[Megillot] the teacher, again

[philip davies]

As every New testament scholar knows (or should), there is a Jesus of 
history and a Christ of faith. So no doubt with the Teacher; whoever 
historically this person may have been, the texts do not necessarily 
point directly to him. A good example is the impression that he was 
persecuted by a 'Wicked Priest' (and this also answers the question 
whether there ever was a historical 'wicked priest'). There are 
reasons to doubt that this is simply a historical datum, just as 
there are reasons to doubt the Jewish trial of Jesus.

As for 4QMMT; its mention of 'camps' suggested an already sectarian 
organization on the lines of D, though nothing that points to S (the 
latter point is not conclusive, but I don't see a strong case for the 
yahad being envisaged as an organization in several different loci.)

Put in Maxine's way: the Teacher in the Scrolls is an amalgam of 
several readings, though all by his followers (not unlike the NT 
really). Also, like the NT, no external evidence for the person at 
all (I don't buy Josephus and Tacitus is a third-hand source).

It is better not to take as fact something that might be than to take 
as fact something that may not be, I think. Of course, most 'facts' 
are a matte of probability, but I see no probabilities in the matter 
of identifying the historical teacher. Exploring him (and his 
opponents) as an ideological construct within the texts is better - 
and also the first step in any historical work.

Philip
--
Professor Philip R Davies
University of Sheffield
_______________________________________________
g-Megillot mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://mailman.McMaster.CA/mailman/listinfo/g-megillot