Unveiling The Messiah In The Dead Sea Scrolls

The author is convinced that the early Byzantine Church deliberately cut out sections from an historic text to conceal the truth about the crucifixion of a man they were promoting as their Messiah. She solves the mystery by reconstructing the deleted sections. King pieces together what happened in Jerusalem during the trial and attempted crucifixion of the real Messiah and shows that the key passages that were tampered with are actually the missing link that connects the Dead Sea Scrolls to the New Testament Gospels. Using those passags and the history of the period, she identifies the figures mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Offering readers a fascinating glimpse of life and religious belief in first-century Palestine, the author analyzes the mysterious "suffering servant" described in the Dead Sea scrolls, a messianic figure with remarkable similarities to Jesus.

"In The Scepter and the Star, John J. Collins turns to the Dead Sea Scrolls to shed new light on the origins, meaning, and relevance of messianic expectations. The first Christians were Jews who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah - the Christ; Christians could be called "followers of the messiah." Other Jews did not accept this claim, and so the Christians went their own way and grew into a separate religion. The disagreement about the identity of the messiah is the root difference between Judaism and Christianity." "The recent disclosure of the full corpus of the Dead Sea Scrolls now makes it possible to see this disagreement in a fuller context than ever before. The most stunning revelation of the new evidence is the diversity of messianic expectations in Judaism around the beginning of the common era. The Hebrew word "messiah" means "anointed one." According to the scrolls, the messiah could be a warrior king in the line of David, a priest, a prophet, or a teacher. He could be called "the Son of God." Jesus of Nazareth fitted the expectations some Jews of the time had of the messiah. The majority of Jews, however, had quite different expectations."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This work skeptically tackles a wide array of subjects relating to the existence of God through a stringent methodology that requires readers to take nothing for granted, question their foundational assumptions, and keep an open mind - all hallmarks of a rigorous, scientific approach.

The greatest hope of all the religious groups that awaited for scores of centuries with a dogma of their own Holy Books which witnessed the glory and the majesty of that personality called as 'Muhammad' and 'Ahmad' – 'the Glorious' and 'the Praised', on whom be peace and lasting blessings, which certainly got fulfilled when he finally arrived on the stage of the history. The Scriptures of the Prophets that went before him ended their tasks by heralding the tiding of his coming. Despite the textual corruption of those ancient scriptures, the golden sayings were still preserved by ALLAH, the One True God as a signpost for the honest and noble readers. The seekers of truth! Be certain of the fact that Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was the promised Prophet and the awaited saviour whom the Jews called as the King Messiah. His coming was prophesied by all the Prophets like Moses and Jesus (Peace Be Upon Them) long before his arrival, and he was also mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. Likewise, the Far East Indian scriptures never failed to mention ‘his name and praises’ which certainly constitute a miracle pertaining to him and confirming his Prophethood. In the light of the above facts, how could a man of wisdom escape from this overwhelming thought? Or will he still deny this truth? Or will he still await and hope that from Heaven angels would come and guide him when the final Message has already been delivered by 'Muhammadur Rasul ALLAH' to the creation of ALLAH in general, on whom be peace and lasting blessings? Indeed, it is ALLAH, the Lord of the worlds Who Himself calls on us to acknowledge this truth in the Holy Quran: "O mankind! The Messenger (Muhammad, on whom be peace and lasting blessings) hath come unto you with the Truth from your Lord. Therefore believe; (it is) better for you. But if ye disbelieve, still, lo! Unto ALLAH belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. ALLAH is ever Knower, Wise" - (4:170).

Surveying theological literature produced in the Christian East from the first through the 20th century, Eastern Christianity in its Texts explores different theological themes (analytical and mystical), genres (epistles, treatises, and poetry), and milieux (Greek, Armenian, Western and Eastern Syriac, Russian and Romanian). The book illustrates the evolution of the Orthodox thought, how it influenced and was influenced by intellectual, social, and political environments. It demonstrates a theology in context, and yet displays consistency in the traditions spread through different epochs and countries. The book is divided in five parts, each standing for an epoch with distinct features: formation of the Christian identity in the era before Constantine, golden age of theology in the period of Late Antiquity, the pinnacle of erudism and mysticism in the eastern Middle Ages, wrestling with the Modernity imported from the West in the 18th-19th centuries, and finally theological polyphony in the 20th century.