Ethics in the Qumran Community: An Interdisciplinary Investigation

Full title
Ethics in the Qumran Community: An Interdisciplinary Investigation
Research notes

Reader Checked|10/12/0212 SE

Reference type
Author(s)
Tso, Marcus
Year
2010
Journal / Book Title || Series Title
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
Number of volumes
0
Issue / Series Volume
2.292
Publisher
Mohr Siebeck
Place of Publication
Tübingen
Pages
xiv + 270
Alternative title
WUNT
Label
24/10/2011
Abstract

Marcus Tso uses an interdisciplinary methodology to reexamine a long-neglected subject. Rather than the contents of ethics, the author focuses on the bases of ethics in the Qumran community, using the texts it collected as the primary evidence. He begins by comparing the ethical language of the Scrolls with other related literatures, then places the discussion in a historical framework based on recent findings. With the central chapters of the thesis, he explores four interrelated bases of Qumran ethics: e.g., how scriptural tradition(s) supported sectarian moral cosmology and halakhah; how identity formation informed both moral obligations and virtues; how cultural/political contexts may explain foreign ethical influences at Qumran, or their changing stance on violence; and how eschatology served as moral motivation. Furthermore, Marcus Tso confirms but qualifies some fundamental principles of Qumran ethics noted by earlier scholars, such as theonomy, naturalism, dualism, determinism, and rigorism.

Notes

Contents: General introduction -- Literature review -- The language of ethical discourse -- A historical framework -- Scriptural tradition -- Self-identity -- Cultural and political contexts -- Eschatology -- Principles behind practices -- Conclusion -- Appendices.|Read more: http://books.google.co.il/books?id=3dtfhMEoPt8C&printsec=frontcover&hl=…