Dead Sea Scrolls/Essenes People
...ple were referred to as the “Sons of Darkness” whereas the Essenes people called themselves the “Sons of Light,” and members of “the Way.” The Essenes people considered themselves the “Holy Ones.” It appears that the Essenes began hiding the scrolls inside the caves along the Dead Sea during the first Jewish Revolt against the Roman army. One of the main reasons that the scrolls hold so much relevance in Christianity today is the message that they convey. In many ways the message closely resembles that of the Bible, while on the other hand certain scriptures tend to make it seem as though Christianity itself isn’t all that special. This message is not exactly negative; it just says that certain aspects of Christianity are not what we hold them to be. One thing that the scrolls actually do clear up is that Jesus did live. There has always been some debate whether he was just a character made up by later writers or not. A lot of this came from the question of the trinity. Often times Jesus has been considered not so much a divine creation, the son of God sent to earth to die for our sins but more of an apparition (note: this is not in reference to every religion because some believe in the Holy Ghost as opposed to the Holy Spirit, whereas some believe that Jesus was never actually alive but more of a vision or something along those lines.) This gets cleared up because Jesus actually lived within the time of the scrolls and is mentioned from time to time within them. Furthermore it is believed that he played a role in writing some of the scriptures, although that is still being debated, certain scholars do believe that Jesus took part in writing some of the scrolls. If this is true then the scrolls contain the actual saying of Jesus our messiah, whereas what is in the Bible is considered to be somewhat untrue. The things that are said to have been said by Jesus that are in the Bible, are considered to be what Jesus would have said as opposed to what he really did say. There was actually a book put out that came from the scrolls, and it was called “The Real Sayings and Beliefs of the Living Jesus.” The scrolls are like diary’s written by the apostles, disciples and prophets and that is the neatest part about them, is that they weren’t exactly written to be just like the Bible except for the actual Biblical parts, but these were foretold prophecies and scriptures written in order to further the Essenes people who were extremely intelligent, honorable and mysterious in their ways. According to the scrolls, the Essenes considered themselves to be made up of two separate groups the “Practicai” and the “Therapeutici.” The Practicai “Practitioners” held laborer positions in the community such as carpenters, pottery makers and clothiers. The Practitioners were considered to be lower in the social structure although they were as important as everyone else in their system regardless of class. The Therapeutici “Healers” were herbalists, visionaries and philosophers. The Healers were of a higher social ranking in the Essenes culture than the Practitioners. The Essenes people believed that their bodies were temples for the Holy Spirit furthermore they believed that their bodies were a temple for their soul. Although some of the beliefs of the Essenes people were a bit unusual in their own time a lot of the things they preached are the basic foundation for Christianity as it is today. The Essenes believed in both Baptism and tithing. While some of the members of the community were celibate others had families. This was not a personal choice whether or not you would be able to have children or not, this was chosen by certain members of the community. The Essenes were considered to be an optimistic group of people, they were said to be very loving, clean and industrious. Scripture shows that many of the Essenes people were great prophets whose predictions were rarely wrong. The Essenes people were not limited just to the Qumran area; the Essenes were actually spread throughout the land. They were held together by their beliefs in God and the messiah that was going to be born. As story has it this is when Jesus was born. Born the messiah, he is the one, which was to be called wonderful. Jesus knew all of the problems of man, and that is why he set out to spread his father’s word. In the end Jesus was crucified on the cross for our sins, he shed his blood for our sins. This is the significance of the wine at communion. Any religion that doesn’t believe in communion is really acting quite blasphemous because that is the nourishment of the body and soul. The bread and the wine. Just like some churches mine for example gave out grape juice for communion they say it’s alright because it is of the grape, the fruit of the vine, but really it kind of takes from the significance of the actual red wine. According to the words of Josephus the Essenes were Jewish by birth but had a love for one another and for God that far surpassed what they felt they had for the Pharisees and Sadducess. Becoming a member of the Essenes religion took more than three years. First the person preparing to join must turn over all of their property. There were three stages of entering into the religion after that. The first stage was a probationary period where the individual learned all of the rules of the Essenes. After a year of probation the individual was allowed to take part in a lower form of fellowship but was not allowed to take part in any ceremonies or hold any type of public office. Once the individual entered into the third and final stage they were required to take an oath that they wouldn’t reveal any secrets of the Essenes. Furthermore they must treat fellow humans with charity and open arms. They must promise never to convey themselves as any higher than anyone else, they must never harm anyone, take arms in battle, or put their authority over anyone else. An Essenes caught committing a crime would be cast out of the society never to return. The Essenes knew that if the secrets of their religion and their beliefs were to get out that terrible things would follow so it was imperative that what they believed, taught and prophesized remain strictly for their own ears and what they wrote in the scrolls. The only clause to the beliefs and rules of the Essenes people was that they only ever made one oath which is the one made when becoming a member where they promise not to ever reveal the secrets of the religion, beyond that they did not believe in making oaths of any sort. Jesus was considered to be a Jewish rabbi by the Essenes people. The Essenes believed that Jesus was incarnated into a family involved with the Essenes. They felt that he was the messiah that the Jewish people had been waiting for, although they were the only people to actually see that he truly was the messiah. The Essenes people and neighboring early Christians agreed that in the days of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, there would come a great prophet, a great priest and a great king. These three figures remained distinct in Qumran expectation whereas the New Testament saw them unified in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The Essenes people believed heavily in the idea of a doctrine of “last things.” Essenes men actually headed for the desert in order to prepare for the pending judgment of their enemies. Like most Christians who believe in the concept of Armageddon and the End of Days, the Essenes believed that God’s elect would end up in Heaven due to their honorable earthly deeds and based upon their predications as made by the prophets of their people while those who were not righteous as they were would surely be cast from paradise and sent to hell for all eternity. The Essenes actually developed a tree of life that they called Angelology, which represented positive angel forces. In this tree of life, there was a Heavenly representation of angels which included (in order) the Heavenly Father, Angel of Eternal Life, Angel of Peace, Angel of Love, Angel of Wisdom, Angel of Power and the Angels of Creative Work. The Angels considered to be of a more Earthly nature were (in order) Earthly Mother, Angel of Earth, Angel of Life, Angel of Joy, Angel of Sun, Angel of Life and the Angel of Air. The Essenes believed that we were right in the middle of all of the Angels of Heaven and Earth. Due to their significance in the world of Christianity, the scrolls have been the issue of heated debate among not only scholars, but also bishops, preachers and clergymen of the highest rank. The cause and effect of this boils down to the fact that the scrolls reveal facts, and scripture never before seen in the Bible due to late century purging by nearly every group who took part in translating the ancient text of what was then the only formally known manuscripts of the old testament. The problem as some religious groups see it is that the scrolls offer scripture that is at times different than what is customary. A lot of the things that are in the scrolls have never before seen the light of day. Furthermore a lot of the things in the scrolls still, may never see the light of day, if certain members of the religious community have their way. This is because nobody likes new information, nobody likes to be told that what he or she have been preaching their whole life’s might not be all that it seems and that there might be something more to it. This is why the Catholics feel that they can write the Dead Sea Scrolls off as nothing more than heresy: which is because they do not want this new information. Maybe not directly, but one way or another the Catholics are responsible for a lot of the damage done to the different versions of the Bible, over the years, and some of the things in the scrolls bring to light old ideas and concepts that certain members of the religious community felt they had long ago seen the last of. Its sad that in a society where more and more people are losing their faith in God, we can’t just tell the honest truth to everyone, if it isn’t done, if the secrets of the scrolls aren’t revealed and the truth spoken it would be just wrong, there is nothing good about a whole religious following built of a rock solid foundation of lies. That is what the whole system is comprised of and nothing good will come of it. God almighty sees the evil deeds of men, and being a preacher or bishop isn’t going to blind him from your deceitful acts, God knows all, and he wouldn’t want anyone down here making up lies to keep people involved in worshipping him, the Lord wants the people to know the truth, at least as far as I can see it. The Dead Sea Scrolls are considered by historians, scholars and religious groups alike as one of the most important/significant finds ever. The reason is because the only previously existing copies of the Old Testament were held by a small outsider group who had messed up a lot of the teachings du...