. Similarly, Latter-day Saints believe that the Bible does not contain all of God's word, but that he has revealed his will to prophets in the Book of Mormon and to Joseph Smith, and he continues to reveal new truths to modern prophets.

Latter-day Saints point out that the Bible does not require or demand its own uniqueness. Now the Qumran library has shown that some of the most pious and observant Jews around the time of Christ consulted not only extrabiblical texts but also a variety of differing texts of the biblical books. For the Essenes, the sacredness of scripture did not impose a fixed or standard text. For example, their library contains several versions of the book of Isaiah, with minor differences in wording. They used both long and short versions of Jeremiah. They had varying collections of the Psalms. This open-mindedness about scriptural words and editions is similar to LDS views (see, for example, various LDS accounts of the creation). The Dead Sea Scrolls provide evidence that the successive theological concepts of (1) an authoritative text, (2) a fixed text, and ultimately (3) an inerrant text originated with Pharisaic or rabbinic Judaism.

Some people have made much of comparisons between Essene practices and those of the New Testament church, or between both of these and elements of Mormonism. For example, Essene cleansing rituals are in some ways similar to New Testament baptisms, and Essene ritual meals can be interpreted as sacramental. Some see the Christian idea of conversion in the Essene doctrine that an individual is elected to the community by deliberate choice and initiation rather than by birth and infant circumcision. Some relate the Essene communal council, with its twelve men and three priests, to Jesus' calling of twelve apostles and favoring among them Peter, James, and John, or to the Latter-day Saint organization with twelve apostles and a three-member First Presidency. The role of New Testament or modern LDS bishops seems to correspond to many of the functions of the Qumranic maskil, or "guardian."

For Latter-day Saints, the emergence of such parallels is not surprising. The covenants of the Old and New Testaments are more alike than different (see Dispensations of the Gospel). They proceed from the same God. However, the similarities are counterbalanced by radical differences between Essene practices and the teachings of Jesus Christ, of Paul, or of the Church in modern times. Notably, the Essenes taught their adherents to hate their enemies. Their sect was strict and exclusive. Their ideas of ritual cleanness effectively barred women from the temple and from the temple city of Jerusalem. Such Essene doctrines are opposite to later Christian and LDS teachings. Similarities between Essenism and Christian or LDS concepts should therefore be explained as a dispersion of ideas among groups that share ancient connections rather than as evidences of more intrinsic relationships.

Much is still to be learned from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Many fragments and some scrolls remain unpublished or are not yet fully understood. Much light may yet be shed on ancient Jewish worship patterns, apocalyptic literature, angelology, and sectarianism beyond what is available in biblical accounts.

https://ldsfaq.byu.edu/emmain.asp?number=61

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I wish I cound be there...

By the way, there is a talk tape that has Don J. Blackman speaking and he covers a lot of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls - 'Hand to Hand Combat with Satan'. I also once had the two Dead Sea Scroll tapes, but I think I gave it away.

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Wow that would be great to go see! I'm not that far away, but I'm working weekends now through April. I wonder how long the exhibit will be there? Hmmm... I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the heads up, JB

Roz

Dead Sea Scrolls - Mormon View

No problem Farseer, if you do go please be our reporter and tell us all that you see. I am especially interested in the current translations of the text most considered accurate. I understand that a lot of it talks about ordinances we perform now, especially an incident where Christ and Peter discuss baptism for the dead quite openly. Thanks!

Dead Sea Scrolls Mormon View

DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBIT TRAVELS ACROSS EUROPE
See https://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,...-3019-6,00.html

Brigham Young University's Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon
Studies (FARMS) is sponsoring a traveling exhibit on the findings and
importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which has proven to be an effective
missionary tool in Europe. The exhibit has helped strengthen relations with
leaders and dignitaries in European countries and allowed Church members to
share their beliefs with those of other faiths.

Dead Sea Scrolls Mormon View Mormon Doctrine Studies

Shortly after the translation the Dead Sea scrolls, The Christian Scientists really didn't want any thing to do with them because it had Jewish elements in it. Like wise the Jews didn't want anything to do with them because the had Christian elements. BYU is leading in the research and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I have an older copy and I was simply amazed at the doctrine and how close it is to our own beliefs. I recommend every Latter-Day Saints should read the Dead Sea Scrolls and try and find the truths that are in them.