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John C. Trever

The Manual of Discipline, found in Cave 1, sets forth the communal rules and some of the doctrines of the Qumran sect. In a famous passage in column 3, seen here, It uses dualistic language to describe the sect’s view of the universe, in which only two ethical options exist: “He [God] has created men to govern the world, and has appointed for him two spirits in which to talk until the time of His visitation: the spirits of truth and falsehood. Those born of truth spring from a fountain of light but those born of falsehood spring from a source of darkness. All the children of righteousness are ruled by the Prince of Light and walk in the ways of light, but all the children of falsehood are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness” (lines 18–21). This language prefigures both the Gospel of John (for example, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness,” John 8:12) and the letters of Paul (for example, “what fellowship has light with darkness,” 2 Corinthians 6:14).