Qumran-Messianism

Book excerpt: The publication of this collection of articles on Qumran Messianism by a team of international scholars marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. The authors offer a new approach to the messianic expectations expressed in the Qumran literature by incorporating also those texts and fragments which have been available only since 1992 and by understanding them within the context of ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Most of the contributions originate from the Seminar on 'Qumran and Early Christianity' of the 'Societas Novi Testamenti Studiorum' of the past few years chaired by James Charlesworth and Hermann Lichtenberger. The present volume therefore stands at the very front of the academic discussion on the relation between ancient Judaism and early Christianity by concentrating on some of their central religious concepts: the messianic figures and latterday expectations as expressed in the Qumran writings.