Texts in Conversation
John 12 describes believers as sons of light, using language similar to the Dead Sea Scrolls that divides humanity into the sons of light and sons of darkness. Both describe moral life as participation in a dualistic struggle between good and evil.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1QS 1:9
Community Rule
Dead Sea Scrolls, Sectarian and Community Texts
7 doing all evil; and to bring all who volunteer to do the statutes of God 8 into the covenant of kindness, to be joined in the counsel of God and to walk perfectly before him in all 9 that has been revealed for their appointed times; and to love all the sons of light, each 10 according to his lot in the counsel of God, and to hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt 11 in the vengeance of God. And all who volunteer for his truth shall bring all their knowledge and their strength
Date: 160–100 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
John 12:36
New Testament
34 Then the crowd responded, “We have heard from the law that the Christ will remain forever. How can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus replied, “The light is with you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he went away and hid himself from them.
Date: 90–110 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The New Testament - particularly the Gospel of John - shares with the scrolls a dualistic theology in which good and evil emanate from two different cosmic sources. History is thus a cosmic struggle between good (light) and evil (darkness). The so-called War Scroll from Qumran describes an apocalyptic battle between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. The Manual of Discipline admonishes: "Love all the Sons of Light.... Hate all the Sons of Darkness. . .. Love all that He has chosen and hate all that He has rejected." In the Gospel of John, Jesus describes himself as the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12; see also John 1:5; 3:19-20). The followers of Jesus are referred to as "the sons of the light" (John 12:35-36). In the parable of the unjust steward, Jesus also speaks of the "'sons of light" (Luke 6:8). The Gospels of Luke and John were composed about two hundred years after the Manual of Discipline (Luke about 80 A.D.; John about 100 A.D.; the Manual of Discipline about 100 B.C.). Many varieties of dualistic doctrines with subtle and often vague differences were circulating at the time, ranging from Neoplatonism to Persian Zoroastrianism to Christian and Jewish Gnosticism. Dualistic theologies are also reflected in such Jewish apocryphal books as Jubilees and the Testaments of the Patriarchs, so while the similarities between the New Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls do not necessarily imply a direct connection, they do share a worldview ..."
Hershel Shanks, The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: Random House, 1998), pps. 75–76.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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