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Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 11:22:50 -0700
From: Radar <nurev@Kreative.net>
Organization: NuRev
To: snetnews@world.std.com
Subject: SNET: Re: Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls
References: <3423809D.745E@Kreative.net>
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>From a link in the Spotlight article posted by FWPoley:
> 'JESUS AND THE SCROLLS'
> the incredible cover-up of the Dead Sea Scroll
> secrets
>
> When a Christian Church involves itself in lies and deceit, you know
> that something is seriously wrong.
>
> A pro Christian book, 'Jesus and the Scrolls'
> explains what is wrong, why it is
> quite unnecessary for the Roman Catholic Church
> to behave so disgracefully and
> why, despite the fears of the Church, the future
> for Christianity is bright.
>
> The story begins in 1947 with discovery of the
> Essene Dead Sea Scrolls at
> Qumran in Israel. When the first translations
> were published, there were some
> who thought that events in the life of the
> revered Essene 'Teacher of
> Righteousness' bore a remarkable similarity to
> those in which Jesus had been
> involved.
>
> As soon as this became public knowledge, the
> Roman Catholic 'Ecole Biblique',
> the keepers of the Scrolls in Jerusalem, brought
> down a theological Iron Curtain
> which denied international scholars access to the
> Scrolls.
>
> For over 35 years, translations which could have
> been published were held in
> secret by the Ecole Biblique. No one except Roman
> Catholic scholars had access
> to those Scrolls which described the life and
> beliefs of the Essene sect, the
> writers of the Scrolls. There was no argument or
> discussion. Enquiries from
> internationally known theologians such as Eisenman, Wise, Golb, Baigent
> and Leigh were politely, sometimes
> impolitely, ignored or turned away.
>
> What was it that the Roman Catholic Church so desperately
> wanted to hide?
>
> In 'Jesus and the Scrolls' Ken Clayton examines the already published
> Scrolls, the writings of Josephus (a 1st
> century historian) the Jewish Talmud and the Bible and provides the
> evidence which explains why the Roman
> Catholic Church set out to suppress the truths contained in the Dead Sea
> Scrolls.
>
> The evidence is quite overwhelming. The case is proven positively and
> absolutely beyond any doubt.
>
> It shows:
>
> that Jesus was, in fact, the Essene Teacher of Righteousness
> that he was 'hung on a tree to die' in 63 BC.,
> that the chronology of Christianity is wrong; this explains
> why no contemporary of Jesus
> referred to him in his writings as having lived in the opening
> years of the 1st century AD
> that Jesus did not die on the cross
> that the Essenes were the original Christians
> that Mary Magdalene was the mother of Jesus
> that Jesus was her illegitimate son. See what the Jewish
> Talmud says of Mary and Jesus.
> Parts of the Talmud were written by contemporaries of Jesus.
> They were recording their
> history for the benefit of their fellow Jews. They would never
> have believed that the man
> they were criticising - Jesus, a Jew - would become a revered
> figure in gentile religions
> that Peter was the man who betrayed Jesus. Just one example
> from 9 pages of evidence - to
> whom did Jesus speak the words, "Get behind me, Satan. You are
> a hindrance to me. You
> are not on the side of God but men" Matthew 16:23
> that the so called letters of Paul were written mainly by
> Theophilus of Antioch and other
> early Christian fathers.
> the Essenes referred to themselves in the Dead Sea Scrolls,
> and in the New Testament, as
> 'the Way'; there are many references to the Way. Jesus said 'I
> am the Way' (Mat 22:16). Paul
> claimed to have persecuted the Essenes (the Way) (Acts 22:4),
> but subsequently joined the
> Essene sect in their worship of God. (Acts 24:14).
>
> These are the secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls and by their
> connivance at the cover up of the translations, other
> Christian Churches are equally guilty.
>
> However, it is possible to sympathise with the Roman Catholic Church
> for the predicament it is facing. The
> Scroll texts point clearly to Jesus being the Essene Teacher of
> Righteousness. Suppose they had published the
> translations. Support for Christianity would have collapsed and would
> have undermined the faith so dearly held -
> and in some cases so desperately needed - by millions of Christians. And
> then suppose that, quite unexpectedly,
> new evidence came to light which explained the anomaly. By acting with
> undue haste, they would have done
> damage to Christianity which would be irreparable. The caution they have
> shown is not unreasonable.
>
> Unhappily, there will be no such new evidence. Everything cross
> checks; the Bible with the Dead Sea Scrolls,
> with the Talmud and with the history of the time. But the Churches can
> rightly claim that up until the discovery of
> the Dead Sea Scrolls, their beliefs were based on the best information
> available.
>
> Theologians have simply not been able to bring themselves to suspect
> that beliefs which have come down over
> the past 2,000 years could be flawed. The Gospels, they think, are the
> work of God and thus cannot be wrong. Alas,
> not so. The Gospels are based on some written work from the Essene
> Gospel of Jesus and also some imperfectly
> memorised parts of the Essene Gospel. This explains the differences and
> also the similarities between the four New
> Testament Gospels.
>
> But this does not mean the end of Christianity. The basic tenets of
> faith still hold. There is a God, Jesus was
> very much part of His plan. But some of the shibboleths will have to go.
> Then, with so little to separate them,
> perhaps we will see much more co-operation between the Churches, perhaps
> even a coming together with the
> powerful and internationally influential Roman Catholic Church in the
> vanguard of the change, leading to a new
> and vibrant unified Christian Church. Far from undermining Christianity,
> the revelations of the Dead Sea Scrolls
> will lead to a strengthening of belief and a broadening of Christian
> influence.
>
> The Old Christianity, with its miracles and mystery, has served the
> ill educated masses of yesteryear well.
> Now, the sophisticated Western cultures are prepared for the truth about
> Jesus and the origins of Christianity. And
> Christianity will be immeasurably stronger for a change of direction.
>
> If you want to know more about the origins of Christianity and the
> Dead Sea Scrolls connection - or if you are
> a teacher, a cleric or someone who still needs to be persuaded that
> there is a God - or if you want an explanation for
> the conflict and tragedy which seems to feature so much in our lives -
> or if you wonder how historians/theologians
> could so misinterpret the Bible that the time slot in which Jesus
> operated was placed in the 1st Century AD instead
> of 90 years earlier - then this could be the book for you.
>
> Readers write: 'Absolutely brilliant', ' ... my most urgent
> questions answered.', '... the most original research
> into the origins of Christianity for 2,000 years.'.
>
> 'JESUS AND THE SCROLLS' by Ken Clayton
> paperback ISBN 0-906463-01-7
>
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