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Ϯϯ   Chapter Two Significance of the Ddead Sea Scrolls: Theology of the Qumran Community  Introduction In the previous chapter, I discussed the history of the Qumran community and some of their practices. The community also achieved significant developments in theological reflection. In this chapter I shall look at their theological perspectives in relation to the New Testament. I will focus on dualism, eschatology, sacraments, the after-life and on religious language. 1. Dualism The basic philosophical and religious concept that shaped the religious and theological outlook of the Qumran covenanters is the belief in the powers of the two spirits: The Prince of Light and the Angel of Darkness whom God created before the foundation of the world. At the root of their understanding of the powers of these two spirits is the concept of predestination. There is a clear statement of predeterminism in Enoch 81:1,2: "And he said unto me: ’Observe, Enock, these heavenly tablets and read what is written thereon and mark every individual fact.’ And I observed the heavenly tablets … of all deeds of mankind, and of all children of the flesh that shall be upon the earth to the remotest generation.."1 This sense is echoed in 1QS 3:15f: All that is and ever was comes from a God of Knowledge. Before things came into existence, He determined the plan of them; and when they fill their appointed roles, it is in accordance with His glorious design that they discharge their function. Nothing can be changed. The pesher on Habakkuk 2:3b reads "for all the ages of God reach their appointed end as he determines for them in the mysteries of his wisdom." The War Scroll (1QS 1: 4) speaks of the day appointed for the destruction of the sons of darkness. The Hymn Scroll tells us that all that happens is engraved in the tablets of remembrance (1QH 1:24). Human destiny is also included in this predestination. Josephus tells us: But the sect of the Essenes affirm that fate governs all things, and that nothing befalls  1 Schubert, The Dead Sea Community, p. 59. Ϯϰ   men but what is according to its determination. 2 Man is born in iniquity right from the mother’s womb (1QH 4:29f) and that he can only take the right way by divine illumination (4:5). The members of the Qumran community are the bene rashon (sons of divine good pleasure) or the bechire rashon (the elect of divine good pleasure) (4:3; 1QS 8:6). Thus the whole world is divided into two opposing camps, one under the Prince of Light and the other under the Angel of Darkness. Man therefore behaves in accordance with the spirit apportioned to him: Thus far, the spirits of truth and perversity have been struggling in the heart of man. Men have walked both in wisdom and in folly. If a man casts his portion with truth, he does righteously and hates perversity; if he casts it with perversity, he does wickedly and abominates truth (1Qsiii, 13-iv. 26). Allegro informs us of a document which suggests that these spirits are apportioned at birth depending on the position of the stars and that the propositions within man can be numerically calculated.3 However, this predestination does not appear to be absolute. Man is still able to make almost independent choices which then lead to either punishment or reward. The wicked are reserved for ‘the day of slaughter,’ because: They walk in the way of the bad and spurn thy covenant and their soul abhors thy statutes and they take no pleasure in all thou has commanded, but choose that which thou hatest (1QH xv, 19-26). While the wicked are destroyed for choosing that which God hates, the elect, the members of the Qumran community, voluntarily ‘declare their readiness to run away from evil and adhere to all that God in His good pleasure has commanded’ (1QS, v. 1). It therefore appears that to become a member of the ‘elect’ according to Qumran understanding is not the case of either predestination or free will (free choice) but rather one of both predestination and free will. Allegro has a similar understanding of the community. ‘But the Qumran covenanter has his answer. For all men there was one way of salvation depending on his will and the mercy of God.’4 Also the statements which emphasize the importance of good works, those that blame men for yielding to temptation and indulgence...

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