The Briefing tracked down the interview that David Peterson mentions in his article, ‘The Dead Sea Scrolls again’, in which three Qumran scholars—Barbara Thiering, Geza Vermes and Max Wilcox—speak with ABC Sunday Night Talk host, John Cleary, about Thiering’s new book, Jesus the Man. Geza Vermes is Emeritus Professor in Jewish Studies at Oxford University and is an acknowledged authority on the Dead Sea scrolls, and Max Wilcox is a senior lecturer in history at Macquarie University in Sydney. Many of you will have already heard of Thiering’s pesher technique of interpreting Scripture and her conclusion that Jesus did not die on the cross and that the new Testament actually describes in code his life with the Essene community. Her ‘new’ approach has been writ large in the popular media. But the following turbulent, sprawling academic argument gives us some idea of how the book has been critically received. For those who missed the broadcast, here is a highly condensed version of what was said.
Category Archives: Reliability of the Bible
The Riddle of Barbara Thiering
Life, Sola Panel
Having offended Moslems by taking the unusual step of stocking The Satanic Verses in its bookshops, the ABC has taken on another of the world’s major religions by screening The Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls on Palm Sunday, April 8. That leaves just Judaism and Buddhism—so watch for documentaries which claim that Buddha was just an overweight incense salesman, and that Moses (whose real name was Chris) lived in the 5th century AD and wrote the entire Old Testament to justify his dislike for sweet and sour pork.