Who were the Essenes?
The Essenes were a Religious Sect in Israel that existed during the time of Christ. They are believed to have formed around 160 BC at the end of Maccabean Revolt. The Essenes differed greatly from the other main sects: the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Essenes lived in communities separated from the general populous with most Essenes settling in the desert of Engedi, on the Northwest shore of the Dead Sea. However, some Essenes could be found living in villages and towns. The famous Dead Sea Scrolls, which was discovered in 1946, originally belonged to a group of Essenes.
Religious Beliefs
The Essenes claimed that they were the true remnant of Israel and withdrew from mainline Judaism, they rejected animal sacrifices and limited their involvement with the Temple to sending gifts of incense. The Essenes believed that they alone possessed the true understanding of Scripture. They taught celibacy, asceticism, the sharing of goods, the immorality of the soul, predestination, the arrival of two future Messiahs, and strictly following the purity laws of the Torah. They rejected slavery, war, oaths, were given to occult studies, had secret doctrines and books, etc. The Essenes also removed themselves from politics landscape altogether.
Essenes in Scripture
The Essenes are not named in any of the Gospels, but some have sought to establish a connection between them and John the Baptist and Jesus due to similarities in their teaching. While it is likely that some of the Essenes responded positively to John the Baptist and Christ, the essential ideas and spirit of Christ’s teaching would have directly contradicted their group’s philosophies.