He readily absorbed the knowledge taught to him by his Essene masters. We do not know whether Jesus was an Essene, but some scholars feel that he was at least influenced by them. [57] Lawrence Schiffman has argued that the Qumran community may be called Sadducean , and not Essene, since their legal positions retain a link with Sadducean tradition. There were the Sadducees, the Pharisees and the Essenes. No, Jesus was not an Essene. "The attitude of Jesus and his disciples is altogether anti-Essenic" (Jewish Encyc.). To my surprise, Suddi quickly dispelled one of the main doctrines of Christianity. The Essenes are widely regarded as the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. When I asked Suddi if there was anything unusual about the birth of Jesus, he replied: “Just that he was born in a cave and there was a star gathered overheard. They were members of an ancient Jewish ascetic sect of the 2nd century BC–2nd century AD in Palestine, who lived in highly organized groups and held property in common. But which one was Jesus. The strict silence about any Messias is due partly perhaps to the secrecy of the Essenes and mainly no doubt to His rejection by their chronicler, Josephus . There are many opinions but no actual conclusion of fact on whether Jesus was an Essene or not. Now the Essenes aren't a new group in Jesus' day. They too, had been around for a hundred years at that point in time. June 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM () Tags: Jesus Essene Nazareth Nazarene Nazarite Dead Sea Scrolls Qumran Vegetarianism Animal Sacrifice Pharisee Sadducee Josephus Encyclopaedia Biblica Bible Christianity Christians He was a Jew, but what kind; there were mainly three types of Jewish traditions during his life. In 2007, at an Easter talk, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged that the home where Jesus had his last meal was an Essene home, and his second volume of Jesus of Nazareth (2011) mentions the Essenes in general and in specific in the context of Jesus’ “Last Supper”. Evidence for the crossover of ideas exists in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a substantial cache of Essene manuscripts discovered from 1947 to 1956 in caves at Qumrun on the Dead Sea outside Jerusalem. Lets look at … Jesus was an Essene and Nazareth did not Exist. This suggests that Jesus was clearly associated with the Essenes. The copied Old Testament scrolls and descriptions of Essene practices and philosophy reflect many of the teachings Christians attribute to Jesus Christ.