Eschatology, Messianism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Publisher Marketing: The New Testament is of prime importance for understanding early Jewish and Christian messianism and eschatology. Yet often the New Testament presumes a background and context of belief without fully articulating it. Early Jewish and Christian messianism and eschatology, after all, did not emerge in a vacuum; they developed out of early Jewish hopes that had their roots in the Old Testament. A knowledge of early Jewish literature, and especially of the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran, is essential for understanding the shape of these ideas at the turn of the era. In this book, the inaugural volume in the Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature series, Craig Evans and Peter Flint have assembled eight essays from outstanding scholars who address this issue from a variety of angles. After an introduction by the editors, successive essays deal with the Old Testament foundations of messianism; the figure of Daniel at Qumran; the Teacher of Righteousness; the expectation of the end in the Scrolls; and Jesus, Paul, and John seen in light of Qumran. Contributor Bio:  Evans, Craig A Craig A. Evans (Ph. D., Claremont) is Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament and director of the graduate program at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He has written extensively on the historical Jesus and the Jewish background of the New Testament era. His books includeJesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies (1995), Mark (in the Word Biblical Commentary, 2001), Jesus and the Ossuaries (2003) and Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies (2005). His edited volumes include (with Bruce Chilton) Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research (1994), (with Stanley E. Porter) Dictionary of New Testament Background (2000) and (with John Collins) Christian Beginnings and the Dead Sea Scrolls (2006). He has recently served on the advisory board on the Gospel of Judas for National Geographic Society and has appeared frequently as an expert commentator on network television programs, such as Dateline, and in various documentaries on the BBC, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. Contributor Bio:  Flint, Peter W Peter W. Flint is the Canada Research Chair in Dead Sea Scrolls Studies and Director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University in British Columbia. He has edited or co-edited almost thirty Dead Sea Scrolls for publication, including the Cave 1 Isaiah Scrolls, the Cave 4 Psalms Scrolls, and the translation, The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. He has authored of numerous books and articles and co-edited a major two-volume study collection (The Dead Sea Scrolls After Fifty Years). Dr. Flint regularly lectures on the Scrolls and related topics at academic conferences andmore popular settings.