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13
Pythagoras had also been initiated in Egypt. It is an
liistorical fact that lie remained several years in retreat
at Mount Carmel, where Elijah had estalblishedl a school
of the prophets. On his return to Italy he established
his famous sodality at Crotcna, which in so many respects
resembled that of the Therapeuts.
THE ESSENES AND THE NEW TESTAMENT.
There was also a great analogy betwen the colony
founded by the Alexandrine Mystics and that of the
Egyptian priests, described by Strabo. There can be no
doubt concerning the fundamental unity of all these
various sects.
The Essenes are not mentioned in the Kew Testament.
This fact seems enigmatical. The utter absence of any
mention can only be explained! by the fact that the writers
were Ussenes.
Tliis assertion may at first appear rather startling, but
the analogy between the doctrines of Jesus and tihose
of the Brotherhood of Healers is so great that it must
bring conviction to every unbiassed minC,
.
It would seem that there was room for .1 definite con-
tact between John the Baptist and this Brotherhood.
His timie otf preparation was spent in the wilderness,
near tlhe Dead Sea, where the Essenes had their main
establishment. His preaching of righteousness was in
complete harmony with the essene teaching. His insist-
ence on baptism was in accord with the essenic emphasis
on lustration.
He had) a Messianic outlook, which was one of the
chief tenets of the sect.
The prophetess Anna and Joseph of Arimathea, who
"waited ior the redemption of Israel," both belonged to
the Healers, and we know that the evangelist Luke was
also a " Healer."
The similarity between original Christianity and
Essenism is very striking.
The Essenes urged their disciples to -seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness. So did Christ.
Matt. vi. 19.
They demanded of all those who wished to join them
to sell all their possessions. This is the claim put by
Jesuis to the rich young man. Without this sacrifice he
was not fit to join those who strove after " per’fection."
The Healers had all in common. Their motto was
" Mine is thine and thine is mine." Many passages in
Holy Scripture prove that the first Christians were Com-
munists (John xii. 26, Acts ii. 44, etc.).
To the Essenes lAysical relationship was of small
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