Foundations 4 - The Essene Heritage of Christianity
The "Sermon on the Mount" is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the teaching of Yeshua and the heart of the Christian message. Scholars now accept that the lessons taught by Yeshua on that day originated in the Essene scriptures. The Sermon on the Mount was taken directly from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Most of what we now call Christianity originated in the teachings of the Essenes.
That is because the members of the early Church...the followers of the Way taught by Yeshua...were actually Essenes.
This lesson explains the shared Essene heritage of all Christianity.
This is the fourth installment of a series of seven introductory lessons in Essene studies.
Call to God
Click below. Listen and recite the invocation in Hebrew along with the cantor. Let the words resonate within you. Open your heart and prepare to study with Wisdom.Prayer
Scripture Reading
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:1-11
[Blessed is he]...with a pure heart and does not slander with his tongue,
Blessed are those who hold to her [Wisdom's] precepts and do not hold to the ways of iniquity
Blessed are those who rejoice in her and do not burst forth in the ways of folly
Blessed are those who seek her with pure hands and do not pursue her with a treacherous heart.
Blessed is the man who attains Wisdom and walks in the Law of the Most High
He directs his heart towards her ways and restrains himself in her Corrections and always takes delight in her chastisements.
He does not forsake her when he sees distress Nor abandon her in the time of strain
He will not forget her [on the day of] fear, and will not despise her when his soul is afflicted
For always he will meditate on her and in his distress he will consider [her].
Dead Sea Scroll 4 Qbeat
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John 1: 1-3
And by his knowledge everything has been brought into being. And everything that is, he established for his purpose; and apart from him nothing is done
Community Rule of the Essenes
Lesson
The purpose of this lesson is to show how Father and Mother God laid the groundwork for Yeshua through the teachings and practices of the Essenes. We are fortunate to have an accurate understanding of ancient Essene beliefs from their own writings. The Essenes did a tremendous amount of writing. They wrote about their theology, their religious practices and their expectation of a coming Messiah and a new age. Essene scribes put many of the Hebrew scriptures into writing. Some of our earliest copies of these scriptures are from the Essene libraries. These scribes also developed their own commentaries to the scriptures. This gives us insight to Essene philosophy of that time.
We are fortunate to have so many of the Essene writings because of the preserving powers of the dry desert climate. Near the time of the Roman invasion of Judah, the Essenes felt the need to protect their writings from the invading armies. The Essenes hid their scrolls in clay pots in caves in the desert near Qumran. Qumran is in southern Israel near the Dead Sea. That is how these writings came to be known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The first scrolls were discovered in 1947 by an Arab goat herd. He was following one of his animals and stumbled into a cave where a treasure-trove of ancient documents was found. By a strange succession of fortunate incidents, these were quickly published, and made available to the world.
This set off one of the most intensive archeological hunts in history. Scholars and scientists hastened to the Judaean desert in search of additional Scrolls and were successful. Hundreds of Essene scriptures were recovered, all of which had been secreted in sealed jars about 69 A.D. Material was found in at least five caves. In Cave 4 alone there were enough original Essene scriptures found to fill two volumes the size of the King James version of the Bible.
There was a great delay in the compilation and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Many of the writings were not released to the public. Some believe this was a conspiracy by organized religion to prevent the comparison between the Essenes and Christianity. Now that more of the translations have been released however, there are some striking similarities.
In the scriptures above we see the similarity between the Beatitudes of Matthew and writings of the Essenes. Some of the contents of the Beatitudes can also be found in other Essene writings such as the Credo of the Essenes. An even more striking comparison is the excerpt above from John and the Community Rule of the Essenes. The Texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written much earlier than any of the Gospels of the New Testament. So it is obvious that the Essene writings were the source for later scriptures. Many of the New testament authors referenced the Dead Sea Scrolls in their writings. Sometimes they quoted the Dead Sea Scrolls word for word. More often, however, they would mirror the philosophy of the Essene writings.
These ancient Essene documents were the origin of many of Christ Yeshua's teachings. Only an Essene initiate would have had access or knowledge to the Essene scriptures. The scrolls were strictly limited to members of the Holy Order. That is why the Essenes took such great care to hide the scrolls from the Romans. The Essene teachings were shared only with the brethren and those who were initiated into the family were sworn to secrecy. This understanding is probably one of the strongest arguments that Yeshua was an Essene. If he quoted Essene scriptures, he had to be an Essene himself.
Here are some of the themes in the Essene writings that mirror the writings found in our Bible. They wrote of justification by faith and wrote about sons of light fighting an evil world. The theme of light and darkness, reoccurred throughout Essene writings. They saw themselves as children of light, refusing to compromise in an evil world. They thought of themselves as preparing the "way of the Lord" by obeying divine truths. Their writings had similar concepts as the New Testament books such as, righteousness, piety, the poor, the meek and other similar vocabulary.
The structure of Essene worship is also remarkably similar to Christian worship. The Essenes held assemblies and congregations. These words translate as "church". Yeshua says in Matthew 18:17 to "tell it to the church" before there was a Christian church. We infer from this that He was discussing the Essene church and that He was an Essene. The Essenes initiated their converts into the church by baptism in the same way that Yeshua was baptized in the Jordan by John. The Essenes also had bishops, deacons, elders, priests, disciples, scriptures, gospels, epistles, hymns and the list goes on. Please see the more detailed documentation of all the similarities at the end of this lesson. All this occurred many years prior to Christianity. In summary, the Essenes and Christians had too many features in common for it to be chance.
Early Christian writers also left no doubt that Essenism and Christianity were the same religion. Eusebius, a renown church writer of the fourth century, stated in his "History of the Church",
"Those ancient Therapeuts (Essenes) were Christians and their ancient writings were our gospels"
Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, discusses the Essenes who he states were scattered far and wide and were in every city, being numerous in Judea in his time. He makes no mention, however, of any sect or religious order by the title of Christian. This group was not called by that name yet. Or if some of this group was starting to be called Christians, Josephus was not aware of it yet.
Philo of Alexandria describes a religion remarkably similar to Christianity and calls them Therapeutae (a form of Essenes) He compares them to other religions but never mentions the Christians. Why? because the Essenes were the group that would later be known as Christians.
Tacitus, in 104 AD is the first of the three hundred known writers of that era to make any mention of Christianity, Christ or the term "Christian". This was a decade after Josephus' last book. Until then, the name, Christianity, had not yet been widely recognized as something different from the Jewish Essene. What happened? Well, after the Roman invasion around 70 AD, many followers of Yeshua escaped into other lands and the gentile people from other countries began to be converted.
These non-Jew converts began to incorporate their own practices into their new religion. They added their own Holy days to the Jewish Holy days. They were not circumcised. Some ate meat. Some called Yeshua by his Greek name. The religion of these Gentile converts began to look different from the original Essene followers of the Messiah. They were called Christians from "Christ" the Greek word for Messiah.
Throughout history, Christianity continued to change its doctrine to fit the circumstances of the times. Local customs continued to be added to the religious dogma. When the Emperor Constantine was converted, he decreed that Christianity would be the official religion of the Roman Empire. He was not very picky, however, in how exactly the religion was practiced. He wanted to keep all his subjects happy. So a lot of compromising was going on. The hundreds of saints of the Catholic church are part of this compromise. As new lands were converted, the myths and legends were incorporated into the church. The heros and Gods of those lands became saints to appease the local populace. As the church and society became predominately patriarchal, it became unacceptable to have a female aspect of Almighty God. So our lovely Holy Spirit Mother was demoted to an almost divine Mary, mother of Jesus.
There were still Essenes that stubbornly held onto the original teachings. But as Christianity became the "official" way, the original Essenes became less popular and even persecuted. The scriptures says there will always be a faithful remnant. As the Essenes were persecuted, this remnant became smaller and smaller. By the 20th century, the true followers of the Way were almost extinct. But Father Yahweh needed a new generation to prepare the world for a new age. So Mother Shekkinah, our sweet Holy Spirit, guided a goat herd to a cave in the desert. And the old ways were remembered again.
"Thus saith the Lord; Stand ye at the crossroads and look, and ask for the ancient ways, where the path is good, and walk therein, there ye shall find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16
Essene and Christian Parallels and Commonalities
Many thanks to my Essene brother at The Nazarene Way for his assistance in compiling this list
1. The Essenes believed and taught it was their first duty to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Philo).
Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all else shall be added (Mt 6:33; Luke 12:31).
2. They abjured all amusements, all elegance, and all pleasures of the senses (Philo).
Forsake the world and the things thereof.
3. They lay up nothing on earth, but fix their minds solely on heaven (the kingdom of God).
Lay not up treasures on earth. (Mt 6:19)
4. They, having laid aside all the anxieties of life and leaving society, make their residence in solitary wilds and in gardens (Philo).
They wander in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and in caves of the earth (Heb 11:38).
5. They neither buy nor sell among themselves, but give of what they have to him that wanteth (Josephus).
And parted them (their goods) to all men as every man had need (Acts 2:45).
6. They utilized baptism, not animal sacrifice, as a mode of repentance for the remission of sins.
And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; (Luke 3:3)
7. They forsook father, mother, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, for their religion (Eusebius quoting Philo).
Whosoever forsaketh not father and mother, houses and lands, cannot be my disciples. (Luke 14:26, 33)
8. They being sometimes called monks was owing to their abstraction from the world (Eusebius).
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world (John 17:16).
9. They were called Ascetics because of their rigid discipline, their prayers, fasting, self-mortification, as they made themselves eunuchs (remained chaste).
There be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. (Mt 19:12)
10.They maintained a perfect community of goods, and an equality of external rank.
Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant (Mt 20:27).
11. They had all things in common and appointed one of their number to manage the common bag.
And had all things in common (Acts 2:44; Acts 4:32).
12.They detested all ornamental dress and considered it vanity of heart.
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, and putting on of apparel (1 Peter 3:3).
13. They would call no man master.
Be not called Rabbi, for one is your Master (Mt 23:8).
14. They said the Creator made all mankind equal.
God hath made of one blood all them that dwell upon the earth.
15. They renounced oaths, saying, He who cannot be believed with out swearing is condemned already.
But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. (James 5:12)
16. They would not eat anything which had blood in it, or meat which had been offered to idols. Their food was hyssop, and bread, and salt; and water their only drink.
That ye abstain from meat offered to idols, and from blood (Acts 15:29).
17. They took nothing with them, neither meat or drink, nor anything necessary for the wants of the body.
Take nothing for your journey; neither staves nor scrip; neither bread, neither money, neither have two coats apiece.
18. They expounded the literal sense of the Holy Scriptures by allegory. ( Symbolism)
Which things are an allegory. (Gal 4:24.)
19. They abjured the pleasures of the body, not desiring mortal offspring, and they renounced marriage, believing it to be detrimental to a holy life.
They that shall be counted worthy of that world and the resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage. (Mt 22:30, Luke 20:35) The unmarried careth for the things of the Lord (1 Cor 7:32).
20. They strove to disengage their minds entirely from the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)
21. They provide not for future subsistence, devoting themselves to the Lord.
Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat and drink. (Matt 6:34)
22. They were ashamed to give the body sustenance, Regarding it as a prison.
Who shall change our vile bodies? (Phil 3:21).
23. They spent nearly all their time in silent meditation and inward prayer.
Men ought always to pray. (Luke 18:1). Pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17).
24. They vowed perpetual chastity and poverty, believing the poor were the Lord's favorites.
Blessed be ye poor (Luke 6:20). Hath not God chosen the poor? (James 2:5).
25. They devoted themselves entirely to contemplation in divine things.
Mediate upon these (divine) things; give thyself wholly to them (1 Tim 4:15).
26. They fasted often, sometimes tasting food but once in three or even six days.
Christ's disciples fasted often. Fasting is mentioned over fifty times (2 Cor 11:27; 5:34).
27. They offered no sacrifices, believing that a serious and devout soul was most acceptable.
There is no more offering for sin (Heb 10:18).
28. They believed in and practiced baptizing the (spiritually) dead.
Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead (1 Cor 15:29).
29. They gave a mystical sense to the Scriptures, disregarding the letter.
The letter killeth, but the spirit maketh alive (1 Cor 3:6).
30. They had many mysteries in their religion which they were sworn to keep secret.
To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom; to them it is not given (Mt 13:11). Great is the mystery of godliness. (1 Tim 3:16)
31. They taught by metaphors, symbols, and parables as not to reveal their inner teachings.
Without a parable spake he not unto them. (Mt 13:34)
32. They had in their churches, bishops, elders, deacons, and priests.
Ordain elders in every church (Acts 14:23). Deacons (1 Tim 3:1).
33. They would often sing psalms when assembled together.
Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms (Col 3:16).
34. They healed and cured the minds and bodies of those who joined them.
Healing all manner of sickness (Mt 4:23).
35. They practiced certain ceremonial purification by water.
The accomplishment of the days of purification (Acts 21:26).
36. They were clothed in white garments.
Shall be clothed in white garments (Rev 3:4).
37. They disbelieved in the resurrection of the external body.It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body (1 Cor 15:44).
38. They were the only sort of men who lived without money and without women (Pliny).
The love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tim 6:10). Christ's disciples traveled without money or scrip and eschew the lusts of the flesh.
39. They practiced the extremist charity to the poor.
Bestow all thy goods to feed the poor (1 Cor 13:3).
40. They were skillful in interpreting dreams, and in foretelling future events.
Your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your old men shall dream dreams. (Acts 2:17).
41. They believed in a paradise, and in a place of never- ending lamentations.
Life everlasting (Gal 8:8). Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth (Mt 13:42).
42. They affirmed, says Josephus, that God foreordained all the events of human life.
Foreordained before the foundation of the world (1 Peter).
43. They believed in Mediators between God and the souls of men.
One Mediator between God and men (1 Tim 2:5).
44. They practiced the pantomimic representation of the death, burial, and resurrection of God —Christ the Spirit.
With respect to the death, burial, resurrection of Christ, see 1 Cor 15:4.
45. They inculcated the forgiveness of injuries.
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).
46. They disapproved of war between brothers.
If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight (John 18:36).
47. They inculcated obedience to magistrates, and to the civil authorities.
Obey them which have the rule over you (Heb 13:17; 26:65).
48. They retired within themselves to receive interior revelations of divine truth.
Every one of you hath a revelation (1 Cor 14:26).
49. They were scrupulous in speaking the truth.
Speaking all things in truth (2 Cor 7:14).
50. They perform many wonderful miracles.
Many texts teach us that Christ and his apostles did the same.
51. They put all members on the same level, forbidding the exercise of authority of one over another.
Christ did the same (Mt 20:25; Mk 9:35).
52. They laid the greatest stress on being meek and lowly in spirit.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (Mt 5:5; 9:28)
53. They commended the poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and the merciful, and the pure in heart.
For proof that Christ did the same, see Matthew 5
54. They commended the peacemakers.
Blessed are the peacemakers. (Matt 5:9)
55. They performed cures, as signs and proof of their faith.
Christ's disciples were to cast out devils, heal the sick, and raise the dead as signs and proof of their faith (Mk 16:17).
56. They sacrificed the lusts of the flesh to gain spiritual happiness.
You abstain from fleshly lusts (1 Peter 2:11).
57. They broke bread as a ritual.
He (Jesus) took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it (Luke 22:19).
58. They were wont to sell their possessions and their substance, and divide among all according as any one had need so that there was not one among them in want, even as it is related in the Acts of the Apostles (Eusebius).
For whoever, of Christ's disciples, were owners of estates or houses, sold them, and brought the price thereof, and laid them at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made as every one had need. So Philo relates things exactly similar of the Essenes.
Neither was their any among them that lacked, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the price of the things that were sold (Acts 4:34).
59. They enjoined, Doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The Confucian golden rule, as taught by Christ.
60. They considered (all) men and women to be equal.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:28)
61. They enjoined the loving of enemies (Philo).
Love your enemies. (Matt 5:44, Luke 6:27)
