I thought it might be worthwhile taking a few more words for research today. Aback, must mean something to do with the back. But exactly what? Already by 1944, the […]
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Review, “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John Bergsma (8th and final part)
Part Six: The Church and the Scrolls “Did St Paul write anything about the Church?”, Bergsma asks in chapter 14. It begins with some notes about the assumptions modern biblical […]
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Gurdjieff: Mysticism, Contemplation, and Exercises
I have just read the published volume, and I think it might be worthwhile to note some thoughts which have occurred to me. I shall update this page from time […]
Read moreReview, “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John Bergsma (Pt VII)
When the Lord presided at the Last Supper, He was discharging another priestly function, that of offering sacrifice (179). In Bergsma’s consciously literal alternative translation, the Lord says in Luke […]
Read moreReview, “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John Bergsma (Pt VI)
Part Five: Holy Orders and the Scrolls (I) Chapter 11 is titled “Priesthood and the Scrolls.” It opens by noting how diverse the views of different Christian groups are on […]
Read moreReview, “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John Bergsma (Pt V)
Part Four: Matrimony, Celibacy, and the Scrolls Bergsma opens chapter 9 by noting the widespread fallacy that the ancient Jews did not practise celibacy (125), for the Essenes in fact […]
Read moreReview, “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John Bergsma (Pt IV)
Part Three: The Eucharist and the Scrolls (Part Two) This difference between the two calendars, whereby the Essenes celebrated it on Tuesday but “the Jews” four days later on Saturday, […]
Read moreReview: “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John Bergsma (Pt III)
Part Three: The Eucharist and the Scrolls (Part One) Chapter 6 is titled: “Did Qumran Have a “Eucharist”?”, and commences with Justin Martyr, describing the Christian Eucharist about the year […]
Read moreReview: “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John Bergsma (Pt II)
Part Two: Baptism and the Scrolls At the outset, Bergsma succinctly states why a connection between the Baptist and the Essenes seems probable: The Essenes were the only sect of […]
Read moreReview: “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John Bergsma (Pt I)
John Bergsma, Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Revealing the Jewish Roots of Christianity, Image, New York, 2019 (256 pp.) … the fact that the Essenes, by their prayer and […]
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