Jesus and the Essenes

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The Essenes at Qumran used the concept of messiah as an eschatological figure; this had never been done before (except perhaps in the Book of Daniel). As the war against Hamas unfolds, our unwavering newsroom remains committed to covering Israel's most profound crisis. Around 150 BCE, an unnamed "righteous teacher," in opposition to the Hasmoneans, took his followers to the desert and established a community at Qumran. They believed, perhaps, that in structuring their lives as part of a well-defined elite community, they would ensure their survival and create a model of perfection that would prepare them for Redemption. At Qumran, they were able to install a phenomenal number of water cisterns and channels in the bedrock for these rituals.

Looking at obscure Christian and non-Christian sects gives us a good idea of the diversity and character of religious beliefs within and adjacent to Christianity, and also helps us to understand why the Christian church developed in the way it did.The literature of this period included seers who had out-of-body experiences of being taken on tours of Heaven and where they were shown the secrets of the final days usually by angels. What substantive content underlies this question as distinguished from smoke or free-floating language?

This document speaks briefly of the origins of the sect, probably Essenes, 390 years after the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (d. To give it prominence would be denying one’s responsibility; to avoid it altogether might lead to the abandonment of hope. Drower connect the Mandaeans with the Nasaraeans described by Epiphanius, a group within the Essenes according to Joseph Lightfoot. Neither the Damascus Document, nor 1QS or 4QMMT suggest that the legitimacy of the High Priest was an issue for the split.

Certainly Philo portrays the Judean Essenes as pro-Herodian and does not portray them as in opposition or as dissenting from the temple or Jewish rulers throughout history--rather Philo portrays the Essenes of Judea as well regarded by both Hasmonean rulers and Herods (as I develop in my piece in Stacey et al, "Qumran Revisited").