Jesus and the Essenes: An Esoteric HistoryCross-file under New Book. For past PaleoJudaica posts on Szekely's modern apocryphal gospel, The Essene Gospel of Peace, see here and here. And for more on the use of ancient esotericism in Blavatsky's Theosophy, see here.
Like the historical Jesus, “the Essenes” can easily become a screen upon which one projects one’s own interests and ideological location(s), whether that be Jesus’ “hidden years,” a window into the “secret history” of early Christianity, or an historically non-existent fabrication by Philo, Josephus, and Pliny.
See Also: Jesus, the Essenes, and Christian Origins: New Light on Ancient Texts and Communities (Baylor University Press, 2018).
By Simon J. Joseph
University of California, Los Angeles
www.simonjjoseph.com
November 2018
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