The Essenes

[XtianAgain]

Anybody know anything about them? Doing a little Googling and it seems that at the very least they could've influenced early Christianity.

 

[lismore]

Anybody know anything about them? Doing a little Googling and it seems that at the very least they could've influenced early Christianity.

I have a book called 'The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English'. The dead sea scrolls were their work, very interesting to read. Sheds a lot of light on some CHristian doctrines.

 

[Bron]

Sheds a lot of light on some CHristian doctrines.

Really?? Like what, if you don't mind summarising?

 

[Gnarwhal]

Interesting, I hadn't heard of them before. From what I've read on this theopedia article http://www.theopedia.com/Essenes they seem very much like today's fundamentalist Christians. I think of many from CF's own eschatology sub forum, actually.

 

[XtianAgain]

Essenes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Also, Wiki had some good info.

 

[lismore]

Really?? Like what, if you don't mind summarising?

A couple of interesting examples:

You know the controversy over baptism by sprinking or immersion?

There is a passage in one of the scrolls about Baptism. The Essenes view is by sprinkling and by immerson. The sprinkling is for sanctification, then the immersion for purification.

The presbyterians seemed to have picked up on the sprinkling, the baptists by immersion. But the Essenes did both.

Then there is the war scroll, the final battle between the Sons of light and the sons of darkness- end times type stuff.

The Essenes also seemed to be monastic but not celebate.

 

[lismore]

I recommend this book though, very readable:

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English: Complete Edition: Amazon.co.uk: Geza Vermes: Books