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?
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A comparison between the Essenes and the Early Christian Church
This essay will investigate the Essene community’s effect on early Christianity in Palestine and the impact the Essene culture had on Christian ceremonies.
Qumran Chronicle , 2022
In this review of available archaeological, literary and historical information about the presence and religious character of the Essenes in Jerusalem, we can confirm there was an Essene community in Jerusalem after 37 BCE and that it had previously separated from the Qumran 'House of Yachad', who gave it the name 'House of Peleg'. The two factions can be formally distinguished by their divergent attitudes to Jerusalem and the Temple: those of Qumran became truly 'sectarian' by developing a doctrine that gave them independence from these centres, while their rivals established a community in Jerusalem, navigated a 'special' relationship with the Temple institution, maintained their high standards of purity and became a significant force in Herodian society, on the margins of the mainstream. Although their internal discipline seems to have been similar to that of the Qumran community, the relationship of the Jerusalem Essenes to the outside world was more moderate and conciliatory. These were the Essenes described by Philo and Josephus in their classical works. It is hoped that this study will 'open the gate' to further research on the origins, history and character of the non-Qumran Essenes and their role in Herodian society, in Jerusalem and elsewhere.
This is a historical reconstruction of the Origins and History of the Essene movement built upon the works of scholars (especially Geza Vermes, Yigael Yadin and Gabriele Boccaccini), and combined with the findings of the research set out in my four studies: "Damascus is Damascus: Revisiting the Birthplace of the Essenes", "The Arbel Cave Village: Remains of an Essene Commune", "The Essenes and Jerusalem", and "The Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71): Provenance and Social Setting", all available on this site.
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