The
following information is from Jesus
Within Judaism: New Light from Existing Archaeological Discoveries by James
H. Charlesworth (pp. 70-71). The name “Jesus” in the original quote has been
changed to “Yeshua” and the layout has been changed to highlight specific
ideas.
Yeshua shared with the Essenes a theology that
was thoroughly monotheistic (there is only one God) and eschatological (the present is the end of all time and
history).
It is misrepresentative to claim that
the Essenes “thought of the present as
the end-time, but they did not match Yeshua’s note of realized eschatology.”
Yeshua differed from the Essenes regarding the nature of the future, the understanding of the approaching
Kingdom of God, and most significantly on how one must prepare for its coming.
The attempts to
compare Yeshua with the Dead Sea Scrolls have foundered on numerous fallacies,
misconceptions, improper methodologies, secondhand, even insufficient
understandings of Yeshua and the Essenes, and misguided apologetics. To be
specific, the most prominent, pervasive, and significant faults are the
following:
(1) The desire to prove Yeshua is totally unique
and the incarnate Son of God.
(2) The tendency to read red-letter New
Testaments as if one has been given Yeshua’s unedited authentic words.
(3) The opinion that the Qumran Essenes over
three centuries espoused the same theology and that those who went to Qumran in
the middle of the second century BCE were the ones living there in the first
century CE.
(4) The confusion of a search for a relationship
with evidence of borrowing.
(5) The tendency to miscast the role of
historian, who works only at best with probabilities, so that only what is a
certainty is to be judged reliable.
An
understanding of the Essenes, Sadducees,
Pharisees, Herodians and Zealots enhances
our ability to better understand the teachings of Yeshua by making us aware of
the times he specifically addresses key points in their teachings.
If you feel this
article is informative and of value to you,
Take a moment to
donate and help fund the work that brought you this blog.
Comments
Post a Comment