Christian Essenes?

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_yeats.ucc.ie>
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 17:39:53 GMT

aelarsen on the Essenes:
> They're not Christians either. They were an explicitly Jewish sect
> that predates Christ by about 150 years. There is a theory that John the
> Baptist was an Essene originally, but it's just a theory with no evidence,
> and even if it's true, it's pretty clear that he must have departed from
> the sect to undertake his ministry.

Note the phrase "_original_ Christians" (my emphasis). There's a medium-respectablew theory doing the rounds that the 'Jewish' faction in the Peter/Paul split, which would basically be the faction converting Jews in Judea and Galilea was at least very like the Essenes, as converted by the apostles and Jesus's relatives.

In a sense though, you're right to say they're not Christians, in the sense that they lost the squabble about the direction of the church fairly decisively to the Roman, gentile faction. And the rest, as they say, was history...

Cheers,
Alex.

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