Christianity, if I understand it correctly, is based strictly upon the belief in the advent of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and his universal atoning death for sin. Regardless of what one's views are regarding this concept, I believe this is the basic premise behind the religion known as Christianity. Anything other than this, is not Christianity.
The Essene religion was a sect of Judaism that recorded history (Josephus & others) informs us existed at the time of Christ. This religion was solar oriented (as opposed to the Jewish lunar) and appears to have been originally based in Egypt. The Essenes were healers living in Palestine from 200 B.C. to 100 A.D. and their Alexandrian cousins were known by the Greek word Therapeutae. Philo, a respected Jewish leader at the time, wrote about the Therapeutae quite a bit. These people could not have been Christians because Philo wrote about them in 10 AD, twenty years prior to Yah'shua's (Jesus') recorded crucifixion in the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament).
The Essenes disappeared from history after the Diaspora. Exactly what happened to them is a subject of debate. Josephus says that they never carried weapons which probably means they became extinct after the Romans conquered the region. Many people have put forth the idea that Essenism evolved into Christianity. Some of the ideas presented by Yah'shua (Jesus) seem to be related to the Essene philosophy of non-violence. Of course, there are many things Yah'shua (Jesus) is recorded as saying that have no relation to Essenism at all. It is interesting to note that many people have concluded that Yah'shua (Jesus) and His followers were Essenes based on the fact that there is no mention of them in the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament) thus providing so-called 'evidence' that the writers themselves must have been Essenes. This, of course, is simply speculation. There is no way to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the Essenes were Christians or that Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) was one of them.
The truth is that the Essenes did not believe in the legitimacy of the blood sacrifices recorded in the Tanakh (Old Testament). Josephus tells us that they never participated in them. If this is the case, then how could they have embraced Yah'shua's (Jesus') sacrifice on the cross? They would have completely rejected it. They also believed that the Torah was false. If this is so and they were Chrisitians, why would they have later adopted the Hebrew Bible as their Tanakh (Old Testament)? The truth is no matter how you look at it, Essenism and Christianity are two different religious movements.
There is much debate regarding exactly what constitutes Essenism. I do not have a problem with people wanting to embrace the 'Essene' philosophy, but I do not believe there is any clear cut way to determine exactly what that was. If we use the Szekely books as a guide, we are very far removed from Christianity. I believe that the Szekely books are quite possibly original works. It is conceivable that they may have been in Aramaic in the Secret Archives of the Vatican. It is also conceivable that Szekely, being the genius that he was, could have made them up. Without the original texts being taken directly from the Vatican, there is no way to know for sure.
The Essene churches naturally believe that the Gospel of the Holy Twelve (GH12) is a series of literal events and is the original New Testament. They believe that this New Testament was corrupted later. Now I ask you - are we to believe that Yah'shua (Jesus) being Elohim (God) incarnate was able to perform all of those miracles, literally resurrect from the dead and bodily ascend into Heaven, yet He was unable to prevent his own gospel from being corrupted? This makes absolutely no sense. Why would He wait 2,000 years after His advent to bring to the world a text that had to be mostly copied from the KJV?
If a person likes the Szekely texts and wants to embrace their teachings and call themselves an Essene, it is their right to do so. But do not call yourselves Christians. Clearly they are two entirely different things. Yah'shua (Jesus) makes it clear that no one reaches the Father except through Him. Plain and simple. The Essene Gospel of Peace states that no one reaches the Heavenly Father except through the Earthly Mother. This is not the same philosophy and never will be.
This is simply how I see it. I have researched the matter quite a bit and I don't see how anyone could objectively come up with any other conclusion. Essenism and Christianity are separate and regardless of what certain people would like to believe, have always been so.
For more information on the historical Essences of Qumran, see the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essenes & Qumran page.
