Over the last two years a controversy has erupted in the world's press over the Dead Sea Scrolls that were found in caves 20 miles east of Jerusalem between 1947 and 1956. Professor Geza Vermes of Oxford calls it the academic scandal par excellence of the 20th century, Professor Morton Smith of Columbia University protests that there is no justification for the cover-up, and Professor Robert Eisenman of California says, we're tired of being treated contemptuously.