Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities states that there were three main Jewish sects at his time:
1) the Pharisees
2) the Sadducees, and
3) the Essenes.
The Zealots were a “fourth sect”, founded by Judas of Galilee (also called Judas of Gamala) in the year 6 CE against the Census of Quirinius, shortly after the Roman Empire declared what had most recently been the tetrarchy of Herod Archelaus to be a Roman province.
The Fourth Sect “agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord.”
Antiquities 18.1.6
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So, Jesus has religious kinship with both the Essenes and the Pharisees by way of his apocalypticism?
Let this thread explore this question.
So, Jesus has religious kinship with both the Essenes and the Pharisees by way of his apocalypticism?
Well I think the dominant view of scholars who accept the apocalyptic interpretation of the historical Jesus is that there was a pool of common ideas which all these groups shared while exhibiting individual flavors and variations. NT scholar ** you do not have permission to see this link ** sees a direct relationship between John the Baptist and the Essene community. This is an old idea which waxes and wanes in favor. Prof Marcus makes an interesting case but it is speculation.
The controversies recorded in the gospels between Jesus and the Pharisees are probably informed by contemporary controversies but there is no reason to think the historical Jesus wouldn’t have been involved in the arguments among Jews of his own day.
A Random Word Document from the University of Cincinnati
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Jesus, the Pharisees, and the Zealots believed in an afterlife.
Now, did the Essenes believe in an afterlife or did they only believe in apocalypticism?
Did the Pharisees believe in apocalypticism?
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert
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