Customer Reviews

The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Untold Story

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Dr. Hanson's effort is the first Dead Sea Scroll book I was able to finish. From beginning to end, I felt like I was transported in time to the fantastic and miraculous events so well described by Hanson. Other books about the Scrolls are packed with such weighty detail and self-righteous importance that the "man on the street" reader can hardly get through the initial chapters. Hanson, however, gives a clear and concise account of the Scroll discoveries written in a prose that humbly acknowledges the supernatural aspects of this remarkably important find. As a linguistics instructor at a major university, an amateur historian, and an ordained minister, I recommend Dr. Hanson's book to anyone wanting to understand the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls without having to become an expert in ancient languages or wade through the political ideologies of elitist academians. Specifically, this book belongs in the library of every minister or lay minister who seeks a deeper understanding of the events that shaped the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth.

I heard Dr. Hanson both times he has been on the well-known
(inter)national talk radio show, "Coast to Coast," though he was
never interviewed by the show's mainstay, Art Bell. Dr. Hanson is a
very competent and highly enthusiastic speaker. On the show and
certainly in "The Untold Story" he adds life to what could be a
"dead" subject. He is the rare Christian, not in that he accepts
Judaism as the undoubted precursor to Christianity (a point
fully proven by the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), according to him), but
he knows Hebrew fluently from years of study, and more importantly,
having lived in Israel for many years, and not always in the safest
places! You feel his deep love for religious studies in the book,
and his sincere, humble conviction for the religious path.

On the radio and in the Introduction of the book Dr. Hanson
promises to tell the DSS saga to non-scholars, without the verbose
and dry prose of the many scholarly but unfulfilling tomes that have
been produced since the remarkable discovery of the scrolls in 1947,
amazingly synchronistic with the founding of the modern state of Israel.
For the most part Dr. Hanson succeeds very well, giving a very clear,
thorough, lively, and from what I know, factual account of the finding,
history, and meaning of the DSS - all this in relatively few pages. I
think that even those (non-experts) who are familiar with the story will
find Dr. Hanson's account enjoyable reading.

Another aspect of the DSS that Dr. Hanson's covers admirably are
the many controversies surrouding the scrolls, and he explains why the
scholarly consensus is usually to him the most plausible. For example,
most scholars think that the authors and creators of the scrolls were
Essenes, but some feel that this is not the case. Dr. Hanson not
only shows why the philosophy and lifestyle(s) of the various Essene
sects point to the Essenes, but on p. 61 he cleverly speculates that
the Hebrew word Osin, which means "doers of God's will," could have
been "corrupted" to form "Essenes," who most certainly consider
themselves doers of God's will.

I much appreciated Dr. Hanson's extensive use of Josephus'
writings, for example discussing John the Baptist, as well as the
Romans account of the almost total annihilation of the Jews in Israel
by the Kittim (DSS term for "the dark forces") in the late 60's AD.
Finally, I also enjoyed Dr. Hanson's contention that Jesus himself
must have known about the DSS, and while he might have been the Messiah
the scrolls predicted, he constantly drew a distinction between their
extreme positions and disciplines and his more lenient, compassionate
teachings. (I will assume Jesus existed for this discussion).

Yet parts of the book were a little troublesome for me, and these
were always Dr. Hanson's commentaries (as opposed to his always
lucid accounts of the details of scrolls-related topics). Indeed
he quotes Josephus extensively for interesting historical context,
and even states that Josephus was a contemporary of Jesus, yet he
says not one word as to why there is maybe only 1 brief "legitimate"
reference in Josephus to Jesus, when according to the author, Jesus'
miracles, predicted by the DSS, were perhaps the most essential aspect
proving his being the Messiah! One would think that anyone who did
such things would be mentioned in detailed volumes in more than a
very passing way.

On p. 92 the cruel King Aristobolus dies after a short reign,
it is as if "divine judgement," but when there is a severe earthquake
in 31 B.C., that greatly affects the DSS community, there is no
"Godly" (my words) reason. Perhaps the Essenes and the author need
some background in science! And on p. 116 there is a paragraph
that stunned me given the quality of most of the book. Dr. Hanson
claims that through the Jewish ritual, the "Bar Mitzvah," the 13-year
old "son of the Most High," bypasses adolescence. Having gone through a
serious preparation of quite a bit of Hebrew and Torah reading myself
at that age, I can assure the author that the "High" was only very, very
temporary, and I went through my puberty like everyone else!

Whatever its faults, I still highly recommend "The Untold Story" for
a great overview and fine insights into the many aspects the Dead Sea
Scrolls.

I was just learning about the Dead Sea Scrolls when I first read this book, and I must say, I found it an intriguing and informative source of information. It was easy to understand and provided me with valuable information. This is a great book for virtually any age--young or old, who is intersted in learning about, or expanding their knolwedge of, the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Before reading this book, I was completely unaware of the excitment which surrounds the Dead Sea Scolls. Hanson masterfully explains the origins and history of a truly magnificent find. Enhanced by a passion for the subject and a poetic writing syle, this author brings to life something that is more than just an ancient text! To put it simply, it was captivating!

I have taken Dr. Hanson for two classes and he is one of the better teachers I have ever had. One of the reviewers says he writes this book from a Christian point of view. I don't see this. He never once mentions he is Christian, or follows any religiion, as he did in class. We know he is not Jewish, or is he. He refuses ever to say. His philosophy is to write a book or teach a class from a "Scholarly point of view."
In fact this book seems to side on Atheism. Why this book works is because it is excellent gold nuggets of information about the Dead Sea Scrolls like the scrolls are written 900 years earlier than any other account of the old testement. Why it seems atheist, is Hanson tries to argue the Scrolls written by a sect of Judaism called the Essenes, were virtually stolen by the Christians to intensify almost the entire New Testament. If you are a Christian religious zeolot you probably will find this book bad and leave a bad review. The point of this book is a scholarly argument that this Jewish sect in particular (SPECIAL) with Paul being an Essene himself has written the New Testament as predicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls. If you want a scholarly look at the Dead Sea Scrolls, I doubt there is a better and more entertaining one out there. He does seem to have a bias toward the Jewish Religion as though it may be his religious faith.

This is the first book re: the dead sea scrolls that interested me enough to finish it. It is jam packed with great historical info. re: the sect who created the dead sea scrolls, as well as the various other sects of that time. It also describes the historical finding of the scrolls, and how they were quite close to being lost to us forever.

On another note, this book shows that ancient civilizations dealt with many of the same problems as we do today - violence, prejudice, closed-mindedness, war, etc... An important point for us to remember.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the dead sea scrolls, as well as those interested in ancient civilizations. It's an excellent, thought provoking read.

Kenneth Hanson largely met the much needed basic goal of this book: to write an accessible account of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the layperson and present the evidence in a common-sense manner. Throughout the book he shows startling parallels between the Qumran sect who wrote the scrolls and the early Christians, but he is careful not to combine the two into one as others have done. But the close parallels cannot be ignored, and Hanson gives good reasons why both Jesus and John the Baptist were well aware of the rules and teachings of the Qumran sect.

He states that a major difference is the Qumran sect (whom he identifies as the Essenes) were more rigid and exclusive than the Christians who accepted Gentiles and even changed Jewish dietary laws. But Hanson fails to point out these types of changes occurred only after Paul joined the Christian ranks (Jesus sent his apostles to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" and adhered to strict Jewish dietary laws). Hanson states the reason the Essenes and the Christians cannot be the same is that radiocarbon dating shows the Essenes began writing their scriptures two centuries before the Christians.

But he also shows us that the writers of the scrolls were very able to change the terms of their Judaism. They used a solar rather than the standard Jewish lunar calendar and required celibacy (a preferred state to enter the kingdom of heaven according to Matthew 19:12) over the Jewish command to "be fruitful and multiply" found in Genesis 9, but we see the Qumran sect was able to splinter off into a branch that did permit marriage. The Qumran sect also adopted socialist ideas of communal living and shared responsibility that the early Christians adhered to in following Jesus' and John the Baptist's teachings (which the Christian Right of today's society ironically ignores and even regards as being "unchristian"). Yet nowhere does Hanson follow his own evidence and consider the possibility that Christianity may have been another adaptation of this same Qumran sect. Jesus criticizes the Pharisees and Sadducees in the Bible but never mentions the other Jewish religious group, the Essenes, by name. Could his reference to the righteous and meek who will inherit the earth be a reference to this same group? Nowhere does Hanson consider why Christianity embraces Greek and Egyptian pagan ideas; and especially why Zoroastrian elements of the battle between light and darkness and the final judgment are so vital to both the Qumran sect and Christianity. After all, he does point out that Galilee was primarily populated by pagans until only a hundred years before the birth of Jesus. If anything is taught by history, it is when one religion overtakes another there is a meshing of the gods, beliefs, and customs of the two. (We can plainly see how Jewish elements were retained by Christianity and how both were adopted by Islam.) This raises the possibility that Jesus and his cousin John retained some of these old Galilean beliefs within their Qumran-style of Judaism, and this may account for the pagan elements that have been repeatedly noticed within Christianity. But we don't find this kind of thinking in Hanson's book because he clings to the popular belief that Jesus (despite having beliefs such as spirit possession causing illness) had the mindset of a modern member of Western society.

It is very apparent from these unearthed scrolls that the role of Jesus was modeled after the expected reincarnation (the early Christians believed in reincarnation too) of the revered Qumran leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, who lived two centuries before. This reincarnated teacher was supposed to appear again in the "end times," and the apostles clearly believed in the popular Jewish view that they were living during the time of the apocalypse. After all, Jesus said, "...the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the heaven... Truly I say to you, in no way will this generation pass away until all these things have occurred" (Matthew 24:29-34), but this is something Hanson avoids mentioning.

The problem with this book is that Hanson is one of those scholars who lets his own religious beliefs interfere with his academic judgment. He clearly believes in the supernatural: "Discoveries of this kind don't just pop up. Only an invisible, supernatural hand could have preserved such treasures for us and for our day and age" (page 38). One feels that he believes the Qumran sect accurately prophesized the arrival of Jesus rather than consider the possibility that Jesus' life was written to conform to the previous Teacher's life--right down to his coming back again to lead a final victory in a future apocalypse that was once again delayed by his own martyrdom. Hanson presents the sect as having psychic powers of precognition (after all, they foresaw Jesus), but he fails to adequately explain why they were so terribly wrong about the end of their own mission. What our age is left with is an inherited legacy of the very same prophecy--the Book of Revelation (that Hanson believes the Christians were reading at the start of the siege of Jerusalem, when they were most likely reading it afterwards while still expecting Jesus to return within their lifetimes). The dangerous thing about this prophecy is that so many people believe it applies to today and not during the reign of the Kittim (the Roman Empire), and we now have the means to bring a real apocalypse that may be just as disastrous for the whole world as it was for the Jews of Masada.

First off i am not religious but i do enjoy learning about all religions and myth. I could not get through the book for i felt the bias swayed it far to much to propaganda. To be honest i am just starting to learn about the scrolls and the survival of such writings is always fantastic but early in the book he used the words about the carbon dating Nice try guys as if the scientists were plotting against him. Yes science can be wrong but give a good reason why you think it is so i can research myself, anyway that was where my interest in this book started to wane

Dr. Hanson's effort is the first Dead Sea Scroll book I was able to finish. From beginning to end, I felt like I was transported in time to the fantastic and miraculous events so well described by Hanson. Other books about the Scrolls are packed with such weighty detail and self-righteous importance that the "man on the street" reader can hardly get through the initial chapters. Hanson, however, gives a clear and concise account of the Scroll discoveries written in a prose that humbly acknowledges the supernatural aspects of this remarkably important find. As a linguistics instructor at a major university, an amateur historian, and an ordained minister, I recommend Dr. Hanson's book to anyone wanting to understand the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls without having to become an expert in ancient languages or wade through the political ideologies of elitist academians. Specifically, this book belongs in the library of every minister or lay minister who seeks a deeper understanding of the events that shaped the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth.

Our understanding of Scripture is built upon the inspired texts themselves. They are the bedrock of our faith. Over the past 2000 years, a significant body of scholarship, commentary and proclamation has been constructed above holy writ, forming what we generally think of when we consider a story or saying from God's written word.

We may not know whether it was Augustine, Calvin or Barclay who elucidated a passage in such a way as to help us "own" it; nonetheless, we all depend on the faithful, dedicated witnesses who have preceded us to understand what we read between Genesis 1 and Revelation 22. Great literature has depended upon these insights; as has many of the social advances of the Christian era.

It is most likely that when, in our mind's ear, we "hear" Scripture, we do so in the language of the English renaissance-the beautiful cadences of the Authorized (or King James) Version. However, remarkable discoveries have occurred since that beloved translation of the 1600s; discoveries that shed new light upon our edifice of faith. From time to time, older, more reliable copies of this or that book or collection of books from the Bible have been found-in out of the way monasteries and ancient libraries. Yet none of these have been as amazing as that day in 1947 when a Bedouin shepherd boy uncovered an entire cache of ancient scrolls that had remained in a desert cave near the Dead Sea for nearly 2000 years. What his toss of a rock revealed was one of the greatest treasures of all time.

In this book, Kenneth Hanson recounts the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, relates the adventure of tracking many down (and losing some forevermore!), and offers the reader a first-hand account of the people who wrote and hid them.

Why do we care about a bunch of dusty old scrolls, and their fragments that are too fragile to touch? Because they add their even-older corroboration of many of the Bible passages we have come to know and love. They show how the community of faith treasured and used the texts we revere and read. And they give us a source of greater understanding of the meaning of difficult-to-translate passages that have puzzled Christians for centuries.

It is a fascinating, lively account of the importance of God's written word and the people and faith it shapes. And it points us toward the newer revisions of the King James Version (the best of which is the New Revised Standard Version)-translations that take into account the discoveries revealed in 1947.

If you have made up your mind that the scholar-archeology of the Indiana Jones type is a myth, then you might want to read this book; getting to know its author will be an eye-opening adventure.