Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is hosting a conference on “The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Origins” on March 12-14, 2009.
A tentative schedule (pdf) gives the lectures:
“A Dialogue on the Gospel of Thomas,” Craig A. Evans, Acadia Divinity College; Stephen J. Patterson, Eden Theological Seminary
“The Scrolls and the Hebrew Bible,” Peter W. Flint, Trinity Western University
“The Scrolls and the New Testament,” Craig A. Evans, Acadia Divinity College
“The Scrolls and the Dead Sea Community,” John J. Collins, Yale University
“The Scrolls and Interpretation of Scripture,” George J. Brooke, University of Manchester
“The Scrolls and the Scribes,” Terry L. Wilder, B&H Academic Publishers
“The Scrolls and the Messiah,” William M. Schniedewind, University of California, Los Angeles
“‘Dark Secrets’ of the DSS?,” R. Philip Roberts, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
You can also download a poster (pdf) promoting the conference.
One thought on “Conference: The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Origins”
I always try to be careful about saying something that may be highly ignorant in a public setting, but is anyone else just a little bit underwhelmed with what the DSS teaches us about Christianity?
Not to say they are not fascinating. Yes, the early Biblical manuscripts have been great. But it seems like even the faintest echo of anything seeming to do with Christianity or the teachings of Jesus are over magnified. Everyone seems to be looking for some smoking gun that ties Christianity to the DSS and that has yet to materialize.
Just imagine if 2000 years from now someone from another planet discovered the Book of the Mormon and assumed that this group must have reflected the issues of early 19th century American Protestants. They would be dead wrong. I think too much of the DSS speculation moves in the same direction.
The Qumran community seems more cult that a mainline branch of Judaism (even if they had Essene connections) and so any lessons from them have limited general applications.
How far out in left field am I?