myDiJacobsladders up & down desertfloors & heaven?



Hoe
dan ook:
zoiets geeft doorkijk-
& doorgeefluikjes in brain/body
& omstandigheden
van ooit ...


Was there a 'normative' Judaism?

Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls most of our pictures of Early Judaism {the last few centuries BCE} were created out of the narratives in the books of Maccabees, the writings of Josephus, a few of the apocryphal books preserved in some Christian canons and some pseudepigraphical Christian canons and some pseudepigraphical Jewish writings. The picture formed of this 'early Judaism' was largely of a mono-lithic, normative religion, divided into four [main] groups ~ Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots ~
with Pharisees & Sadducees of major interest, since we possessed no ancient writings clearly attributable
to the other groups. Moreover, both the extent of the scriptures and the Jewish way of life were assumed
to have been broadly agreed by all Jews, and, despite the loss of the Temple in 70 CE, a high degree of
continuity in Judaism from the time of Ezra to that of the rabbis was assumed.

The Dead Sea Scrolls have revolutionized our perception of Early Judaism.

Unlike most of our other sources, they are (mostly) in Hebrew, they engage in direct controversy, they interact closely with scripture, and they offer first-hand evidence of some quite unusual doctrines. They do
expose bitter controversy over law and temple, and over the meaning of the scriptures; and they are per-meated by a belief in the imminent end of the world order. They witness the ongoing production of religi-ous literature at a time when most scholars claimed prophecy had ended, canonization had taken place,
& an official Judaism had established itself at least within the area directly influenced and affected by the
Jerusalem power brokers.

Until recently most scholars agreed in understanding the scrolls to be the library of an Essene group living
at Khirbet Qumran, an organized but sectarian community to be contrasted with the 'official' Judaism that
they opposed. Other scholars agreed that some of the scrolls derived from a solitary sectarian community, but recognized that other texts must have come from affiliated groups, perhaps also Essene in name, located throughout the countryside. Recent voices have announced that the scrolls came from no single group, and indeed not from sectarians at all, but from libraries in Jerusalem containing writings reflecting
a range of Jewish beliefs and practices. Increasingly scholars are beginning to read the scrolls as the religi-ous outpourings of the broader spectrum of diverse but related Judaisms in the late Hellenistic and Roman
periods, revealing a much more diverse and dynamic pattern of religious beliefs and practices.

If this assessment is true, then the scrolls even more radically alter our understanding of Judaism.

Dat is precies wat ook die daaropvolgende 2000 jaar in een ander daglicht stelt dan het tot voor kort ge-bruikelijke. Het gaat nu niet meer om 'het gelijk' van welke stroming dan ook onder joden, heidenen, de
talloze soorten 'christenen', moslims & whatever came along through the ages, maar om vergelijkingen van de diverse uiteenlopende vertakkingen die we hebben leren kennen. Alleen extreem fanatieke sect-arische betweters willen krampachtig vasthouden aan bepaalde gefixeerde vormen van [bij]geloof ...

Dat 'mogen' & kunnen ze, maar het is juist de diversiteit van alle voortbrengsels van de mensheid die ons
het 'juiste' perspectief kan geven: dat is ook al zo geweest met de ontwikkeling van handvaardigheden en
het ontwerpen van al die fantastische verhalen over go{e}d & kwaad, voor- & nadelen van ritueel & inzicht.

engel
24 mei 2010 - bewerkt op 24 mei 2010 - meld ongepast verhaal
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Asih, man, 80 jaar
   
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