Publisher's Synopsis
The Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in 1947 at Qumran, were written by a Jewish sect known as the Essenes and are commonly thought to have been written 100 to 200 years before Jesus lived. Marvin Vining advances and modifies the controversial work of Barbara Thiering and Robert Eisenman to show that the scrolls were actually written when Jesus was alive and that they speak directly to the origins of Christianity and are a mirror image of the Gospels from the perspective of Jesus's enemies. Christianity arose out of a schism between the exclusivist, rigid and militant views of the Essenes and the inclusivist, tolerant and nonviolent views of Jesus. Jesus was raised an Essene, but he refused to follow their militant ways. Vining shows that the Dead Sea Scrolls are written in a secret coded language called 'pesher' in which Jesus emerges as the 'Wicked Priest,' the antagonist to the Teacher of Righteousness who was the leader of the Essenes. JESUS THE WICKED PRIEST revitalizes the Gospel message by rescuing Jesus' legacy from the Essenes' disinformation to reveal his true role as tireless social reformer and revolutionary teacher. Vining's detailed study also reveals long-lost Christian doctrines of reincarnation. He shows Gabriel to be the high priest Simeon and the Teacher of Righteousness and discloses Gabriel's role in transmitting the seed of the holy bloodline to the Virgin Mary.
