FR IENDS There is an urgent need for prayerful and financial help to build Evangelical Methodist Churches in the Columbia Basin, Washington State. Write COLUMBIA BASIN MISSIONS Box 1143 MOSES LAKE, WASHINGTON GOWNS PULPIT* CHOIR CONFIRMATION BAPTISMAL EYE EXAM INAT IONS Very Low Charges A CHRISTIAN SERVICE FOR CHRISTIAN FOLK Dr. H. C. Forsyth, Optometrist 610 S. Broadway— 327 Story Bldg. Sattataction A ssu red T U . 8 5 8 1 A PENNY A DAY (Not such a large sum to invest for eternity) Will give spiritual sight to the blind HOW? For information write to THE CHRISTIAN A S SO C IA TIO N FOR THE BLIND 430 East 141st St. - - - - New York 54» N. Y. Chas. E. Gremmels, Pres.; J. E. Bennet, Treas. DOCTORS MASTERS BACHELORS c m CONNS HOODS) 7 WEST36ST- NEWYORK18,N-Y-
A rcha eo log y
"Truth ... Outof the Earth’’
Chorles L. Feinberg, Th.D., Ph.D. Director, Tolbot Theological Seminary TH E DEAD SEA SCROLLS (part three)
L atest archaeological news from Jerusalem indicates that new dis coveries are being made in the Dead Sea cave area. Not only have new caves been discovered, but new manuscripts are continually coming to light.' The opinion of one scholar is that the new finds make the ori ginal discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls seem tame by comparison. But the ordinary reader asks at this point, What does it all amount to in practical terms? Granted that now 75 per cent of the books of the Old Testament are said to be found among the new material, how will this help us in the careful study of the Word of God? These questions are in point and deserve a straight forward answer. In the first place, the new manu scripts reveal the method of writing in antiquity and the amount of re ligious literature produced in He brew about the beginning of the Christain era and in the century or two before it. Up to this time the manuscript finds in Palestine have been negligible in quantity, but there has been opened to us now a vast field of written material in Hebrew outside the Hebrew Old Testament. The language of the new finds has greater affinity with the language of the Old Testament, than with the later Hebrew of the rabbinic commentaries. The refer ences to the Old Testament Scrip tures in these scrolls afford us an other confirmation of the authentic ity of the Biblical text we have. The study of Old Testament lan guages has been greatly advanced by the resources now available. Secondly, the finds are invaluable for their contribution of new knowl edge on late pre-Christian Jewish history, religion, and literature. The importance of this is appreciated all the more when it is kept in mind that the very period touched upon in these manuscripts is one of great obscurity, because our original He brew sources do not deal with it. They supply information on the in- tertestamental period and constitute a significant link between the Old Testament and the New. The light they throw on Jewish sects, their aims, practices, and fortunes, is in deed considerable and most welcome. A ll this serves to make clearer the
background and period from which we have received mu' New Testa ment literature. Thirdly, the scrolls are of primary importance for their illumination of the principles of Jewish interpreta tion of the sacred text. It has al ways been known that the rabbis at tached great significance to the study of the Scriptures. Their methods of interpretation can be gleaned from the material in the Talmud, the com mentaries of the rabbis. The scrolls bear further witness of the high re gard the ancient Jews had for the study of the Old Testament. But the manuscripts also reveal the var ied and complex technique em ployed by the rabbis in their study of any text of the Bible. The litera ture is permeated with Biblical phrases, but it employs the most involved allegorical method of inter pretation. Fourthly, it may be asked at this point what relevance all this has for the problem of the unity of Isaiah. It is known that the book of Isaiah has for many years been the battle ground of the critics. They claim the book is the product of two or more authors, the great break coming be tween the thirty-ninth and fortieth chapters. Conservative scholars have rightly and with evidence main tained that the root of the critical objections is their animus toward predictive prophecy. Now, do these scrolls confirm their claim of a dual or triple authorship for the book? Their answer is that the scrolls can not decide the matter because they come from a time (second century B.C.) when the book of Isaiah was already in the compiled form in which we find it today. We ortho dox students of the Scriptures say that nothing yet has invalidated the original and prior claim that all the book has issued from the same hand, that of the prophet Isaiah as he was directed of the Spirit of God. Before leaving this point, however, we should remind the reader that some liberal scholars have dated parts of Isaiah as late as 200 B.C. They were certainly mistaken, for time must be allowed (a cardinal argument with the liberals themselves) for the body of material to be collected in the form now known. continued on page 34
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