Christianity and the Essenes (original) (raw)

According to Josephus, the Essenes were one of three major Jewish philosophies. The other two were the Pharisees, who were mostly lay people, and the Sadducees, the aristocratic and powerful priestly class of Jerusalem. Josephus says there were six thousand Pharisees and four thousand Essenes in Judaea. Pharisees were less radical than the Essenes and were ready to compromise with the Sadducees and, to some extent, co-operate with the Romans. The contemporaneous Jewish philosopher and exegete Philo of Alexandria gives the same number of Essenes. Josephus and Philo report that the Essenes live “together in large communities in several cities of Judaea and in many villages”. What is the branch of Judaism from which Christianity emerged?