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Study Meant Damage. It is not surprising that the Bible de Jérusalem has become something of a standard for modern translations: scholars of all faiths freely acknowledge that L'Ecole Biblique is one of the world's most authoritative centers for scriptural study. The school was founded in 1890 by French Dominican Marie Joseph Lagrange, who was a pioneer in countering the age-old Catholic position that to study the Bible was to damage it. Although knowledgeable Protestant and Jewish scholars had long admired the careful work of L'Ecole Biblique's scholars in the field of archaeology, the school came to secular fame only in 1949, when the Jordanian government entrusted it with collecting the Dead Sea Scrolls. One of its professors, French Dominican Roland de Vaux, is head of the international committee translating the scrolls into modern languages. De Vaux also headed the 36 scholars who prepared the Bible de Jérusalem, the first translation to take advantage of the scrolls' discoveries, including an early script of Isaiah. Located near the Damascus Gate, on the spot where Christianity's first martyr, St. Stephen, was stoned to death, L'Ecole Biblique currently has 42 postgraduate scriptural students enrolled. Most of them are Catholic priests, but Protestants are always welcome to use its facilities. The scholars of L'Ecole Biblique are proud that their own Bible de Jérusalem has been used and praised by Protestants and Jews, feel that scriptural study is the key to ecumenical progress. "By studying the Bible together," says Father Pierre Benoit, the director of the school, "we can immediately establish common ground. If we can establish an understanding in the field of Biblical studies, then perhaps we can achieve a similar understanding in theology."