Sanders, James A. 1927-2020

James A. Sanders (28 November 1927 in Memphis, Tennessee – 1 October 2020) was an American scholar of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and one of the Dead Sea Scrolls editors. Sanders grew up in racially segregated Memphis, attended a Methodist church, and went to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt University where he associated with Baptist & Methodist fellowships. He was the first to translate and edit the Psalm Scroll, which contained a previously unknown psalm. Sanders retired in the late 1990s, but published and lectured regularly into his 90s. Sanders taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York, NY and at the Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, CA. While at CST, he founded the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center for Research and Preservation (ABMC), a photographic, microfilm, and later digital, library and research center for ancient and medieval manuscripts related to the Bible. He had a falling-out with Elizabeth Bechtel the Center founder. In his retirement, Sanders taught at the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, a denominational seminary hosted on the Claremont School of Theology campus, as well as lecturing widely. In 2010, Sanders was made an honorary canon of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in recognition of his service to the Episcopal Church (United States).