RESCUING THE FALLEN ANGELS: THE CASE OF THE DISAPPEARING ANGELS AT QUMRAN

Abstract

The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years, a two-volume collection of essays to celebrate the jubilee of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, promises the reader a combination of comprehensive surveys of where the last fifty years of scholarship on the Scrolls of Qumran have brought us and cutting edge articles that indicate directions for future study.' Within that context, P. Alexander's contribution on the demonology of the Dead Sea Scrolls clearly fits the latter category.2 One will search in vain to find any sort of summary of the present state of affairs in scholarship on Qumran demonology. Perhaps this is just a byproduct of his opening statement on how little attention has been paid specifically to their demonology.3 At any rate, what is offered in place of a summary or extensive interaction with predecessors is rather a straightforward new vision for the demonology and implicitly the angelology of the Dead Sea Scrolls.4 It is a vision fully deserving of both careful consideration and preliminary critique.