The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Origins of Christianity

In this new book, controversial author and scholar Carsten Thiede turns his attention to perhaps the most enigmatic ancient documents ever found in the Bible lands: the Dead Sea Scrolls. Unravelling the complex history of the Scrolls since their discovery in 1947, Carsten Thiede sets them in context by revealing what scholars now know about the Essene community which originated them. He then turns his attention to the scrolls themselves. Using his own pioneering methods in restoring the papyri, Thiede has made a remarkable find amongst them: an early fragment which can be identified as part of Mark's Gospel. The connections between the Jewish Essenes and the early Christians, Thiede argues, show that the early Christians saw themselves essentially as a movement within Judaism and not as founders of a radically new religion. This perspective has major implications for the way we view not only the Scrolls themselves but also the origins of the movement that has become a major world faith, now celebrating its second millennium.