Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

250 ESSENES ESSENES
succeeded in eliciting from the collation of all of this sect he is supposed, as has been
that has been previously written on the subject,
very correct details of the doctrines and On this subject, Ginsburg says : "Jesus,
I
already said, to have been a member .
practises of the Essenes, Of these writers who in all things conformed to the Jewish
none have been more successful than the laborious
German critics Frankel and Rappaport . and separate from sinners, would, therefore •
law, and who was holy, harmless, undefiled,
Their investigations have been ably and thoroughly
condensed by Dr. Christian D . Gins-
Judaism which was most congenial to his holy
naturally associate himself with that order of
burg, whose essay on The Essenes, their History nature . Moreover, the fact that Christ, with
and Doctrines (Lond ., 1864), has supplied the the exception of once, was not heard of in
most material facts contained in the present public till his thirtieth year, implying that he
article .
lived in seclusion with this Fraternity and
It is impossible to ascertain the precise date that, though he frequently rebukes the
of the development of Essenism as a distinct Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, he never
organization . The old writers are so exaggerated
in their statements, that they are
worth nothing as historical authorities . Philo
says, for instance, that Moses himself instituted
the order, and Josephus that it existed
ever since the ancient time of the Fathers ;
while Pliny asserts, with mythical liberality,
that, it has continued for thousands of ages .
Dr. Ginsburg thinks that Essenism was a
gradual development of the prevalent religious
notions out of Judaism, a theory which
Dr. Dollinger repudiates . But Rappaport,
who was a learned Jew, thoroughly conversant
with the Talmud and other Hebrew writings,
and who is hence called bay Ginsburg "the
corypheus of Jewish critics, ' asserts that the
Essenes were not a distinct sect, in the strict
sense of the word, but simply an order of Judaism,
and that there never was a rupture between
them and the rest of the Jewish community.
This theory is sustained by Frankel,
a learned German who maintains that the
Essenes were simply an intensification of the
Pharisaic sect, and that they were the same as
the Chasidim, whom Lawrie calls the Kassideans,
and of whom he speaks as the guardians
of King Solomon's Temple . If this view be
the correct one, and there is no good reason to
doubt it, then there will be another feature
of resemblance and coincidence between the
Freemasons and the Essenes ; for, as the latter
was not a religious sect, but merely a development
of Judaism, an order of Jews entertaining
no heterodox opinions, but simply carrying
out the religious dogmas of their faith with an
unusual strictness of observance, so are the
Freemasons not a religious sect, but simply a
development of the religious idea of the age .
The difference, however, between Freemasonry
and Essenism lies in the spirit of universal
tolerance prominent in the one and
absent in the other. Freemasonry is Christian
as to its membership in general, but recognizing
and tolerating in its bosom all other
religions : Essenism, on the contrary, was
exclusively and intensely Jewish in its membership,
its usages, and its doctrines .
The Essenes axe first mentioned by Josephus
as existing in the days of Jonathan the Maccabwan,
one hundred and sixty-six years before
Christ . The Jewish historian repeatedly
speaks of them at subsequent periods ; and
there is no doubt that they constituted one of
the three sects which divided the Jewish religious
world at the advent of our Savior, and
denounced the Essenes, strongly confirms
this decision ." But he admits that Christ
neither adopted nor preached their extreme
doctrines of asceticism .
After the establishment of Christianity,
the Essenes fade out of notice, and it has
been supposed that they were among the earliest
converts to the new faith . Indeed, De
Quincey rather paradoxically asserts that
they were a disguised portion of the early
Christians.
The etymology of the word has not been
settled . Yet, among the contending opinions,
the preferable one seems to be that it is derived
from the Hebrew CHASID,-holy,
pious,--which connects the Essenes with the
Chasidim, a sect which preceded them, and
of whom Lawrie says (quoting from Scaliger),
that they were "an order of the KxionTs
OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM, who bound
themselves to adorn the porches of that magnificent
structure, and to preserve it from injury
and decay ." (Hist . of F. M., p. 38 .)
The Essenes were so strict in the observance
of the Mosaic laws of purity, that they were
compelled for the purpose of avoiding contamination,
to withdraw altogether from the
rest of the Jewish nation and to form a separ
rate community, which thus became a brotherhood
. The same scruples which led them to
withdraw from their less strict Jewish brethren
induced most of them to abstain from
marriage, and hence the unavoidable depletion
of their membership by death could only
be repaired by the initiation of converts .
They had a common treasury in which was
deposited whatever anyone of them possessed,
and from this the wants of the whole community
were supplied by stewards app ointed
by the brotherhood, so that they had everything
in common. Hence there was no distinction
among them of rich and poor, or
masters and servants ; but the only gradation
of rank which they recognized was de=
rived from the degrees or orders into which
the members were divided, and which depended
on holiness alone . They lived peaceably
with all men, reprobated slavery and
war, and would not even manufacture any
warlike instruments . They were governed by
a president, who was elected by the whole
community ; and members who had violated
their rules were after due trial, excommunicated
or expelled .
As they held no communication outside of