WHAT DO THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS SAY ABOUT JESUS?

The short answer: Nothing.

Nothing, and the last of the scrolls have been dated to approximately 68 AD, 35 years after the year ascribed to the Crucifixion.

The scrolls were discovered in 1948, and the Vatican, after a Church Father was put in charge of the translation, suppressed the publication of the Scrolls for many years.

So, what DO the Dead Sea Scrolls say about Jesus? Again: They don’t say anything about Jesus (or Christ).

From: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_the_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_say_about_Jesus#ixzz1yu8rrvsA



Nevertheless, some scholars have sought to find evidence about early Christianity among the scrolls. For example, Robert Eisenman (The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians) sees a possible reference to Jesus in the Damascus Document, and believes “Teacher of Righteousness” may have been James the Just.Read more: The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of Jewish religious and secular documents, many of them dating back to pre-Christian times. There is no irrefutable reference among the scrolls to Jesus. There are references to cryptic persons such as the “Teacher of Righteousness”, but there is no evidence that the Teacher, or any other person mentioned in the scrolls, is meant to be Jesus.Nevertheless, some scholars have sought to find evidence about early Christianity among the scrolls. For example, Robert Eisenman (The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians) sees a possible reference to Jesus in the Damascus Document, and believes “Teacher of Righteousness” may have been James the Just.Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_the_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_say_about_Jesus#ixzz1yu8E2sAQ A researcher follows up on this claim and turns up with a dead end: “I [(Michael Sanders, Author of “Mysteries of the Bible, James, the Brother of Jesus”) was not to be denied. I sent him [(Professor Robert Eisenman (Author of “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians”)]-this last note in brackets added by Author Samuel Butler- “fax after fax asking him the simple question. If James the Brother of Jesus is the Righteous Teacher, who was Jesus, I couldn’t find a character in the scrolls that would fit the picture.” “He (Professor Eisenman) never answered the faxes until one day his assistant called and everything was made crystal clear. There was no mention of Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls because Jesus as a living historical figure, in their theory, did not exist. They could not state that publicly because of the fear of an outcry, but that was the situation.” What did Pope Leo X say about Jesus?

Pope Leo X (1513-1521

Some believe that he considered Jesus to be a mere legend. The Catholic Encyclopedia refers to a widely circulated remark: “How much we and our family have profited by the legend of Christ, is sufficiently evident to all ages.” http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcno.htm Pope Paul III expressed similar sentiments, saying “there were no valid documents to demonstrate the existence of Christ.” “Historically, it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about Him.“ –Bertrand Russell

