Dead Sea Scrolls expert to speak at Saint Martin’s University

September 19, 2006

The Pacific Science Center in Seattle opens its new exhibit, discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls, this Saturday, September 22. On October 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Norman Worthington Conference Center, Saint Martin’s University will present a lecture and discussion on the Dead Sea Scrolls by noted academician, George W. E. Nickelsburg. The presentation, entitled “The Dead Sea Scrolls--What difference have they made?” will explore how the discovery and interpretation of the Scrolls have changed the perception of early Judaism and Christian origins. It will be followed by a panel discussion featuring the lecturer and Dr. David Suter and Dr. Ian Werrett of the Saint Martin’s Religious Studies faculty. The community is invited to attend this free event.

George Nickelsburg is an internationally known specialist in the field of early Judaism and the origins of Christianity. He is noted in particular for his work on the Book of Enoch, a Jewish writing from the Hellenistic and early Roman period, Aramaic fragments of which were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. He has recently published the definitive commentary on the Book of Enoch. He also has a well-deserved reputation for the breadth of his presentation of the field of Judaism in the Greco-Roman period with his book, Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah, now in its second edition. Early in his career he worked in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem, where he helped prepare the Dead Sea Scrolls for an exhibit at the Smithsonian. Nickelsburg is Professor Emeritus at the University of Iowa, where he was the Daniel J. Krumm Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Reformation Studies prior to his retirement. He is a graduate of Valparaiso University and earned his Ph.D. from Harvard Divinity School where his dissertation was entitled Resurrection, Immortality, and Eternal Life in Intertestamental Judaism, and will appear this fall in a new expanded edition published by Harvard University Press. Nickelsburg has recently moved to the Seattle area and is a welcome addition to the academic community of the Pacific Northwest.

For more information, contact:

David Suter, Ph.D.
Professor of religious studies
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4360
dsuter@stmartin.edu

Carleen Jackson
Director of marketing
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4485
carleenj@stmartin.edu