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From ralphw@thebox.rain.com Sun Jun 16 02:16:26 1991
From: ralphw@thebox.rain.com (Ralph Winston)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,talk.politics.mideast,alt.activism,soc.history,soc.misc
Subject: Whatever Happened to the Dead Sea Scrolls?  [part 1]
Date: 12 Jun 91 08:57:28 GMT
Organization: TheBox - Public Access Xenix


               *** Whatever Happened to the Dead Sea Scrolls? ***
 
                           By Martin A. Larson, Ph.D.
_____________________________________________________________________
 
     Dr. Martin A. Larson is the author of 25 books dealing with
religious history, church-state issues and taxation, and is also a
financial columnist. This text is taken from Dr. Larson's lecture at
the 1981 International Revisionist Conference, in Los Angeles. Dr.
Larson gave an update on the Scrolls at the 1987 Revisionist
Conference. There has been no change in the situation as described in
this pamphlet by Dr. Larson.
_____________________________________________________________________
 
     Let us first summarize some of the known facts concerning the Dead
Sea Scrolls and their authors, the religious organization known as the
Essenes, which existed in Judaea and the nearby desert from about 192
B.C. to the date of their extinction and destruction in 69 or 70 A.D.,
when the Roman armies marched through Palestine and finally destroyed
Jerusalem. Throughout its existence, the Essene sect was opposed to the
Jewish authorities. Although it accepted the Scriptures which
constitute the Old Testament, it revised, rewrote, or completely
reinterpreted them. Also, what is even more significant and important,
the Essenes gradually absorbed various elements from other sources,
such as Zoroastrianism and Pythagoreanism. As a result, they prepared
an entire corpus of original scripture which was not only a definite
departure from official Judaism, but in basic contradiction to, and a
repudiation of, this system of doctrine and ritual.
 
     By 143 B.C., as we learn from Josephus, three distinct groups had
been fully developed in the Jewish population: they were the Essenes,
the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, of whom the last represented the
wealthy, upper-class Jews, who had embraced Epicureanism as their
philosophy.
 
                           Original Cultic Scriptures
 
     During the period from 192 to 60 B.C., the Essenes produced a
great corpus of literature under the inspiration of leaders known from
generation to generation as The Teacher of Righteousness. He was also
called the Holy Great One, and was given other titles signifying
revelatory powers as direct conduits of messages from the Supreme God
of the Universe, who, by the way, was something quite different from
Jehovah, the tribal god of the Jews. Extremely interesting is the fact
that two very important documents - _The Book of Enoch_ and _The
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs _ were well known among the early
Christians and accepted by them as sacred literature of their own.
Scholars had no suspicion that these, although widely used in later
periods, were produced by the Essenes until the Scrolls were discovered
near the Dead Sea in 1947. Since hundreds of fragments of these
documents were found in the caves, it became obvious that they were
among the very important scriptures composed and used by the Essenes
themselves.
 
                          Persecution and Separation
 
     Whatever else we may consider as firmly established, it is certain
that under the reign of Hyrcanus, who was affiliated with the Pharisees
previous to 104 B.C., there was persistent persecution of the Essenes,
partly because of doctrinal deviations but perhaps even more because of
their condemnations of the Jewish authorities, who frequently invaded
neighboring territories and forced people there to accept Judaism and
circumcision on pain of persecution and even death. Thus it was that
about 104 B.C., as we learn from Josephus, the Essenes became an
esoteric mystery-cult with its own communes, its own code of laws,
discipline, and organization, which included a total withdrawal and
separation from all public activity. As a result, it became the
depository of total religious comitment, living in expectation of the
day, not very far in the future, when an all-powerful divine personage
would appear, send all of their Jewish persecutors into everlasting
torture in hellish dungeons under the surface of the earth, and
establish the kingdom of the saints, (the Sons of Light) with its
capital in Jerusalem.
 
     Under Alexander Jannaeus, who ruled from 103-78 B.C., this
hostility and persecution intensified. The Essene documents written
during this period are filled with the fiercest denunciations of the
Jewish priests and authorities, who not only raided the communes of the
Holy Ones and decimated their membership, but were also guilty of
constant acts of aggression against their innocent and unoffending
neighbors. The documents in our posession which contain this material
are _The Habakkuk Commentary_, Parts IV and V of the _Book of Enoch_,
and various statements found in _The Testaments of the Twelve
Patriarchs_, the original portions of which were composed while
Hyrcanus was king.
 
     The Essenes became a secret brotherhood in 104 in order to avoid
total extermination; in spite of this, however, their persecution
continued; with their members under solemn vows of secrecy, their
organization survived and, in time, grew, especially under the
comparatively mild regimen which followed the conquest of Judaea by
Pompey in 64.
 
                  The Execution and Deification of the Teacher
 
     The climactic event in Essene history occurred in 70 or 69 B.C. At
that time, the Teacher of Righteousness - that is, the Essene leader -
went boldy into Jerusalem and there, in the very temple itself, he
proclaimed and condemned the lawless corruption and aggressions of the
priests and authorities who ruled in Israel. He was therefore seized
and executed, by what means is not certain, but some scholars believe
that he was crucified.
 
     Shortly thereafter, the persuasion developed among his followers -
until it became actual dogma - that he was the Most High God of the
Universe Himself who had appeared for a time as a man among men; that
he died a sacrifical death for the redemption of sinners; that he had
risen from the grave on the third day; that he had returned to his
throne in heaven; and that, before the end of the then existing
generation, he would send a representative to the earth.
 
                        The Essene Revelations Completed
 
     Except for a few original documents written after 69 B.C., and the
final interpolations added to _The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs_
at the same time, the cult seems at this point to have considered its
corpus of literature and revelation complete. The members studied their
scriptures in the various communes scattered about Palestine.
 
                           The Secret Esoteric Order
 
     Between 60 B.C. and 69 A.D., the communes, which increased to
4,000 male members, continued with little alteration, while awaiting
the coming of the Redeemer. However, as the Romans subjugated Galilee
on their southward march toward Jerusalem, they came across various
Essene communes and, suspecting the cultists of being a secret and
conspiratorial society planning the overthrow of Roman rule, tortured
members under interrogation to reveal their secret doctrines. However,
as Josephus tells us, they died, smiling, rather than violate their
sacred oaths to never, no never, reveal their beliefs to anyone, no
matter what the provocation might be.
 
                              Secreting the Scrolls
 
     Then an extraordinary event occurred. As the Romans approached the
Dead Sea headquarters at Qumran, the Essenes placed their sacred
writings in hundreds of earthen jars, sealed them carefully, and
secreted them in various caves located in the rugged terrain. We
believe that they expected to return in the not-too-distant future to
resume their long-practiced way of life. But, of course, they never
did.
 
                              Was Jesus an Essene?
 
     The existence of the Essene cult has long been known from the
extensive references to, and descriptions of, them in Josephus, Pliny,
and Philo Judaeus. Interestingly enough, Thomas De Quincey, a famous
English essayist, declared about 1825 that there never was a separate
Essene organization; that the so-called Essenes were simply Christians
gone underground; that otherwise we would have to accept the
blasphemous conclusion that there were two independent, yet almost
identical, revelations at the same time and in the same place.
 
     There are scholars who believe that Jesus had been a full-fledged
member of the Order; that he was persuaded that He was the personage
foretold in their scriptures who would be empowered to establish the
Kingdom of Righteousness, and that, therefore, he broke his vow of
secrecy and preached the doctrines of the Order in the highways and
byways of Galilee. Some scholars are also convinced that not only John
the Baptist but also the original core of men who established
Christianity had been members of the Order. Some believe in addition
that when their communes and headquarters were destroyed by the Romans,
many of the Essenes became an integral and decisive element in the
formation of the Christian movement. There was, in particular, one
segment known as the Ebionites, or the Poor Men, who recreated in
detail in their own literature, the doctrines, teachings, and
discipline of the Essene communities. Actually, the three Synoptic
Gospels, and especially Luke, are studded with statements in complete
harmony with the cultic teachings, as is the so-called Sermon on the
Mount, found in Matthew. The more we study the Dead Sea Scrolls and the
early canonical Christian Scriptures, the more striking are the
parallels which become evident. We have alredy noted that two important
Essene documents were widely accepted by the early Christian converts
as genuine scriptures of their own. Perhaps these converts had
previously been Essenes.
 
                               The Great Discovery
 
     In 1947, an event of world-shaking significance occured. An Arab
shepherd-boy, following a stray goat, entered an aperture on the side
of a cliff and stumbled into a cave where the Essenes had secreted a
number of jars containing Scrolls. However, few of these were intact;
most had been broken, and their contents scattered about the floor,
much of the material torn into shreds. Obviously, the caves had been
invaded, perhaps several times, with damage which cannot easily be
assessed. After the Arabs had recovered two virtually complete
manuscripts of _Isaiah_, a copy of the _Manual of Discipline_, _The
Thanksgiving Psalms_, _The Habakkuk Commentary_, the _Damascus
Document_, and the _War_ Scroll, they sold these to a group in New
York; and, in a short time, they were made available to the world in
translations by Millar Burrows, Dupont-Sommer, Gaza Vermes, and
Theodore Gaster.
 
                          Many More Scrolls Discovered
 
     Then began an archeological search without parallel in religious
history. One expedition after another went to the Dead Sea area in
search of more Scrolls. One team was headed by Millar Burrows, who
states in his _Dead Sea Scrolls_ that material sufficient to fill three
large volumes was found in a single cave, cave four, in which
two-thirds was original Essene scripture and the remainder consisted of
Jewish canonical books. After these were placed in the Jordanian Museum
in Jerusalem, an international team of eight scholars was selected to
collect, piece together, and prepare for publication this incomparable
treasure of source material; of these, four were Roman Catholics; three
had Protestant affiliations; and only one, John Marco Allegro, was
without personal religious commitment. Without much delay, Allegro
translated and published everything committed to him, including the
delicate _Copper Scroll_, which listed precious metals and jewels worth
millions of dollars secreted somewhere in the desert - where they still
remain. However, after he declared in an interview that the Teacher of
Righteousness may have been crucified in 70 or 69 B.C., by the Jewish
authorities, he was thereafter denied all access to the Scrolls and was
not even permitted to visit the Jordanian Museum in which they were
kept. He complained bitterly that after years of delay not one line of
the Scrolls, in addition to his, were translated and published; and
this in spite of the fact that no less than 400 separate documents had
been pieced together by 1965 and could just as easily have been given
to the world, as were the four or five published shortly after the
original discovery.
 
     _The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs_ contained a great many
passages which had always been considered of Christian origin because
they depict a personage in many respects similar to, or almost
identical with, the character and mission attributed to Jesus in the
New Testament. However, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
this theory became untenable as fragments of the _Testaments_ written
nearly a century before the emergence of Christianity were found
scattered about the caves which contained the very statements which had
always been believed to be Christian interpolations.
 
                             The Fate of the Scrolls
 
     Over the years, until his death, I corresponded with Millar
Burrows, who had written a sympathetic review of my book, _The Essene
Heritage_, published in 1967. He refused to admit that there was any
attempt to delay or prevent the publication of the Scrolls. Once he
even declared that the Oxford Press was on the verge of releasing a
large volume of this material; but the publishers stated to me in a
letter that they had no such project under consideration.
 
     Thus, year after year, I kept prodding Burrows on the subject, and
his replies became more and more evasive until they ceased altogether.
 
[Continued...]


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From ralphw@thebox.rain.com Sun Jun 16 02:16:43 1991
From: ralphw@thebox.rain.com (Ralph Winston)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,talk.politics.mideast,alt.activism,soc.history,soc.misc
Subject: Whatever Happened to the Dead Sea Scrolls?  [part 2]
Date: 12 Jun 91 08:59:59 GMT
Organization: TheBox - Public Access Xenix


     One question continued to occupy my interest; what had become of
the Scrolls? Why were none of them published for so many years?
Sometimes I wondered whether they would survive or ever be made
available to the public. However, we should note that even in the
custody of the Jordanians, they were held in the strictest secrecy -
and why? I could only surmise that extreme pressure has been exerted by
both Christian and Jewish sources: from the former, because it would
not be beneficial to them should it be established that this faith grew
out of a Jewish cult and was, therefore, not an original revelation;
nor would the Israelis wish the Scrolls released, since they were
filled with fierce denunciation of Jewish religious leaders and civil
authorities.
 
     It is my considered opinion and my sad conclusion that the Dead
Sea Scrolls will never be given to the world unless basic changes
occur: first, they must be removed from the custody of the Israeli
government and, second, we must establish an intellectual climate in
the western world in which scholars and ministers can discuss religious
subjects without fear or reprisals, in the form of lost prestige,
removal from lucrative positions, loss of salaries or other sanctions
which can be enforced against anyone who dares interfere with the
emoluments or the powers of those who are most powerful and influential
in society.
 
     I think it is as simple as that. And at the back of my mind
lingers a gnawing fear that instead of being translated and published,
the leather or parchment on which the Scrolls are inscribed may be
physically destroyed or become undecipherable before anything is done
to release them. And it is highly significant that for several years
there has been little or no discussion anywhere concerning the Scrolls.
It seems that by ignoring the whole subject, its significance will die
in the public consciousness.
 
                            The Future of the Scrolls
 
     I can think of no possible valid reason why the Scrolls have been
withheld now for nearly thirty years. If they could not be prepared for
publication in that length of time, would a century or two centuries be
enough? It seems to me that unless we can rescue them from their
present custody and also achieve a new and different intellectual world
climate, there is little hope that anyone now living will ever see any
translation of these Scrolls.
 
     I consider what has happened and is continuing to occur in the
matter of the Scrolls the greatest cover-up of important historical
material that has occurred in modern history.
 
_____________________________________________________________________
 
                                 Conclusion
 
    1. We know from the Scrolls, as well as from many passages in the
New Testament, that both the Essenes and Jesus were bitterly opposed to
the Jewish authorities, especially the religious. There can be little
doubt that the Scrolls now crumbling into dust include many passages in
which the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Scribes are excoriated in the
most bitter terms and that the tyranny exercised by them over the
dissident Essenes is described in full detail.
 
    2. John Allegro, mentioned earlier, states that the Scrolls: "pose
questions too hot for the scholars' liking - that has been the trouble
with the Scrolls; they impinge so much on Judaism and on
Christianity... they became a political football when the Israelis
marched in and seized Jerusalem from the Jordanians in the war of 1967.
They are now in Israeli custody and are still, so far as I am aware,
locked up in cabinets in the basements of the museum in Jerusalem,
where one bomb could destroy them anytime."
 
    3. There is a general conspiracy to conceal the contents of the
remaining Scrolls, and, if possible, to hasten their destruction.
_____________________________________________________________________
 
     The IHR has people available for lectures, debates, and radio and
TV interviews who can come to your area. Write to the director at the
address below for more information.
 
                                10 copies: $2.00
                                50 copies: $5.00
                                100 copies or more: 8 cents each
 
                   THE INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL REVIEW
                    1822 1/2 Newport Blvd., Suite 191
                      Costa Mesa, California 92627

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     If you found this interesting, read the Dead Sea Scrolls update, next 
message.

                                Ralph Winston


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From ralphw@thebox.rain.com Sun Jun 16 02:17:30 1991
From: ralphw@thebox.rain.com (Ralph Winston)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,talk.politics.mideast,alt.activism,soc.history,soc.misc
Subject: Dead Sea Scrolls Update!
Date: 12 Jun 91 09:02:15 GMT
Organization: TheBox - Public Access Xenix


                  From the _IHR Newsletter_, January 1991:
 
                      THE SCROLLS: THE PLOT THICKENS
 
     The _IHR Newsletter_ and _The Journal of Historical Review_ have
reported on previous evidences that translation and publication of the
famous Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in Palestine in 1947, has been
delayed by Christian and Jewish authorities which have controlled
access to them since their discovery.  A growing chorus of criticism
>from biblical scholars -- Jewish, Christian, and agnostic -- has echoed
the charges that IHR Editorial Advisor Dr. Martin Larson first raised
in his seminal paper delivered to the IHR's International Revisionist
Conference in 1981, printed in the Summer 1982 issue of the _Journal of
Historical Review_ and thereafter issued as a pamphlet, that there is
in fact a "conspiracy to keep [the] Scrolls secret," as Hershel Shanks,
editor of the _Biblical Archeology Review_, charged in that journal
(July/August 1989).
 
     The latest and most bizarre fillip to the scandal of the Dead Sea
Scrolls has been the dismissal of Dr. John Strugnell, the Harvard
Divinity School professor who had been chief editor of the project, by
the Israeli Antiquities Authority, which gained control of the Scrolls
following the Zionist seizure of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in
1967.  According to press reports, Strugnell told an Israeli reporter
last November that he regarded "Judaism" as "originally racist" and "a
horrible religion" and that the state of Israel "is founded on a lie."
 
     In the past, Dr. Strugnell, one of the original editors of the
Scrolls, had himself been a target of critics of the snail's pace of
the Scrolls' publication.  In November, however, Strugnell told a
reporter from the _Boston Herald_ that he had been confined to a mental
hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts for a leg injury, because "various
people here and in Israel are trying to get rid of me and keep me from
publishing the Scrolls" ("Scrolls Prof: People Trying to Get Rid of
Me," December 14, 1990).  Allegations of "decades" of "mental health"
and "drinking problems" attributed to his former colleagues ("Biblical
Scholars Sort Issues behind Editor's Dismissal," _Orange County [CA]
Register_, December 24, 1990) leave unanswered the question of how such
a situation, if it existed, could be tolerated, particularly when
Strugnell was so swiftly dispatched for voicing, however combatively, a
few home truths about how certain influential Jewish opinion makers,
ancient and modern, see their Gentile neighbors.
 
     The solution to the scandal of the Dead Sea Scrolls remains what
Dr. Larson urged a decade ago: ". . .first, they must be removed from
the custody of the Israeli government, and second, we must establish an
intellectual climate in the western world in which scholars and
ministers can discuss religious subjects without feear of reprisals. .
."
 
[An updated version of Dr. Larson's 1982 article "Whatever Happened to
the Dead Sea Scrolls?" is available in leaflet form.  Order 10 copies
for $2, 50 copies for $5, 100 or more copies for 8 cents each from:
IHR, 1922 1/2 Newport Blvd., Suite 191, Costa Mesa, CA 92627.]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
     I hope this gives those who are interested some valuable and 
interesting information concerning the fate of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls.

                                Ralph Winston


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