Qumran and predestination: A theological study of the thanksgiving hymns (Studies on the texts of the desert of Judah)

By Eugene H. Merrill. -- Includes Bibliographical References (p. [59]-64) And Indexes. QUMRAN AND PREDESTINATION: A THEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE THANKSGIVING HYMNS 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 8 Preface 10 Abbreviations 13 I. Introduction 14 The Problem 14 Previous Studies 14 Delimitations 15 methodology 15 II. The Setting of the Thanksgiving Hymns 17 The Discoveries and Publication 17 The Significance of the Scrolls of Qumran 18 The Khirbet Community and Identification of the Dead Sea Sect 19 The Provenance and Uniqueness of 1QH 22 Identity of the author 22 The role of the author 22 The Teaching and Purpose of 1QH 24 The Importance of Predestination in 1QH 25 III. Exegesis of Selected Predestinarian Passages 29 IV. Teachings in 1 QH Related to or Dependent upon Predestination 37 Creation 37 Divine monergism 37 The purpose of creation 37 Divine foreknowledge 38 The "establishment" of all things 38 The two spirits 38 the righteous and the wicked 41 The whole universe 42 Judgment 43 Man's way of life 44 Revelation 46 To the Teacher of Righteousness 47 Through the Teacher of Righteousness 47 To the individual and Community 48 Salvation 50 The nature of man 50 Divine initiative 51 The grace of God 52 Forgiveness 53 Preservation 57 The free will of man 58 The Reconciliation of Divine and Human Responsibilities 59 The Covenant 60 Knowledge 63 Ethics and Eschatology 64 Description of the Covenant Community 64 Description of the wicked 65 The hereafter 67 V. Summary and Conclusion 69 BIBLIOGRAPHY 72 Indices 78 INDEX OF PERSONAL NAMES 78 INDEX OF SUBJECTS 80 REFERENCES 81 OLD TEST AMENT 83 INTER TESTAMENTAL AND TALMUDIC LITERATURE 83 NEW TESTAMENT 84 HEBREW AND GREEK TERMS 84