Duncan Howlett (1906-2003)
Duncan Howlett (1906-2003)
Caution: Duncan Howlett (d. 2003) was a Unitarian minister who, like all Unitarians, denied the deity of Jesus Christ. But this book nevertheless does contain many fascinating historical insights. He suggests an evolution or development of (human) thought from Pharisee to Essene to Christian. In the process, he sheds much light on this period of history.
Duncan Howlett d. 19 May 2003 at age 97. After graduating (Yale?) he spent 2 yrs as a lawyer, but then returned to school (1933) and became a Unitarian minister, which he did until 1968 (35 yrs). He was then named to Hubert Humphrey's campaign staff in 1968 (he was always interested in public policy, and apparently leftist politics). After that, he spent the rest of his career and life as an environmental activist (particularly forestry). His wife was leader of a "Liberal Christian Women" group. They lived in the NE (Maine, I think). Howlett's original theory on the Essenes was that they split from the Pharisees after John Hyrcanus turned against them (after the old Pharisee Eleazar [p52] had openly criticized him). Another theory (Upton C. Ewing) was that the "Teacher of Righteousness" was in fact Jesus and that the Essene writings were genuinely prophetic. Other theories link the Essenes to the Sicarii (professional assassins) or Zealots (Burrows). Martin Larson saw them as cultic, like Swedenborg, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy (i.e. they start with accepted Scripture [frozen ?C BC, Zech. 13:3-6], then add more). I.e. these were clever people responding w/ "pseudopigraphic and aprochryphal literature" (yikes, they cite Daniel as an example).
The web site "paganizingfaithofyeshua.com" (Jewish? ends w/"Shalom") has an interesting writeup on the Essenes (some of above info from there) and various theories about them. They mention the Shakers as being the only (American?) sect to attempt a thoroughgoing recreation of the early church community. Seems like the site is trying to discredit Jesus and Christianity by linking these with mere "sour grapes theology" on the part of the Essenes after being excluded from Jewish orthodoxy. He claims all Essene literature was written before 60 BC and that Jesus and early Christians later picked up and adapted these ideas and writings.
So beware the use of the Essenes by left-liberals or other enemies of the Christian faith to attempt to discredit Jesus and the Christian faith. This partly explains the popularity of this topic. It seems like Howlett buys into this attack to a certain extent.
1. The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls
About 2K yrs ago, the Essenes left Jerusalem and formed their community at Qumran (NW of Dead Sea, a few miles S of Jericho). Howlett notes that this was a time of devout piety among Jews in Jerusalem, but that this movement (typically) demanded even more. The Essenes are discussed by the contemporary Jewish historian Josephus, the contemporary Jewish philosopher Philo, and the Roman Pliny the Elder. The Qumran community (commune?) was destroyed by Romans (Vespasian, 10th legion) 68 AD, and had then been active for about 150 yrs. 7 Dead Sea Scrolls were found initially in 1947, and more afterward. Many have wondered if John the Baptist and even Jesus were Essenes. Perhaps Jesus spent his "silent" years at Qumran? What drives interest in the Essenes and their writings is how they can shed light on Jesus' life and times, influences, and the origins of the Christian Church.
Howlett says the effort to uncover "the real Jesus" has (in 1957) progressed "now for roughly 100 yrs" (7); e.g. Albert Schweitzer's The Quest for the Historical Jesus (he later claimed a satisfactory fact-based biography couldn't be done, most scholars agreed, thereafter mostly novelized works). Howlett sneers that theologians have emphasized faith v. history, uncomfortably adjusting themselves "to the fact established by 19C scholarship, that the books of the Bible were written in different times and places by different men and for very special purposes" (8, as if God couldn't accomplish His purposes in this manner! Howlett here reflects the haughty spirit of 19C German "higher criticism"). In the absence of data, Howlett says, theologians had fallen back on dogma (i.e. the Church'es "worked out" answers to 19 centuries of questions/problems raised by "the critical and the curious"). But now here is new data. The purpose of this book is to discuss "some of the implications that may now reasonably be drawn" (11).
2. The Scrolls from the Qumran Caves
Most of these scrolls were likely produced 1C BC, but others could range from 4C BC to 1C AD. "The Dead Sea Scrolls fall into 3 main divisions: 1) the complete or nearly complete leather scrolls, 2) the Copper Scroll, 3) the fragments" (13). Although they included many early versions of documents already familiar to us (and confirming the accuracy of our later editions), Howlett focuses on those that seem to be original:
- The War of the Sons of Light with the Sons of Darkness (meaning unclear, a story of a "schematic, magic number, ceremonial war ... unlike anything that ever could have taken place in heaven or on earth ... an apocalypse of some sort ... [but unlike] Enoch [same period], Daniel [earlier], Revelation [later]" 15).
- The Habakkuk Commentary ("pesher" or "this means" writing peculiar to Essenes, "not midrash, not allegory, not interpretation but the attempt to find hidden meanings in OT relating to the time of writing [like Hal Lindsay and co.?], e.g. saw in Hab. 1:8 a reference to "Kittim" [meaning Egyptians, Romans, Seleucids, intense scholarly debate since this would date writing], to which Howlett complains "Habakkuk, of course, had never heard of either of the latter, for he lived long before Seleucid and Roman times [discounting any possibility of God-inspired prophecy!?], discusses the "Teacher of Righteousness" and the "Wicked Priest")
- The Manual of Discipline (describes Essene beliefs and practice, including [Howlett's headings] "the high purpose of the community ... How the candidate prepares himself for admission to the order ... The rite of initiation" 22-3).
- The Psalms (19-20 Essene Psalms).
- The Genesis [aka Lamech] Scroll (only a small part recovered, an expanded version of Gen. 12-5).
- The Damascus Document (not actually a Dead Sea Scroll, found 1895 in a medieval synagogue near Cairo, but close parallels to the Manual of Discipline and Habakkuk Commentary).
The Copper Scroll ("thought to be less perishable than parchment leather" 29) turned out to be "a record of buried treasure, in terms of our [1957] money amounting to some $200M!" (28). If true (not likely, he says), it would mean the "high priesthood of the Temple at Jerusalem once gave the fabulous treasure of the Temple into the keeping of the ascetic Essenes" (29).
The Fragments [10s of thousands] were found after "a feverish search of the area" [by local Bedouins, 230 caves by 1957] following the 1947 discovery. These fragments were from scrolls in the Essene library. One important discovery was that the Greek Septuagent is older and more accurate than the Hebrew Masoretic text. Fragment texts were from Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Psalms, the Apocrypha, and the pseudepigrapha (i.e. "sacred writings of the Jews which were not included in OT or Apocrypha ... [considered] false or spurious ... because they assume[d] for themselves a sacred status that Judaism was not willing to grant them" 32), including Enoch, Tobit, Book of Jubilees. Finally, from the Essene literature, there are fragments from the Manual of Discipline, Damascus Document, commentaries of Micah, Nahum, Psalm 37 ... (new discoveries still coming in as of 1957).
3. The Ancient Heritage of the Essenes
Here Howlett's liberal beliefs shine through as he writes of the Jews' 'tribal god Yahweh' and how their beliefs 'developed' over the eons. Although he doesn't explicitly say so, the implication is that they made up this religion and Yahweh exists only in their minds. "The [Canaan-] invading Hebrews brought with them out of the desert a profound faith in their tribal god Yahweh. At first they doubtless believed in other lesser gods and spirits, as all ancient peoples did, but Yahweh ... early became supreme for them ... [key beliefs were] Yahweh [as] their special protector and leader in battle ... themselves as his people ... the immutability of the moral law ... given by [Yahweh] to his people through Moses" (33-4). The Jews learned from the Canaanites "the arts of civilization and in time became a society of farmers and artisans ... eventually absorb[ing] some of the elements in the religion of the Canaanites" (34, sounds like he's saying the Jews were tribal and backward and they needed 'modernization' from the Canaanites!?).
"The kings of Israel and Judah ... tended to be tolerant of the worship of the gods of Canaan ... and lapses from the old tribal religion of Yahweh. If these rulers had been permitted to follow what undoubtedly seemed to them to be a wise and statemanlike policy [I get the distinct impression that Howlett wishes this had been so], the history of Israel would not have differed from the [50] other nations that rose and perished in the 2 millenia before the dawn of the Christian Era. But the kings were not permitted to do so. The special quality in Israel's religion that was hers alone produced a violent reaction to the permissive policies of the secular rulers ... Sometime in the course of the long contest between the prophets of Israel and her kings, a wholly unique idea, that of the chosen people, became prominent. This idea was one of the strongest weapons in the arsenal of the prophets ... Once formulated [implication: in the minds of men], the idea that Israel was God's chosen people became controlling" (35-6). Kings Hezekiah and Josiah "instituted a great many puritanical reforms" and events "miraculously, so it seemed" confirmed the linkage between strict observance of the Law and the nation's fortunes. A further teaching was of the "remnant" that God would preserve through the unhappy times (i.e. which the Essenes later understood themselves to be).
After the Babylonian captivity and rebuilding of the Temple, Ezra demanding that mixed marriages be dissolved. "The expected reaction arose against this kind of exclusiveness. It is expressed in the books of Jonah and Ruth, both of which are designed to show that Yahweh is a God of all peoples and that his concern reaches beyond the Jews" (38). The subtext here is that the ultra-conservatives have long tried to "hijack" Judaism to exclusivity, and Howlett is implying that cooler (i.e. liberalizing) heads didn't always then, but should now, prevail. "So the ancient contest continued" [38, between lax kings and rigid prophets]. "It was out of this vigorous, puritanical, censorious, yet high-minded moral and spiritual stream of [human] thought in Israel that the Essene movement and the Dead Sea Scrolls eventually came" (39).
Now came the 400 silent years (see br-400sy). For the first 200 yrs, Israel's foreign overlords Persian, Greece, Egypt mostly left her theocracy alone as long as she paid the annual tribute. Many Jews went abroad, e.g. to Alexandria, becoming cosmopolitan and wealthy, some assimilating into Hellenism, others remaining loyal to Judaism, with the entire spectrum in between. The loyalists translated the Tanakh into Greek, i.e. the Septuagent, which later became the Christian OT. "As a truly international [Hellenistic] civilization spread throughout the West, cultivated Jews more and more felt the limitations imposed upon them by their exacting religious culture. Outside Palestine they adapted themselves to it in various ways. In Palestine, and in particular at Jerusalem, however, there was no adaptation and no compromise between the 2 ways of life. The old conflict which had called forth the wrath of the prophets faced Israel once again. The conflict reaches a crisis in 175 BC when Antiochus Epiphanes came to the Syrian throne" (40).
[Big Picture:] The details in regard to the wars that followed need not concern us. The pattern is already familiar in the story of the times of the prophets. The old division persisted between those who favored cosmopolitan tendencies and those who demanded that Israel hold to the ways of her fathers. Again, as before, the internal religious struggle between the Jews themselves was complicated by the ambition of foreign powers to gain control of Palestine ... In the days of the ancient prophets, the contenders had been Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia. Now the struggle was between Egypt and Syria and subsequently Rome ... When at last the struggle was concluded [?! is it ever?], Israel had ceased to exist as a nation, the Essene sect had come and gone, and Christianity was already on the way toward the conquest of the Roman Empire" (41).
Howlett characterizes Mattathias' [Maccabaeus = "the hammer of God"] revolt against Syria and slaughter of Hellenized Jews as a "reign of terror" (42, i.e. liberal disdain). "They had not actually wanted political independence, nor had they in fact achieved it. They were still subject to Syria as they had previously been subject to Egypt. But now they had the same religious freedom they had enjoyed under the [Egyptian] Ptolemies. Apparently, the most pious of the Jews wanted nothing more than this. It was a matter of no consequence who governed them so long as they were free to worship at the Temple and to follow the Law as they believed they should. There can be no other explanation for the fact that at this point, after religious liberty had been granted to the Jews, the most devout of them, known as the Hasidim [meaning "the pious"], suddenly refused to support Judas, even though they had been his staunch allies in the war with the Syrians" (42-3). "Despairing of keeping all Israel loyal to the ways of their fathers, the Hasidim proposed only that they themselves [would do so] ... It is difficult to believe that the Hasidim would have refused continued support of Judas had they been able to see the dire consequences of their withdrawal from the political scene" [43, think fundamentalists in the 1920s]. They were theoretical v. practical, conflict-avoiding peace-loving (tho they had fought the Syrians), but also millenialists, believing the end was near. Anyway, once the Hasidim broke w/Judas, the Syrians appointed Alcimus to high priest. He promised the Hasidim cooperation, but later killed 60 of them. After this betrayal, too late to rejoin Judas, "this marked the end of their movement and we never hear of them afterward" (46). Later the Essenes emerge. They're not the same, but we can infer that "in purpose and general outlook" the Essenes took up the Hasidic attempt to maintain the purity of Israel's piety, carrying it "to the ultimate [monastic] extreme of withdrawal from human society in order to preserve it" (46).
Howlett: "The Book of Daniel appeared in Dec. 165 BC ... can be dated exactly because the history it contains, though vague at first, gains increasing clarity and accuracy of detail down through Dec 165, after which time the details are simply wrong" (44, arrogant liberal higher criticism!).
4. The Essene Sect is Born
Until the 1947 discovery, the Qumran "mound was generally thought to be the ruins of an old Roman outpost dating from imperial times" (47, based on an earlier Hebrew fort dated to 6C BC acc. to Baigent's book). In this chapter, Howlett details his original theory that the Essenes broke from the Pharisees over John Hyrcanus' betrayal (after his initial support of them over the Sadducees, but later switch to join Sadducees). "John Hyrcanus was the first of the so-called Hasmoneans ... following the practice established by his (Maccabean) uncle Jonathan, he took the office of high priest, and like him, he also refrained from assuming the title of king" (50). The Maccabees (and Hasmoneans, "the war party and the patriots, the rulers of the state, who strove to maintain the political independence of the little kingdom and to preserve inviolate the ancient religion of Israel" 50-1) were ideologically between the "pro-Syrian Hellenistic Jews [Sadducees, name derived from Zadok, high priest under David, tho there were also many "sons of Zadok" among Pharisees] and ... the devout conservative pious Jews [Pharisees, meaning 'separators']" (50). "The Pharisees were the spiritual children of the Hasidim [of Judas Maccabeus' time] ... [but with] one conspicuous difference ... The Pharisees ... [had always] enjoyed considerable political influence ... [whereas] The prophets [and Hasidim] had usually been lonely figures who in the name of Yahweh denounced the priest, king and people alike" (51). The rift was precipitated when one Eleazar criticized John Hyrcanus for presuming to accept the title of High Priest [his hands haven been 'stained with the blood of battle' 52], suggesting he should be content with merely civil leadership. Howlett shows his hand: "It is not suggested here that ... without Eleazar and John Hyrcanus there would have been no Essenes, no Christ and no Christianity ... Had these 2 men never lived, the issue would surely have cyrstallized in some other way" (57). But he has clearly concluded that Christ came from the Essenes.
5. The Teacher of Righteousness
Referred to in the Damascus Document (found 1895) and by the Karaites, "the medieval Jewish heretical sect that probably owed its origin to an earlier discovery of documents from the Essene library" (59), the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal that this was an Essene leader. Possibly Eleazar? "We conclude that after the split ... one of their [Essenes] members credited with special understanding, the power to interpret Scripture and to reveal mysteries, and possessing the will and the courage to denounce spiritual wickedness in high places came to looked upon with great reverence and was called the Teacher of Righteousness" (67). The later liberal implication is that Paul molded [the mortal Essene] Jesus into this expected role.
6. The Wicked Priest
"The great antagonist of the Teacher of Righteousness" (68). Many other similar names are used, but it seems that the Essenes had in mind 2 distinct enemies; "the Wicked Priest [? perhaps Alexander Jannaeus, king and high priest in Israel 104-78 BC, son of John Hyrcanus, in 88 BC crucified 800 rebels in a single night, slaughtering their families before their eyes, then openly orgying, savage brutality even for those days, the Commentary on Nahum refers to Jerusalem, Demetrius (king of Greece, invited to intervene in Judea by the 'seekers after smooth things'), Antiochus, and to 'crucifixion, which was never done before in Israel' 76] and ... the Deceiver, a man who preached lies and falsehood and who scoffed at the Scroll sect ... [leading] the people into backsliding and into 'seeking after smooth things'" (68-9).
7. The Essene Community at Qumran
Here he tries to describe the Essene way of life, "founded by a group of devout religious men, who were ready to endure the heat, the privation and the lonliness of life in the desert for the sake of the Law of the Lord as they understood it" (81). He discusses the Manual of Discipline and its demanding code of conduct, waxing sociological about the dynamics of a group of "true believers." "Probably few men anywhere have gained a greater sense of fellow-feeling and have achieved a nobler quality of life than did the Essenes" (83-4). They didn't just sit around, but worked hard, "thought it a good thing to be 'sweaty'" (87, acc. to Josephus). "One of the most remarkable qualities of the Essene community was the degree of equality achieved ... hardly known in the ancient world, except among groups like the Stoics. A. Dupont-Sommer, a French [of course] scholar, had observed 'how eloquently the ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity are proclaimed [by the Essenes]" (87). "The 3 ancient authorities, Josephus, Philo and Pliny" (90) all discuss the Essenes.
8. Piety and Politics
When Alexander Jannaeus died in 78 BC (killed at the siege of Ragaba), his widow Alexandra (Salome) succeeded him. She reversed his policies, freeing prisoners, ousting Sadducees and empowering Pharisees (95). She reigned 78-69 BC, considered a golden age. Unfortunately, the Pharisees' enforcement of Torah likely mixed vindictiveness with piety. When the queen died, their enemies (Sadducees and the "old war party" 96) were ready, and their man Aristobulus defeated Hyrcanus II (both sons of Alex Jann and Salome) in battle. Civil war followed. But now first Antipater the Idumean, then Rome began to intervene, taking advantage of Judea's internal strife. Rome sided with the Sadducees, putting them back into power. When Aristobulus foolishly later rebelled against Rome, he was crushed, thousands were killed and the Temple was desecrated by Pompey (63 BC). After this time, "the Jews were never politically independent again" (100), but the Pharisees were granted religious power. Meanwhile, the Essenes seem to have eschewed politics, "insisting that Israel must cease to look for her redemption through political power" (99), instead looking toward the coming Messiah. There were many revolts by the "old war party," all easily put down by Rome. "Then began the great period of civil war in Rome, which involved ultimately the whole Mediterranean world. Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC ... Caesar confirmed Hyrcanus II as hereditary high priest ... Now it was Antigonus, son of Aristobulus II, around whom the old aristocrats, the Sadducees, the war party and the nationalists rallied" (101-2). Herod, with Rome's help, defeated Antigonus and returned the Pharisees to power. There were at least 4 conflicts raging: 1) civil war in Rome, 2) Rome's conquest of the East, 3) lesser powers (Syria, Egypt, Parthia, Idumea, Nabatea) attempting to control Asia Minor [incl. Palestine], "standing in with whoever happened to be in power at Rome" 103, and 4) the Jewish contest for the high priesthood at Jerusalem, "standing in with whomever Rome happened to designate as governor of Syria" (103). The Essenes were closest to the Pharisees but apparently usually avoided taking sides politically (although they may have been the mysterious 3rd delegation to appeal to Pompey, in addition to Pharisees and Sadducees 97-8).
9. The Community Center is Abandoned
Around "25 yrs after the coming of Pompey [between 40 and 31 BC at the latest, the yr of a great earthquake w/faultline through the Community Center] the Essenes abandoned [the site, after some 75 yrs of occupence, but] ... returned ... about 2 generations later" (105). This may have been related to Herod's building of a summer palace in Jericho, under 7 miles away. The movement amazingly lasted 50 yrs after the death of their beloved "Teacher of Righteousness." Howlett speculates that a) Jerusalem became more friendly to their aims of upholding God's Law, and b) their millenialism (i.e. expectation of the Lord's immanent return) eventually wore thin in His delayed return.
10. Where Was "The Land of Damascus"?
One of the big Essene questions is where did they go during those 2 generations of absense from Qumran? At first, scholars thought Damascus, but it could also be "code" for a region; e.g. the Nabataean kingdom (who took Damascus in 87 BC). Perhaps they were self-consciously trying to fulfill prophecies in Amos and Zechariah that God's remnant would go "into exile beyond Damascus" (Amos) and "Damascus shall be [their] resting place" (Zech.). Howlett thinks the exile referred to their move from Jerusalem to Qumran and the intervening 2 generations were spent back in Jerusalem. Howlett theorizes they developed their doctrine of a "new covenant" as they struggled with a) members who wanted to return to Jerusalem, b) why the end had not come, c) why Yahweh hadn't addressed Israel's sufferings. It was not, he says, "in the Christian sense of a replacement" (118, only one Christian interpretation, probably incorrect). The Essenes were now the new and true Israel, the Elect "who should be the judges of the peoples and nations at the end of days" (119, see where he's heading here?; Essenes prefigured Christian ideas, mere human 'developments' made under pressure of events, Howlett is exhibiting liberalism in action). They had developed a commanding sense of purpose, significance and mission. They were sustained by 3 key convictions; a) the end was near, b) they themselves were the true Israel and c) their reverence from Qumran (they'd gone there just to purely follow the Law, but had discovered many other benefits to isolated, like-minded, self-imposed discipline, making daily life meaningful, 121). Howlett believes they found it very tough to sustain their movement in Jerusalem and eventually returned to Qumran.
11. The Return
Jerusalem remained friendly to Pharisees until Herod's death in 4 BC. He split his domains among his sons, thus ensuring a power struggle. Howlett speculates that the Essenes were one of the 2 groups that petitioned Rome to annex Palestine, believing political rule by a strong foreign power linked with local Jewish religious rule was a winning formula. Augustus at first refused, but later agreed and AD 6 (after 9 yrs of Archelaus) made Palestine an imperial province (Pontius Pilate was its 5th procurator). Why did the Essenes return to Qumran? Howlett guesses that, in addition to their romantic idealization of isolated community, they were driven there by the bloody rebellion that broke out at Herod's death in 4 BC. Jesus was born in Bethlehem at about this time (4 or 3 BC). The Pharisees of this time were divided into various "schools" called haburoth whose members were called haburim. Howlett assumes the Essenes were one of these schools. The essential distinction of the Essenes was their belief that they were God's Elect, living under a new covenant, the new Israel, marked to judge the nations at the end of days (i.e. replacement theology, not shared by the other schools of Pharisees). "There are few who dispute the evolution and development of the religion of Israel" (132, a liberal bedrock belief, relativism). He sees their genius in insisting on loyalty to the covenant v. being watered down by neighboring religions. "As Israel had dared to think of herself as unique among the nations, so the Essenes now dared to think of themselves as unique among the Israelites. In their sense of uniqueness, their belief in a unique leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, held a conspicuous place. These were ideas fraught with possibility. How rich a fruit they bore we shall now see" (133).
12. John the Baptist
"John the Baptist stood squarely in the tradition of the prophets of Israel" (134). But while the early prophets "were often persecuted and driven from the community, we have no record [unlike John] of the[ir] execution" (135). Perhaps John's precursor was the Teacher of Righteousness (who may also have been executed)? There are many reasons for us to think John may have been an Essene; he lived in that area, lived in the desert, used the same phrases e.g. 'a voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths'. This idea entered debate c. 1800. Howlett says the ideas of 1) a coming "Day of the Lord [via 2)] a Branch of the house of David" existed [he implies 'were developed'] long before John's time. He suggests that a 3rd idea, "absorbed from the Iranian philosophy of Persia" (138) was belief in a "final catastrophe in which the world would be destroyed and a new world, purged of sin, would take its place" (138). He promotes the liberal idea that our idea of "Messiah" does not appear in the OT but was "developed" later (2C BC, picked up by Daniel). Howlett theorizes that John broke with Essene tradition and began evangelizing other Jews with the (until then, secret) Essene message. Qumran was destroyed by the Romans c. 70 AD, used thereafter as a Roman outpost, briefly during the Bar Kochba revolt (132-5 AD), and then later Arab occupations.
13. Similarities Between Jesus and the Essenes
John the Baptist as Essene is controversial, but Jesus as Essene much more so. The Pharisees, John and Jesus all preached repentance, but the former 1 lacked "the eschatological implications" found in the latter 2. Jesus and the Essenes value the communal meal and "the principle and practice of brotherhood" (147). All valued the Law (Torah) and knowledge of the Scriptures. All believed conflict to be inevitable, in eternal life, a final judgment. Jesus and the Essenes demanded total loyalty and stressed spiritual things, not to worry about physical things (food, clothes, shelter ...). Jesus often went "into the desert" to pray. Both Jesus and Essenes share ("not otherwise found in Israel" 150) the concept of the Elect as not all of Israel (as in OT), but a special group (within Israel?). Both believed they possessed a special understanding of Scripture (not shared by other Jews). But Jesus, unlike the Essenes, wanted to proclaim these to all. A. Dupont-Sommer proposed a link between Jesus and the Teacher of Righteousness, a thesis that has been heatedly debated ever since (many fear that would harm the uniqueness of Christ). Howlett thinks its reasonable to think Jesus was raised as an Essene (maybe at Qumran during the silence between age 12 at the Temple and age 27 preaching at Galilee).
14. Differences Between Jesus and the Essenes
If similarities are striking, differences are more so. Jesus said don't swear vows, the Essenes required it. Jesus treated people equally, v. the Essene hierarchy. In these and other case it almost seems that Jesus was thinking of the Essenes and specifically countering their views. Jesus and co. were itinerant v. the Essenes. Jesus enjoyed good food and drink v. Essene asceticism. Jesus' "love your enemies" v. Essenes "hate evildoers." Probably most importantly, Jesus deliberately broke the Law as interpreted (i.e. their accretions) by Scribes and Pharisees (though he did emphasize Righteousness) v. Essene strict compliance (legalism). "Rule following seems to have been foreign to Jesus' nature" (158, v. Pharisees and Essenes). Jesus ignored rules prohibiting associating with 'unclean' people and things. His complaint was rule-following 1) "was an evil because it lacked any religious participation" (159) by observers and 2) what defiles is not what goes in, but what comes out (of the heart, e.g. evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander ... 159). They followed the letter (good) but "den[ied] the spirit the rules were designed to embody" (160). The Essenes expected 2 Messiahs, "a priestly figure, the Messiah of Aaron, and a lay figure, the Messiah of Israel ... [and saw themselves] as the Lord's Elect [who] were to be the judges of the nations. This of course was most unorthodox and divided them from the Pharisees completely. Jesus ... believed in the authority of the Pharisees, but denounced them for empty legalism" (161). Jesus "fundamental position is plain, whether we turn to his denunciations of the Pharisees or teh supreme idealism of the Sermon on the Mount. By fulfilling the Law he meant getting to the heart of the matter the Law expresses ... [he trashed Pharisees for obsessing details but] neglecting the weightier matters of the Law, justice and mercy and faith; these ought you to have done, without neglecting the others" (162). In the Sermon on the Mount, he gave 6 contrasts (you've heard it said of old v. but I say); charity v. killing, chastity of mind/heart v. adultery, constancy v. divorce, honesty v. oaths, mercy v. vengeance, love (even enemies) v. hate.
15. The Meaning of the Similarities and Differences Between Jesus and the Essenes
Albert Schweitzer's The Quest of the Historical Jesus explains "that toward the close of the 18C, when rationalism was at its height in Europe, there was a rash of writing in which the Essenes were used to explain the life and work of Jesus" (163, i.e. denying his divinity). This, for many, is the key battle over the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Essenes. There were influential books by Karl Bahrdt (1790), Karl Venturini (1800), August Gfrorer (1831) and especially Ernest Renan's 1863 Life of Jesus. But "it is no longer necessary to prove that Jesus was not an Essene and that early Christianity was not Essenic" (164). Howlett develops the (older) theory that both Jesus and John were leaders of rival sects claiming messianic status of their leader. He cities approvingly various other attacks on Christian orthodoxy (e.g. evolution, relativity, Frazer's Golden Bough), believing churchman have been "forced to give in" (170) on these, and predicts the same for the Dead Sea Scrolls' challenge of Jesus' originality and uniqueness (and divinity). He holds that while Jesus was not an Essene, he was "in the Essene tradition." He waffles: "Whether as a self-proclaimed Messiah or as another of the Lord's prophets, he" (172, he pretty clearly believes the former) called Israel back to their ancient covenant, to true worship.
16. The Similarities Between the Essenes and the Early Christian Church
"The evidence for linking the Essene movement with the beginnings of the Christian Church is both voluminous and impressive" (173). The "if your brother sins against you" passage in Matthew clearly (he says) derives from the Essenes' Manual of Discipline. The Luke 2 phrase "Peace on earth to men of God's favor" (or 'those who, by God's gracious election, find themselves members of the eschatalogical community' 176) also appears in the Manual of Discipline and nowhere else in Judaism. Howlett claims "a remarkable similarity between the Essenes and the early church is seen in their peculiar use of OT prophecy" (176). He apparently sees as 'peculiar' (he means Essene-like, not divine) Jesus' birth foretold in Isaiah, the site of Bethlehem by Micah, Herod's massacre of the children in Jeremiah, the return from Egypt in Hosea, the coming John, the mission in Galilee, the miracles of healing and Jesus' avoidance of publicity in Isaiah, that Jesus would preach in parables in Psalms, the inability of the people to understand in Isaiah, his entry into Jerusalem as King in Zech. Hmmm, 'peculiar' indeed in human terms! :) (i.e. obviously divine). He outlines other similarities to bolster his point, but a simple explanation is that God indeed gave some of these truths to the Essenes as a 'preview to the faithful' of the coming Christ!
17. The Meaning of the Similarities Between the Essenes and the Early Christian Church
He's trying hard to establish a link, but admits its based on "inference" (185). He assumes the Essenes greatly influenced the Christians, but not vice versa. "Theologically Christianity was a spiritualization of Essenism, as Essenism was a spiritualization of Pharisaism" (187). He assumes the early Christians adopted much of the older Essenes' "organizational know-how" (186). He admits that the explanation of Christianity's "special qualities" is to be found in the person of Jesus, and therefore "the Christian faith is not likely to be upset as a result of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls" (188, Howlett seems unhappy about this!). Although Jesus' followers had beliefs and expectations very like those of other messianic figures of the time (e.g. "John the Baptist or Theudas or Judas of Galilee" 191), Jesus Himself was unlike any of the others, "The uniqueness we find in him is his own. It shines out of his own character" (190). Although Howlett refuses to "go theological," he says the discovery of the Scrolls "throws [light] on the origin of our religion ... [confirming] that our faith is grounded in fact rather than fancy - that Christianity comes to us through him and because of him, and that without the stamp of his peculiar genius upon it, the movement might in truth have been but another Essenism, or another [messianic] sect" (190-1, he's a wily one, is he admitting Jesus' divinity or just saying the man Jesus was a brilliant leader!?). The Romans in 70 AD destroyed Qumran and forced the Jerusalem Christians to flee across the Jordan, "where they became the Jewish-Christian sect known to history as the Ebionites, a name that means 'the poor'" (192).
Howlett concludes this chapter by praising the Israeli emphasis that "men of God be permitted to speak, no matter how unpalatable [their] words might be ... It is this single doctrine above all others that is the key to Israel's greatness [hmmm, not God's intervention, but 'tolerance,' sounds like good liberal dogma!] ... Because the prophets ... were heard, their words made an impact upon the people that eventually shaped Israel's character as a nation, and subsequently the character of the Western world" (193).
18. Prophets in the Great Tradition
The author argues that the Essenes fit this description. He also cites Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Jesus, Xenophanes and Socrates in Greece, Peter in Jerusalem, Paul in Asia Minor, the Christian martyrs, Peter Waldo and John Wycliffe, John Hus, Martin Luther, other Reformation leaders, the Anabaptists, the English Separatists and Puritans" (197, a generalized willingness to stand against the status quo regardless of consequences, e.g. liberalizing and secularizing an essentially religious concept). He even cites a passage from leftist darling Rachel Carson on how city folks fail to connect with nature (unlike the Essenes). "It would be hard to overestimate the importance of the fact that the Children of Israel were a desert people ... That alone, perhaps, is enough to account for their uncompromising attitude toward the moral law" (199). He implies the desert shaped their religion and that while the "prophets thought they were calling the people back to an ancient standard ... their teaching [actually] offered something quite new" (201, i.e. it was all human development). He closes with "From time to time, stern courageous men filled with the love of God grow impatient with the compromises of the Temple [status quo]. Then, driven out, departing voluntarily, or both, they seek elsewhere to live out in their own lives all that their religion has inspired them to believe and to do. Such men were the Essenes" (203). So, he's leaving aside absolute Truth, and merely making a sociological observation of how people occasionally behave, as if to comfort fellow left-liberals, concerned about religious fanaticism, that, 'yes, this too shall pass.' Its simply a recurring part of (illiberal, unenlightened, primitive) human behavior.
31 Aug 2005: I spent some time at Border's looking over a book on the Dead Sea Scrolls by HBHG authors Michael Baigent and ? Leigh(?). They take their typical approach that RCC and other "establishment" scholars have concealed the true nature of their contents, threatened by the "real" story, which they then purport to fearlessly uncover. Their version goes like this: The Essenes were in fact a group of early Christians. Jesus was and Essene and may even have lived through the crucifiction and spent the rest of his days at an Essene settlement. James (bro of Jesus) was leader of the Christians at Jerusalem and intended the movement to be within Judaism. Paul hijacked the movement (possibly as an agent of Rome?!), inventing Jesus' resurrection and marketing it to gentiles, perverting the "real" movement. Paul and James had a huge power struggle and Paul won. Baigent et al make much of Edmund Wilson's 1955 book about the scrolls. This was one of leftist Wilson's pet interests; the use of the scrolls to debunk Christianity (and Christian morality). Watch out for this common theme; the attempted use of the scrolls by leftists as a weapon against Christianity.
"Dr. Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen ... an Englishman, had suffered much for his rationalism, his belief in scientific method, and his sympathy for the American and French revolutions. His laboratory in Birmingham had been smashed by an ugly crowd which had been inflamed by the 'Church and King' hysteria, that version of mob rule approved by the British crown and bishops as a weapon against Dissenters (This hysteria, also directed against Thomas Paine, was approved - in one of his many lapses - by Edmund Burke). Not only had Priestley been messing about with profane experiments, but he had founded the doctrine known as Unitarianism, by which Jesus of Nazareth was regarded in the light of a mere mortal with ethical opinions, and not as the son of God" (Thomas Jefferson: Author of America, Christopher Hitchens, 2005, p173)
For more information on the "400 Silent Years" between the Old and New Testaments, refer to my book review of H. A. Ironside's book The 400 Silent Years (also in SBC library).
Note: The picture and bio info above come from an online bio of Howlett by Clifton Davis, Librarian Emeritus, Bangor Theological Seminary, Maine.