For Whom Did Christ Die?: The Extent of Atonement in Paul's Theology (Paternoster Biblical Monographs) by Jarvis Williams

Author:Jarvis Williams
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Paternoster
Published: 2014-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY IN THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS (200 BCE-70 CE)22

1QS

1QS was likely written for the teachers in the community. It contains extracts from liturgical ceremonies, tractates on the spirits of truth and falsehood, statutes about the initiation within the community and with its communal life, instructions about organization, discipline, religious duties of the Master, and penal codes. Regarding divine and human agency, the scroll places a premium on the former.

The scroll begins with instructions for the Master. It states that the Master must teach the community to seek God with a whole heart and soul, to do good and right in God’s presence as he commanded Moses and the prophets, and to command them to love everything that God loves and to hate everything that he hates. They must teach the community to abstain from evil and to hold fast to the good and to practice righteousness and to follow no longer a sinful heart and lustful eyes committing evil. The consequence of obeying the Master’s instructions would be entrance into the Community, but such obedience must be perfect (1QS I.1-25). However, the scroll also expresses that God has bestowed mercy upon those within the Community from everlasting to everlasting and that the priests will bless those who walk perfectly in accordance with God’s law. The priests will bless them by saying: ‘May he bless you with all good and preserve you from all evil! May he lighten your heart with life-giving wisdom and grant you eternal knowledge! May he raise his merciful face towards you for everlasting bliss’” (1QS II.1-4)! This prayer expresses that the divine and the human agents are in tension with one another. On the one hand, those who want access within the Community must perfectly obey the precepts of the Master. But, on the other hand, the scroll reveals that God must preserve and protect from evil those who want to obey perfectly the precepts and he must lighten their hearts, otherwise they will not meet the demands of the divine agent.23

Furthermore, the scroll states that God would accept those who atone their sins by perfectly obeying the precepts of God (1QS III.7-10), but the Master must instruct the Community in accordance with the spirit that they possess. God ordained and designed everything to carry out its purpose (even the obedience of those within the Community). God created man to govern the world and has given for him two spirits in which to walk: a spirit of truth or a spirit of injustice (1QS III.16-20). The God of Israel and his angel of truth will relieve all the sons of light, for God created both the spirits of light and darkness and he loves the former and hates the latter (1QS III.11-IV.1).24

1QM (The War Scroll)

1QM discusses the war between God’s elect in the community and the nations. 1QM XII.11-5 states that God has established the elect for himself and that he has engraved for them the favors of his blessings and his covenant of peace.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.