Editing Essenes (section)

=== Christianity ===
[[File:Saint John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness by Anton Raphael.png|thumb|John the Baptist was possibly an Essene.<ref name=":0" />|190x190px]]
Rituals of the Essenes and [[Christianity]] have much in common; the Dead Sea Scrolls describe a meal of bread and wine that will be instituted by the [[messiah]], both the Essenes and Christians were eschatological communities, where judgement on the world would come at any time.<ref name="jpost.com">{{Cite news |title=The Essenes and the origins of Christianity |url=https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/the-essenes-and-the-origins-of-christianity-562442 |access-date=2022-04-12 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The New Testament also possibly quotes writings used by the Qumran community. Luke 1:31-35 states ''" And now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High&nbsp;... the son of God"'' which seems to echo [[4Q246|4Q 246]], stating: ''"He will be called great and he will be called Son of God, and they will call him Son of the Most High&nbsp;... He will judge the earth in righteousness&nbsp;... and every nation will bow down to him".''<ref name="jpost.com"/>

Other similarities include high devotion to the faith even to the point of martyrdom, communal prayer, self denial and a belief in a captivity in a sinful world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Lost and Hidden Christianity |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/losthiddenchristianity_article_01.shtml |access-date=2022-05-11 |publisher=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[John the Baptist]] has also been argued to have been an Essene, as there are numerous parallels between John's mission and the Essenes, which suggests he perhaps was trained by the Essene community.<ref name=":0">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=St. John the Baptist - Possible relationship with the Essenes {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-the-Baptist/Possible-relationship-with-the-Essenes |access-date=2022-04-12 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

In the early church a book called the [[Odes of Solomon]] was written. The writer was likely a very early convert from the Essene community into Christianity. The book reflects a mixture of mystical ideas of the Essene community with Christian concepts.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Denzer |first=Pam |title=Odes of Solomon: Early Hymns of the Jewish Christian Mystical Tradition |url=https://www.academia.edu/4440268}}</ref>

Both the Essenes and Christians practiced voluntary celibacy and prohibited divorce.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Essenes and the origins of Christianity |url=https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/the-essenes-and-the-origins-of-christianity-562442 |access-date=2022-06-19 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Both also used concepts of "light" and "darkness" for good and evil.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fitzmyer |first=Joseph A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlwB8K0hiLIC&dq=Paul+and+Essenes+Habakkuk&pg=PA101 |title=The Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls |date=2009 |publisher=Paulist Press |isbn=978-0-8091-4615-4 |language=en}}</ref>

A few have claimed that the Essenes had an idea of a pierced Messiah based on [[The War of the Messiah|4Q285]]; however, the interpretation of the text is ambiguous. Some scholars interpreted it as the Messiah being killed himself, while modern scholars mostly interpret it as the Messiah executing the enemies of Israel in an eschatological war.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Stuckenbruck |first1=Loren T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1E6_DwAAQBAJ&dq=4Q285+Christianity&pg=PT507 |title=T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism Volume One |last2=Gurtner |first2=Daniel M. |date=2019-12-26 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-567-65813-5 |language=en}}</ref>

Both the Essenes and Christians practiced a ritual of immersion by water, however the Essenes had it as a regular practice instead of a one time event.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Charlesworth |first=James H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=axIMoFf-D5YC&dq=Baptism+Essenes&pg=PA450 |title=The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The scrolls and Christian origins |date=2006 |publisher=Baylor University Press |isbn=978-1-932792-21-8 |language=en}}</ref>