Joshua Neustein: Margins
Contemporary art unraveling the Dead Sea Scrolls

Until January 17, 2010

Now that the dust has settled upon the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the controversy is over, I had the pleasure to see the Margins Exhibit created by Joshua Neustein.  Funny how the time between the testaments is sometimes referred to as the ‘silent’ years (c. 433-5 B.C.); as they were anything but silent.  The Dead Sea Scrolls were written during this period.  They were discovered in 1947 in a cave in the hills overlooking the Dead Sea.

Neustein’s project incorporates the words of poet Edmond Jabès whose works complement the scrolls by referencing lost words, silence, God and the Book.  The installation connects with the poetry from The Book of Resemblances and The Book of Margins.

The words appear on acrylic slates seemingly strewn and forgotten on the floor.  They are difficult to read as their metallic surface reflects the light of the chandelier that is half hidden in the wall.  Mona Filip, Curator, says Margins explores apparent and concealed ideas of the Dead Sea Scrolls, exposing them to the light of our times.

The scrolls and the artists represent the social forces that shaped the intertestamental period – a world of Diaspora.  Jews outside of the Holy Land used their Greek translation of the Old Testament as a focus of worship.  This theme is found in the words by Jabès:

To speak the language of others, but in the interrogative mode. “Always in a foreign country, the poet uses poetry as an interpreter.”

The recurring theme of the chandelier by Neustein plays a central role in Margins, establishing a luminous presence; although the lights are not fully functional.  Imperfections in the appearance of the words and the chandelier speak to us, but there’s a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in.¹

Godspeed,

¹ Leonard Cohen

§

Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON
M5S 2C6

Telephone: 416.586.8000

Because it has been written does not make something true.
Because it has been spoken does not make something true.
Because it has been conjured by the mind does not make something true.
Thoughts are what we make of them.

Whispered into the minds of the willing, a truth it does not make.
Whispered by the mouths of saints and scholars, a truth it does not make.
Whispered by the wise and the blessed, a truth it does not make.
Thoughts are what we make of them.

Trust not he who holds his word above all others, for he has lost his way.
Trust not he who condemns and scolds, for he will be judged.
Trust not he whose words would bite and degenerate, for his tongue is wicked.
Thoughts are what we make of them.

John J. Collins very recent book arrived in the mail while I was at SBL thanks to the good graces of the folk at Eerdmans.

The publisher’s blurb remarks

John J. Collins here deconstructs “the Qumran community” and shows that the sectarian documents actually come from a text spread throughout the land. He first examines the Community Rule or Yahad, and then considers the Teacher of Righteousness, a pivotal figure in the Essene movement, discovering that he was probably active in the first century bce rather than in the Maccabean era. After examining the available evidence, Collins concludes that it is, in fact, overwhelmingly likely that the site of Qumran housed merely a single settlement of this widespread movement.

I’ll get the review posted here as soon as I work through it.

Here, there and everywhere we’ve been
Knowing nothing can we know at all
Nothing, everything what can it mean
For a moment You were seen…you came and then

High on every mountain, in the valleys low
Voices carried on the wind that call your name
Rumbling thunder on the distant plain
All the pieces in the game… you came and then

Stories ever told, yearning for an end
Look to the beginning for the key
Pages ever turned, pieces that remain
of a future history

Calling all who listen, it’s calling me
I can hear a sound of music never known
Touching every motion, the breath of Life
For a moment we were shown, we’re not alone…

Stories ever told, yearning for an end
Look to the beginning for the key
Pages ever turned, pieces that remain
of a future history

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

You shall teach them diligently to your children. Deuteronomy 6:7

Our family was excited to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit that was coming to town all the way from Israel. These ancient copies of the Old Testament provide evidence that our Bible has remained accurate over the centuries. Our nephew Daniel was so elated about this outing that he told his schoolmates, “Our family is going to see ‘the dead sea squirrels!’” We all laughed when we heard his misquote. His little ears had turned a word he had never heard (scrolls) into a word he did know (squirrels). And his childlike enthusiasm, he also knew that the family was going to see something wonderful!

Daniel’s excitement underscores an important spiritual aspect of parenting. Values are transmitted to our children not only by what we say but by the emotions we convey. Both content and heartfelt appreciation for God’s Word can be communicated to children in a variety of ways (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), including what they overhear in our conversation with others.

Young children may not initially understand each spiritual idea we discuss, but they can catch the importance we place on it. Children pick up on spiritual values and grow in understanding as we express reverence and excitement about the Word of God. —dennis fisher

Lord, give us wisdom to provide the proper atmosphere to lead our children in Your ways by what they see and hear. —sper

Train up a child in the way he should go — but be sure you go that way yourself.

I couldn’t take any pictures, cameras being forbidden at this special exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum. I went to see the scrolls a week ago Wednesday with an old friend of mine, AB. (And as an aside, haven’t posted most of this week because of being under the weather due to side effects of antibiotics that turned out to be unnecessary).

We’ve been friends for over 25 years, since we were young and newly married. She is still married to the same guy, fortunately I am not. We were both c.a. (chartered accountant) students at the same awful firm, which will remain nameless as it was later swallowed up by another big firm, high in one of the Bay Street bank towers. On a very windy day, you could feel the building sway. During tax time, we both worked six days a week and both grumbled about it. I became a c.a., AB never did. But I gave it up over 10 years ago, and she is still an accountant as well as a web designer.

We’ve been friends through 3 kids, 1 of hers and 2 of mine, through a childbirth and 2 adoptions, through the admission of a terrible mistake (mine–my first marriage), a divorce, a remarriage (my wedding was a potluck and she came from the suburbs with one of those big zipped heat retaining bags), book launches, going back to school (her), greying hair, changing eyes, changing waists, a greater sense of who we are and what life is all about. We both have blue eyes. We are both first generation Canadian born. AB is Swiss Chalet and I’m falaffel, but all my life I will appreciate Swiss Chalet loving ladies because of her.

Qumran Caves, photo by Grauesel, click on it to see larger

Anyway last week we went to the ROM to see the dead sea scrolls. Most of the exhibit was about life at the time of the scrolls and in the place where they were found, with objects of daily use on display: pottery, combs, bottles, ossuaries (where the bones of the dead were kept), sandals (people’s feet were small in those days). There are various theories about the Qumran community that produced the scrolls or stored them (depending on the theory). Personally I’m with the theory that the clay deposits, large pottery remains, and all the water facilities archaeologists have discovered at Qumran indicate a pottery factory rather than a religious sect.

Dead Sea scroll, Isaiah 57-59, Wikipedia Commons, click on pic to enlarge

The display of scrolls came at the very end. There were several types of scrolls: biblical, commentary on the bible, rules of the community, and a contract.

A couple of the scrolls were too dark to read, but there were others that were so clear I could make out the words, even more amazingly read, especially psalm 121. I have to admit that brought tears to my eyes.

The example of community rules (at a certain time of the month, everyone would pass before someone in authority for judgment, with the assurance that nobody would be condemned to death–gee thanks) frankly gave me the creeps.

But my favourite was the lease of land with fruit trees. The lessee promised to sow and reap vegetables and fruit, to pay so much for the right. In return he required, should anyone object, that the lessor would declare his right to plant and sow and pick for the season. Signed and sealed. It was so vibrant with life, the ordinary business of living, that it spoke to me more than anything else of the significance of these scrolls that chance and climate preserved for millenia.

By the way AB and I had lunch in the museum’s cafeteria. The caterer has changed any number of times in the decades that we’ve been friends, but it still looks basically the same. AB had a hamburger, I had a veggie burger. We shared the fries and the chocolate cupcake. You see, if only back in the day, people had realized that there are sufficient ways for an Irish girl and a Jewish girl, or looked at another way a suburbanite and an urban dweller, or another way still, a potatoes and roast person and a vegetarian, to share a lunch and foibles and bragging about kids–then there would be peace today in lands fraught with misery.

Bob Cargill has penned (I know, it’s an anachronism since he typed and didn’t pen at all) a nice review of recent events in the ongoing Golb-ian travesty.  You can check it out here. Particularly astute is this observation:

each day that this case drags on, university of chicago historian norman golb’s legacy and reputation becomes more associated with scandal, dishonesty, internet crime and academic fraud, and less associated with his life of scholarship. yet, raphael golb’s defense is insisting that golb’s actions are protected by the first amendment to the constitution.

And equally delightful, this

criminals usually don’t like it when victims know who is behind the mask. but, the rest of us on the internet are not concerned whether the public knows who we are. this is because we are not cowards, but are willing to stand behind the free speech we make (bold his).

And this

conclusion

raphael golb’s actions in this criminal case were not an isolated incident, nor were they a prank, satire, parody, or other kind of joke. this was a premeditated, well-coordinated, well-planned, methodical, two-year campaign of defamation, intimidation, and harassment, ultimately ending in impersonation and forgery, perpetuated by raphael golb against those he felt were his father’s opponents. his intent was to harm museum attendance and denigrate the reputations of scholars that disagreed with norman golb. (bold his).

Read the whole piece.

To read the motion, click on this link:

First Amendment Motion

It’s a pdf file.

This motion (or “memorandum” accompanying a motion, as it is more technically called) will be of interest to anyone concerned with the Dead Sea Scrolls controversy, academic quarrels in general, the difference between civil and criminal actions, and issues connected with blogging, emails, the right to anonymity, parody, and the First Amendment.

The motion/memorandum is a public document.

This is the fifth “That’s a Good Question” article on Christian Apologetics, which appeared recently in the Three Hills Capital. As always, you are welcome to leave your comments below.

That’s a Good Question #5

Isn’t the Bible a human book full of contradictions and errors?

The Bible is the world’s all time best-selling book, with distribution numbering in the billions. Christians believe that it is the divine, inerrant Word of God, produced by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But is this a credible claim? Is the Bible a reliable book? Or is it simply a human book full of errors and contradictions? Before we answer these questions, let’s do a brief overview of the Bible.

The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books: thirty-nine books in the Old Testament and twenty-seven books in the New Testament. These books were written over a period of about fifteen hundred years, from about 1450BC to 100AD, by forty different authors, on three continents. The authors came from all walks of life, and their professions include doctor, king, shepherd, government leader, fisherman, tax collector, and religious leader. Despite this great diversity of history, authorship and geography, the Bible displays unity in its story, message and teachings.  The central character in the Bible is Jesus Christ, with the Old Testament looking forward to Him and the New Testament announcing Him and describing how the message about Him spread.

The Bibles we read in English are modern translations from ancient Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts which have been copied by hand from earlier copies. Since the originals no longer exist, some think that our translations are based on corrupted, unreliable copies. However the science of Textual Criticism actually shows the opposite to be true. Using techniques that are comparable to solving a giant jigsaw puzzle or working backwards through a giant maze to the beginning, textual scholars have been able to determine the original words with a high degree of accuracy. We have over fifty-seven hundred ancient manuscripts, with the earliest fragment (five verses from the gospel of John) dated within twenty-five to fifty years of the original. For comparison, the next best attested ancient writing is Homer’s Iliad, with only six hundred and forty-three manuscripts, and the earliest is dated five hundred years after the original.  For Plato we have just seven manuscripts, and the earliest is dated twelve hundred years after the original.

Archaeology has also provided good evidence for the reliability of Scripture. For example, the discovery of the Dead Seas Scrolls in 1948 revealed ancient Old Testament manuscripts dating from about 100BC, with some being one thousand years older than the next oldest manuscripts! Scholars found that the copying of the Old Testament over this one thousand year timeframe had been amazingly accurate. Of great significance was the finding of prophetic books such as Isaiah that contains accurate prophecies about Jesus, in manuscripts dated over one hundred years before His birth.

Moving from manuscripts to the actual content of the Bible, many contend that it is full of contradictions. In my own reading and study of the Bible, I have had questions and come across things that initially appeared to be contradictions. Sometimes I have been able to find a solution through further Bible study, prayer, and common sense. At other times I have used the work of scholars who have researched the question or alleged contradiction in detail.  Time after time, my confidence in the Bible has been justified as I have found good answers that give reasonable explanations.

Maybe you have questions about the Bible, or concerns about alleged contradictions. I encourage you to investigate your concerns, and if you would like some help finding answers, I welcome your questions. I think you will find that there are good answers, and that the Bible is indeed reliable. You may also discover the transforming power of God’s Word, and your life may never be the same.

The Dead Sea, one of the 28 official finalist candidates in the online global competition to rate the New7Wonders of Nature, is currently ranked among the Top 14, according to an announcement by the New7Wonders Foundation.

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Thank you so much

The Great Pumpkin is interested in the Word of God?

It appears so!  That is actually a hot air balloon at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, CA.  It just cracked me up that it looked like the Great Pumpkin was watching the lecture and wanted to see what was going on!

These pictures are from an event we went to a couple of weekends ago hosted by my father-in-law for the…

Unveiling The Scrolls

The Museum of Biblical & Sacred Writings is delighted to announce that we will be the first Museum in the US and Canada to have use of, through a special donation, facsimiles of six of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

It was an amazing site to see!  A facsmile copy of the the entire book of Isaiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

 

Here is another link about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Unveiling of the facsimile copy:  The Dead Sea Scrolls

It was a proud day for my Father-In-Law – Dr. George Giacumakis!

 

Here’s an article from the Orange County Register covering the event… Scroll Replica.   We are so looking forward to the opening of the Museum of Biblical and Sacred Writings and are so proud that our father-in-law gets to see his passion for the Word of God be realized through this endeavor! 

 

Here is another good post from Neil at 4Simpsons.

Excerpt:

Many people – including some Christians – are quick to say that the Bible has been translated and changed so many times over the centuries that we don’t know what the original writings said.  For example, I saw a video clip where Deepak Chopra (alleged religious expert) claims that the King James was the 13th iteration of the Bible.

But contrary to that myth, the books of the Bible have only been translated once and the copying process was very robust, dependable and verifiable.

For example, Paul wrote in Greek, and we have Greek manuscripts to make translations from.  That is one translation.

Deepak Chopra!!! He knows less about religion than my keyboard!

Look:

But I digress. I wanted to say something about the reliability of the Bible.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

When we discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, it contained some manuscripts that were 1000 years earlier than our previous copies. It provides an excellent test of written transmission, because you can compare the best copy we had with a copy that is 1000 years earlier, then see if there are any differences.

See here:
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/holy-post/archive/2009/06/26/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-dead-sea-scrolls.aspx

Excerpt:

You know the children’s game called “telephone”? Some kid whispers a message to the kid next to him and it moves down the line until it emerges a garbled version of the original. It turns out the Bible is not like that. Despite endless translations and editions over the centuries, the original message appears to have emerged relatively unscathed. The Dead Sea Scrolls provided Old Testament manuscripts 1,000 years older than the previous oldest manuscript in existence. What the scrolls show is that the texts used at about the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, about 70 years after the death of Jesus, are almost the same as what we read today. Expert Weston W. Fields wrote: “The differences are neither theologically nor historically important. In general the scrolls testify to the amazing accuracy and great care with which ancient scribes passed along the biblical text.”

Too bad people like Deepak Chopra are so ignorant of such evidence.

I mentioned the strange silence of the Biblical Archaeology Review in relation to the Golb Affair some time back, and today Bob Cargill tells us that BAR has finally (if only very, very briefly) actually said something!

Bob concludes in his inimitable style thusly:

whatever the reason, biblical archaeology review has finally reported on the golb scandal. but this ‘report’ obviously lacks the expected vigor, insight, and detailed attention that mr. shanks regularly shows to other disputes, like the james ossuary, the talpiot tomb, the hazon gabriel, his ongoing rift with with shuka dorfman and the iaa, and other past dss-related issues. i know of one person who was recommended to mr. shanks by a respected qumran archaeologist as one who could knowledgeably write about this for bar, but as of the writing of this post, bar still has not contacted him. i’m beginning to wonder if this particular dead sea scrolls scandal is simply being given a ‘minimalist’ amount of attention for reasons other than a lack of a public interest. it seems the last time someone was arrested for a biblical archaeology related crime, bar paid a little more attention. in fact, they even held their own trial. (see also here and here and here and here.)

sometimes, the deafening silence says more than words ever can.

Indeed Bob, indeed.

Kenneth J. Matthews Annual Lecture…

Prof. Jodi Magness
“The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls”
6:00 PM, Thursday, October 29th
Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum

Prof. Magness, the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and author of The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, will discuss the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were deposited in the caves by members of a Jewish sect that lived at Qumran.

This event is free and open to the public. Reception with book signing and cash bar follows. For more information: 215/898-4890.

[Via the PSCO]

Again, only God knows for sure what is happening. I post these videos to spur thought, or to get people curious to research what the bible says. If you don’t believe in the bible or the end times prophecies, I challenge you to read the bible and prove it wrong.