The Age Of The Sect

All the early writers claim the Sect was very old.

Josephus says it goes back "to most ancient times", Philo, that "it goes back to the time of Moses", Pliny, that "it goes back a thousand years".

The information from the Scrolls support these claims.

The Damascus Document states the first Teacher of Righteousness was appointed by David, while in the Commentary on Habakkuk the first wicked priest is Solomon.

Contra

The current theory, that the sect was formed shortly before 150 BCE is maintained in two ways, first by presenting evidence to support it, and second, countering the evidence that challenges it.

Supporting Evidence

• Qumran was built about 150 BCE therefore the sect must have been formed a few years prior. 

Rejoinder

• Qumran is the earliest habitation of the Essenes that has been found, but to assume from that that the Sect was formed about the same time is surely unjustified.

Supporting Evidence

• Josephus does not mention the Essenes prior to about 150 BCE, therefore the Sect did not exist prior to that date.

Rejoinder

• This line of reasoning leads to the untenable conclusion that because Josephus does not mention any sects prior to about 170 BCE, then no sects existed.

*A detailed rejoinder will be found in the Numbers section.*

Countering the Hostile Evidence

• The evidence is incorrect.

"The early writers are unreliable in their conception of time, therefore the age they attribute to the Sect cannot be relied on."

Rejoinder

• Josephus claims the Sect is very old and two other independent sources support him. Normally this would be considered pretty good confirmation that he was right. In this case, however, it is claimed that it proves all three wrong. That Philo's sense of time was so warped that he believed Moses lived only some 200 years in the past.

Conclusion

I believe the evidence pointing to the Essene Sect being very old far outweighs the evidence purporting to prove that it was not.

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