Are apocalyptic texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls relevant for understanding the nature of early Christian apocalypticism?

The Dead Sea Scrolls (hereafter the Scrolls) provide significant insights into the lives, beliefs, and practises of the Qumran sect, a Jewish community living at the site between the third century BCE and the first century CE. Given their resounding impact throughout Jewish studies, it is natural to consider the Scrolls’ contribution to understanding the development and expression of early Christian apocalypticism. ‘Apocalyptic’ works encompass significant texts claiming to reveal previously hidden information concerning the final judgement and transformation of the world. By comparing the apocalyptic worldviews expressed by the Qumran sect and early Christian communities, the Scrolls' pertinence for studies of Christian apocalypticism are investigated. The texts of interest are Daniel and 1QM, both beloved by the Qumran sect, and Revelation, a third-century CE Christian work which typifies the apocalyptic genre. It is first established that Daniel and 1QM effectively represent apocalypticism as expressed by the Qumran sect. Daniel, composed during the second century BCE, is preserved in eight extant manuscripts and multiple pseudepigraphal fragments and belongs to the apocalyptic genre, full of eschatological visions. 1QM was copied into the first century CE and carefully stored in the caves. It expresses an apocalyptic worldview despite not being classified as such through its eschatological focus, describing the inevitable final battle. Secondly, through comparative studies, it is shown that Revelation shares many concerns with these two texts. It demonstrates a Danielic concern with the role of messianism throughout the final judgment, viewing itself as the culmination of Daniel’s apocalyptic motifs. Furthermore, despite providing an alternative scenario to 1QM, Revelation mirrors several concerns, including an interest in war-based eschatology in the face of religious persecution. To conclude, these similarities demonstrate the vast potential that the apocalyptic works at Qumran have for aiding academic understanding of the nature of early Christian apocalypticism.