Who uses the Dead Sea Scrolls Today?

Today the information contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls is mainly used by scholars and those interested in the study of the Bible. These scholars must justify the research they are involved in before being given acces to the scroll due to their fragile condition.

Access to all the scrolls is not widely available to the general public although as mentioned before some of the scrolls are on display in The Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem and other framents and artifacts travel the world for exhibitions.

There are currently several different exhibitions taking place in the United States.

Oxford university Press in conjunction with the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation is in the process of producing as series of books under the title 'Discoveries in the Judaean Desert'. Currently there are twenty-two published volumes and it is anticipated that when all of the material is published there will be forty-eight volumes in all.

As a result the only people who currently have unlimited access to the scrolls are those involved in their preservation and conservation and those involved in their publication.

It appears that the Dead Sea Scrolls will continued to be researched and their contents debated for some time to come.

Does the information contained within the scrolls have any impact on current civilization.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed that the books contained in the Old Testement of the Bible had in fact been written 2000 years earlier than first thought. These books form the basis of Christianity, Juadism,and modern Islam. They provide links to a period in time when Christianity as we know it today parted ways with the traditional Jewish faith.

There are still many thearies that we have not been told the real truth about what the scrolls actually contain as there is a belief that the Catholic church tried to withhold certain details for fear of the impact they would have on the way their followers would viewed both the church and its beliefs.

No doubt the value and contents of the scrolls will continue to be debated depending on the way in which their contents are interpreted for years to come. In the mean time they will continue to capture the interest of the wider community which by its very nature is forever looking for answers and proof of the past and confirmation of what the future may hold.

I have included below a video from National Geographic which provides a small insight into the continuing riddle of the scrolls.




References:

Books:

Hodge. Stephen 2001, The Dead Sea Scrolls, Piatkus, London.


Websites:

Welcome to the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation, Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation, 2008, viewed 28th May 2010. http://www.deadseascrollsfoundation.com/

Shor. Pnina, Conservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Israel Antiquities Authority, viewed 28th May 2010.
http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=522#MMMas

The Dead Sea Scrolls, University of the Holy Land, 2007, viewed 28th May 2010.
http://www.uhl.ac/dss.html

Jastram. Nathan, The Dead Sea Scrolls Lutheran Witness Interview with Dr. Nathan Jastram, Issues, Etc, viewed 28th May 2010.
http://www.mtio.com/articles/aissar76.htm

Video:

Greyshark09, National Geographic - Riddles of the Bible: Dead Sea Scrolls 1/5, 2009, viewed 28th May 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcCusw7qhgI&8Feature=related