Jesus and the Essenes

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These different Gnostic groups all had widely divergent views. Much as there were many 'Christianities' in the first few centuries AD, there were many Gnosticisms, including such famous sects as Manicheism. Rudolph, Kurt (1977). "Mandaeism". In Moore, Albert C. (ed.). Iconography of Religions: An Introduction. Vol.21. Chris Robertson. ISBN 9780800604882. Deutsch, Nathaniel (6 October 2007). "Save the Gnostics". The New York Times . Retrieved 13 May 2022. It was proposed before the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered that the name came into several Greek spellings from a Hebrew self-designation later found in some Dead Sea Scrolls, ʻosey haTorah, "'doers' or 'makers' of Torah". [26] Although dozens of etymology suggestions have been published, this is the only etymology published before 1947 that was confirmed by Qumran text self-designation references, and it is gaining acceptance among scholars. [27] It is recognized as the etymology of the form Ossaioi (and note that Philo also offered an O spelling) and Essaioi and Esseni spelling variations have been discussed by VanderKam, Goranson, and others. In medieval Hebrew (e.g. Sefer Yosippon) Hassidim "the Pious" replaces "Essenes". While this Hebrew name is not the etymology of Essaioi/ Esseni, the Aramaic equivalent Hesi'im known from Eastern Aramaic texts has been suggested. [28] Others suggest that Essene is a transliteration of the Hebrew word ḥiṣonim ( ḥiṣon "outside"), which the Mishnah (e.g. Megillah 4:8 [29]) uses to describe various sectarian groups. Another theory is that the name was borrowed from a cult of devotees to Artemis in Anatolia, whose demeanor and dress somewhat resembled those of the group in Judea. [30] Schiffman, Lawrence H. (1991). From text to tradition: a history of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. New York City: Ktav Pub. House. pp.113–116. ISBN 0-88125-372-3. OCLC 23733614.

Tools and services JPost Premium Ulpan Online JPost Newsletter Our Magazines Learn Hebrew RSS feed JPost.com Archive Digital Library Lists of Jewish holidays Law The introduction ( “Rediscovering the Essenes in the Study of Christian Origins”) and the epilogue ( “Beyond the Essenes”) each emphatically argue in favor of an influence of the Essenes on the early Christian movement. Chapter 1 highlights some of the prominent similarities between the two, such as the significance of Isaiah 40:3 in the Essene text known as the Community Rule and in all four gospels (14), a text reminiscent of the Beatitudes (4Q525, on 17), and the mention of a Son of God (17-18). Joseph supplements these similarities with a caution against “parallelomania” (16), offering reservations concerning how one should proceed to interpret these similarities while keeping in mind the paucity of evidence (23). The epilogue, however, unequivocally proclaims that these claims have been established: Jesus was influenced by the Essenes, as was his movement, which was in ideological proximity to the Essenes, but cannot be defined as Essenic (164).BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Lost and Hidden Christianity". BBC . Retrieved 11 May 2022. A rich diversity of ancient traditions contributing to a cohesive system formed from many cultures. The Gnostics believed themselves to be chosen ones, with particles of the divinity trapped in the matter of their bodies. These divine sparks could, with special knowledge and practices, be freed to rejoin their celestial home.

Thomas, Richard (29 January 2016). "The Israelite Origins of the Mandaean People". Studia Antiqua. 5 (2).Who was this secretive and remotely situated community of Jews who dedicated their lives to the preservation of the holy books of the law, the sacred Torah, and to its author, the God they worshiped as Jehovah, or Yahweh? The Essenes are described as a separate community north of the oasis of Ein Gedi on the shores of the Dead Sea (Qumran). Josephus, Flavius. Jewish War, Book II. Chapter 8, Paragraph 13. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location ( link)

window, document, "script", "https://95662602.adoric-om.com/adoric.js", "Adoric_Script", "adoric","9cc40a7455aa779b8031bd738f77ccf1", "data-key"); a b "St. John the Baptist - Possible relationship with the Essenes | Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 12 April 2022. Schonfield, Hugh J. (1984). The Essene Odyssey: The Mystery of the True Teacher and the Essene Impact on the Shaping of Human Destiny. Tisbury: Element Books. ISBN 0-906540-49-6. OCLC 12223220.Szekely’s The Essene Gospel of Peace might have remained in relative obscurity if orthodoxy had had its way. With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls a few decades later , this new evidence of a thriving Essene Community at Qumranin the centuries leading up to the birth of a prophesied Messiah, gives us irrefutable proof that this sect was focused on preparing to welcome, nurture and protect the son of manand his globally transformational and timely mission. For Orthodox Jewish scholars like Heinrich Graetz, however, Jesus could be identified as an Essene whose purpose was not to create a new religion, but rather to reform Judaism. Christianity was thus dependent on Judaism for its existence and its ideas. Similarly, Reform Jews like Kaufman Kohler could assert that John and Jesus were “members of the Essene party” and that the Essenes joined the early Church because that seemed to explain the history of Christianity in Jewish terms. Unfortunately, the Essenes have often been misrepresented in popular culture via various forgeries like Edmund Bordeaux Szekely’s New Age “ Essene Gospel of Peace,” a false “gospel” purported to be translated from an ancient Aramaic manuscript in the Vatican Library. Consequently, whether the Essenes have been championed by Deists, rationalists, spiritualists, or esotericists, there seems to be no shortage of bad Essene theories to choose from. Long before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, therefore, the Essene hypothesis has been a theoretical persona non grata in scholarly circles.