NT306 The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament
Overview
Craig Evans combines his extensive knowledge of ancient manuscripts and New Testament studies in this course. He provides the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls, their discovery, and the Essenes, and shows how they affect our understanding of Jesus, John the Baptist, and the early church.
Top Highlights
“Which book is cited the most often in Torah? Deuteronomy. Which book is cited most often and copied most often among the Prophets? Isaiah. And which book is cited or copied most often among the Writings? The Psalms. We see this continuing pattern.” (source)
“What then is the true value of the scrolls? Well, above all it gives us the actual text of the Hebrew Bible as it existed in the first century bc. And we can compare that to the official Hebrew text that lies behind the English translation of the ot. We find out the text is the same. There are a few variations, of course, that are very interesting. But it shows how well stabilized the text was in that one thousand years or so leading up to Codex Leningrad, the principle codex behind which our modern Hebrew text is based.” (source)
“This one is just fascinating. It makes very clear that the Messiah who is to come is expected to lead Israel in war against the Romans, where he will not only defeat the Roman army but even kill the Roman emperor himself.” (source)
“For one thing, the scrolls are from antiquity. They go back to the time of Jesus and earlier. Most of them are from the first century, some of them—the very oldest ones—may reach back all the way to the third century bc.” (source)
“That shows you how important Deuteronomy is. And curiously enough, of the five books of Moses, which book is quoted most often in the nt? It’s Deuteronomy. Which book is quoted most often in other writings in the intertestamental period of time? It’s Deuteronomy. And in the rabbis, which of the five books of Moses is quoted most often? Deuteronomy. It’s interesting how you see this pattern. In fact, Jesus appeals to Deuteronomy more than He does to any of the other books of Moses.” (source)
- Title: NT306 The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament
- Author: Craig A. Evans
- Series: Logos Mobile Education
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Print Publication Date: 2014
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Courseware
- Subjects: Dead Sea Scrolls › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Dead Sea Scrolls › Relation to the New Testament; Education › Dead Sea Scrolls--Criticism, interpretation, etc; Education › Dead Sea Scrolls--Relation to the New Testament
- Resource ID: LLS:NT306EVANS
- Resource Type: Courseware Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T04:49:42Z
Craig A. Evans earned his PhD in biblical studies at Claremont Graduate University and received his decretum habilitationis from Budapest. He is Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament; Acadia Divinity College Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada; John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins (Houston Theological Seminary); a New Testament scholar; and a prolific author and popular teacher/speaker.
Evans is well-known for his work on the Gospels, the Historical Jesus, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the archaeology of the New Testament. His passion for archaeology has him frequently participating in Middle East digs and leading Holy Land tours. He has regularly appeared in television and radio interviews, such as the History Channel, BBC, and Dateline NBC, served as a consultant on the National Geographic Society's Gospel of Judas project and for The Bible television miniseries, and is featured in documentaries like Fragments of Truth and the Archaeology and Jesus series.
He's written hundreds of articles and reviews and published more than 70 books, including Jesus and His Contemporaries, Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies, Mark in the Word Biblical Commentary, Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels, God Speaks, and Jesus and the Remains of His Days: Studies in Jesus and Archaeology. He coauthored Jesus, the Final Days with N. T. Wright.