Genetic & social roots of mydiworldcitizenship ...

One of the conceptual difficulties that arise from the doctrine of absolute divine predestination,
involves the existence of evil - a problem that is found in more or less acute versions
in any religious system that includes divine providence.

If everything comes into being in accordance with "G d's will",
must we not conclude that the good and beneficent 'g d'
is also the author of evil?

The Qumran scrolls not only failed to resolve this difficulty,
but repeatedly asserted that G d had indeed created evil, as well as wicked and sinful people.
That is, they established a dualistic system, according to which the world is emphatically divided
into good and evil, and there exists a camp of evil spirits, headed by Belial,
the Prince of Darkness, and all this is in accordance with "G d's will"!

Alongside the doctrine of divine predestination,
the Essens maintained a radical dualism that divides humanity
into the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness.

The combination of predestination and dualism
is referred to in scholarly discourse as the doctrine of double predestination.
Incidentally, this teaching is not limited to the Qumran community,
but found its way into certain Christian groups who were apparently influenced
by the Essene theology on this point?

Before we come to the economic ideology of the Dead Sea community,
we must first indicate a number of conclusions that follow from their theological worldview.
Evil will not, of course, endure.

According to the scrolls,
G d has placed eternal enmity between the faction of wirgteousness
and the faction of evil, and in the end of days there will be a war between the Sons of Light
and the Sons of Darkness, at the conclusion of which the wicked will be destroyed,
and with them the dominion
of darkness.

This war,
which was described in detail in a unique text,
will last forty years, and in its course the Sons of Light will conquer the entire world.
The ennemies to be annihilated are not only the nations of the world,
but the members of the Jewish people
that refuse to accept the ways
of the Qumran sect.

Indeed, the scrolls clearly hold
that Israel itself is divided into the Sons of Light, "G d's elect",
and the Sons of Darkness.

Even before the discovery of the scrolls,
there were scholars who argued that the Essene doctrine of double predestination
served as a conceptual grounding for their sense that they and only they are G d's elect.
In other words, their theology was forged in order to justify their sense of superiority,
and their tendency to break off from Jewish society as a whole.

And indeed, the scrolls repeatedly emphasize
the chasm that lies between them and the rest of the Jewish people.
The members of the Community are referred to as the chosen ones of G d,
while the rest of the Jewish people are sinners.

But, according to the scrolls,
the separatist tendency of the Sons of Light is not only a question of theoretical worldview,
nor merely a way of distinguishing a political-religious group from the other factions of the day.
The Essenes, who considered themselves G d's elect, expressed their unique character
through a sectarian lifestyle, characterized by a rigid communal structure
and special ordinances, attested both in Josephus's account of the Essenes and in the Qumran scrolls themselves, particularly in the Manual of Discipline.

According to both Josephus and Philo,
the sect numbered some forty thousand full members,
but its ideological and theological influence
on the Jewish people as a whole
was great.

Both Josephus and Philo
point to the uniquely Essene practice of shared wealth,
what effectively amounts to the abolition of private property.
This is a well-established fact, and need not detain us here.
It is significant that communal property is attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
'ALL THOSE WHO SUBMIT FREELY TO HIS TRUTH WILL CONVEY ALL THEIR KNOWLEDGE,
THEIR ENERGIES, AND THEIR RICHES TO THE COMMUNITY OF G D:
THE INITIATE'S POSSESSIONS AND HIS EARNINGS
WILL ALSO BE JOINED AT THE HAND
OF THE INSPECTOR
OF THE EARNINGS
OF THE MANY!'

The ancient authorities
as well as the scrolls,
do provide a wealth of information
about the precise nature of
this communal property,
as well as the role
of the "Inspector".

Met
andere woorden
[bij wijze van spreken,
doorvertellen, schrijven & herschrijven],
je kunt hier al in principe de boodschap zien
die Yehosjoea later zou brengen aan
& via z'n leerlingen:
het kind
dat Miryam draagt
is verwekt door heilige geest;
zijn naam is Yesjoea, want hij zal
zijn volk bevrijden van hun zonden en gebreken:
zo is g d met ons; sta op en vlucht met het kind en
zijn moeder naar het zuiden: zo heeft g d zijn zoon geroepen
& na aanwijzingen in een droom week hij uit naar Galilea waar hij ging wonen
opdat zo in vervulling zou gaan wat gezegd is door de profeten; kom tot inkeer,
want het koninkrijk van g ds hemelrijk is nabij; breng dan vruchten voort die een nieuw leven
waardig zijn want de bijl ligt al aan de wortel van de boom: iedere boom
die geen goede vrucht draagt, zal worden omgehakt en in het vuur
worden geworpen & daarna komt degene die als de mensenzoon
niet alleen zal dopen met water maar
met vuur van heilige geest: dat is
wat hij deed & vertelde in al z'n
gelijkenissen &
i/d bergveld~
redes
...

Symbolische
tijdgebonden taal:
iets dergelijks vond
telkens weer plaats in
allerlei verschillende landen & streken?

De ontwikkeling van zwervende nomadenvolkeren,
de ontdekking van veeteeld & landbouw, stedenbouw
& alles wat daarop volgde via rassen, volkeren, continenten
& wereldoorlogen in 't groot & in 't klein tot op de mydidag van vandaag
~ richting 'wereldburgerschap', cultivatie van genetische & sociale
mogelijkheden & al wat daarbij behoort aan
samen delen & doorgaan op
die ooit lang geleden
ingeslagen wegen a
la Sjapo
enzo
...