Jesus and the Essenes

Product Information

Alvar Ellegård; Jesus—One Hundred Years Before Christ: A Study In Creative Mythology, London (1999). ISBN 0-87951-720-4 Hamidović, David (2010). "About the Links between the Dead Sea Scrolls and Mandaean Liturgy". ARAM Periodical. 22: 441–451. doi: 10.2143/ARAM.22.0.2131048.

Much early Christian doctrine was formulated precisely to combat ideas that were already well-developed, but were perceived to be theologically troubling. Thus groups which had no intention of deviating from the church, but had seen themselves as the true church, found themselves marginalised as heretics.

Events

The once entrenched idea that early Christian heresies emerged in opposition to some ancient, permanent orthodoxy, is utterly misleading. There were in fact many different competing 'Christianities' in the first few centuries AD.

Gnosticism' is a vague term which encompasses sects closely associated with Christianity and much larger movements contemporary with, but unrelated to, Christianity. 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]

a b Rudolph, Kurt (April 1964). "War Der Verfasser Der Oden Salomos Ein "Qumran-Christ"? Ein Beitrag zur Diskussion um die Anfänge der Gnosis". Revue de Qumrân. Peeters. 4 (16): 523–555.