Thank you for visiting 24/7 Scrolls. This is a brand new web site and a brand new organization, which went live on the web for the first time May 1st, 2010. Let me introduce myself. My name is James Carvin. I am currently looking for a Board of Directors for 247Scrolls.org and have a business plan under development. I will be attempting to start a pilot program here where I live in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. I will provide news on who the board members and donors are as we agree on our long term goals and plan of implementation. I have not yet applied for a non profit status. I simply knew of the need for this program as a student, writer and teacher of church history and prophecy.

I am not well-to-do. My wife is handicapped and unemployed. And I have two teenage boys. I have a job in retail and have been writing books on-the-side not always with profits in mind, so much as good teaching. I was writing a commentary on the books of Maccabees when I realized how important it was to have direct access to the Dead Sea Scrolls and certain other important historical documents to help me sort out for myself and my readers which of the theories being proposed by scholars deserved to be followed. I had to do due diligence or my book would simply not have had any merit. However, the cost was well beyond my means.

It was not the first time I ran into this problem. As a Bible teacher and historian I have stood in need of numerous historical documents, or at least typed versions of them countless times. The Patrologia Graeca (PG) by J.P. Migne is available for a cost of about $40,000 to anyone who can afford it. It is not even available at the Regional Seminary I attended, nor is there a copy of it anywhere here in Palm Beach County. Yet it contains the complete writings of the Greek Church Fathers in their original languages. I will be putting together a "wish list" on the donate page in the days to come.

The first project I am interested in is the Dead Sea Scrolls. Typed versions of these have become available through Oxford University Press in the forty volume series known as Discoveries in the Judean Desert (DJD). I realized that I was not the only person who wanted to see these scrolls but probably couldn't afford it. In fact, if I had a choice, I would spend countless hours pouring through books like these as I did my research. So it occurred to me wouldn't it be ideal to be a curator for a Reference Library that housed them? I could do my research and make the same books available for others at the same time. And I realized that assembling a core of volunteers to watch and care for these books would not actually be very difficult. And besides, I love to serve customers, but what on earth am I still doing in retail? I needed to start this project, administer it, and take a modest income for the work.

Meanwhile, I have become intimately familiar with the Internet's best web sites for doing research, and will be providing my favorite links here as time allows for my own benefit, since I need a place to organize things, and I am certain others could use the same. If it were up to me, the Internet would provide everything for free and there would be no need for Reference Halls. But many works are under copyright and certain publishers have their reasons for charging for books and other literature.

So that is why I'm doing this. And I will tell you about the Board of Directors and Volunteers as they join me. Now that I have shared my story, tell me about yours. What are your interests? Would you like to contribute? Just fill out the form below. Be sure to leave good contact information if you want me to get back with you.

 

.