The Message of the Scrolls

This book is not intended primarily for the specialist scholar, but for the reader with an interest in the Bible and in the history of the Jewish people and of Christianity. It seeks to answer many of the questions which the author had often been asked in his lectures - questions on the discovery of the scrolls, their contents, and their religious, social, and historical significance. The first purpose of this book is to present all the relevant facts relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls in a straightforward manner so that the reader can draw his own conclusions. The second object of this book is to provide the reader with a full and detailed account of the discovery of the seven complete Dead Sea Scrolls and their acquisition. The third and possibly the most important purpose of this book is to provide a description of each separate scroll and its contents. In this way the reader with a specific interest in any one scroll will find all the details of that scroll concentrated in a single chapter. [From the Preface]