Essene Book of Everyday Virtues: Spiritual Wisdom From the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Kenneth Hanson

More than two thousand years ago a dedicated group of religious ascetics and visionaries fled the opulence of Jerusalem and sequestered themselves in a desert stronghold at Qumran in a utopian attempt to forge a purer, more spiritual existence. By the end of the first century of the Common Era this ancient Judean sect had disappeared, but the library of scrolls they secreted away in limestone caves would remain hidden until their sensational discovery in 1947. The Essenes, or Sons of Light, as they called themselves, copied thirty-eight books of the Hebrew Bible - the oldest known copies in the world - as well as apocryphal material, original rule books for community living, psalms, and books of prophecy.

In the "Essene Book of Everyday Virtues", Hebrew scholar Kenneth Hanson PhD uses information contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls, accounts from the ancient historian Josephus, and contemporary archaeological discoveries to create a handbook of spiritual living for contemporary readers. Culling from his own translations of the most evocative passages from the massive and impenetrable scroll texts, Dr. Hanson shows how we may share in the timeless vision of the Sons of Light, with its emphasis on community, simplicity, learning and perseverance, to achieve spiritual wealth and personal abundance in our lives today.

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Kenneth Hanson is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the University of Central Florida Judaic Studies Program. He earned a Ph.D. in Hebrew Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. His many scholarly articles focus on the Second Jewish Commonwealth, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the historical Jesus, and Jewish Christianity. He has also published several books of popular scholarship, including: Dead Sea Scrolls: The Untold Story; Kabbalah: Three Thousand Years of Mystic Tradition; and Secrets from the Lost Bible. He has been interviewed multiple times on nationally syndicated radio, and his research was featured on the History Channel documentary, Banned from the Bible. He teaches a wide range of Judaic Studies courses, including the Hebrew language, the Hebrew Bible, Jewish history and culture, and the history of the Holocaust. He recently produced and narrated an award-winning documentary entitled The Druze: An Ethnic Minority in the Holy Land.

Reviews

[Kathy Fontenot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes the words of Jesus make more sense. I think Jesus was taken out of context by the religion in power.

[Jonathan Laboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wealth of practical wisdom is to be found in the lives of these ancient people who might have well in a literal way fulfilled the prophecy in which Hosea said: I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her... and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth. In a way this was not meant only to the Essenes but it refers to the same experience which can be lived nowadays by Christians who seek to live holy and devoted to the Lord in an ungodly age. This is a sweet balm for the Christian buffeted by the things of our secular, self-centered, preoccupied society which easily ensnare us from the way we are meant to be walking: towards and towards God every day. It lays a foundation for wise and holy living in our modern day world which is based on the rule and teachings the tiny sect of the Essenes or Sons of Light, and since they were Jewish consequently from the Old Testament. These folks were an inspired bunch (in some cases alluding in their doctrines to teachings which were later revealed to us by Jesus Christ) and they were not Pharisees, but they in their writings speak against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The word Essene comes from a corruption of a Hebrew or Aramaic word which means Doers (They were later properly called these Doers of the Law by the Jewish historian Josephus) and their lifestyle witnessed to an obedient lifestyle and to the faithfulness of God to watch over and supply to these people unto a long age (many of them lived to 100 years and in an age in which the common lifespan was 40 years its amazing) and grant them all they needed. The Essenes died out after two centuries with the destruction of the temple in +-70AD, but one could have hoped some of them heard about the Messiah and the Good News.

This book goes in depth with the following 10 principles:
Simplicity
Community
Vision
Labor
Time
Learning
Perseverance
Silence & Right Speech
Manna
Abundance

These principles have value on our walk which is to be applied after we understand how grace works. Although the content is beneficial for believers you should have knowledge of the New Testament before they read this book for a couple of reasons: 1) Most of the Essenes lived prior to Jesus Christ and most of their writings were compiled without any knowledge of the New Testament. 2) Although they were well acquainted with the Old Testament writings the Old Covenant is not sufficient to merit our salvation but it is freely offered to all in the New Covenant. 3) The book reads like the writings of a Deist (a man who believes in a Higher Power), it does not point to Christ. 4) Jesus is considered to be simply a wise man (although if such a thing was true He'd be called a lunatic instead) instead of the eternal Son and in some instances the author assumes Jesus Christ copied the Essenes since He came later unbelieving that we indeed live in Christ, and yes indeed the Essenes were an inspired bunch. 5) The author on the same note on the end of the book states all religions are true but Jesus said: I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you know how to accept the good and reject the bad: this book will be a blessing to you.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

'How are we then, to live?" Ever since the days of of Plato this question above all others follows each person throughout their life, and has been the constant refrain of reformers, ascetics, families, communities, nations, and religions the world over, down through the millenia. Answers are sought through philosophy, science, and religion. As far back as ancient Greece and India, founders of philosophical schools enshrined a way of life in their teachings. Answers to this question from a Christian perspective are to be found in the Evangelical Counsels of the Gospels, in "The Acts of the Apostles", and in the model of monasticism. An alternate answer is offered by Dr. Kenneth Hanson, of the Judaic Studies department of UCF.

In his book, "The Essene Book of Everyday Virtues" Professor Hanson offers us, as his subtitle suggests "Spiritual Wisdom from the Dead Sea Scrolls", which he has studied for over 30 years. Professor Hanson takes from the Scrolls and the community of which they formed a part the following virtues: Simplicity, Community, Vision, Labor, Time, Learning, Perseverance, Silence & Right Speech, Manna, and Abundance and presents them as valuable and viable virtues to be followed even today, as a path live more meaningful lives.

The book is comprised of a short personal introduction, ten chapters (one for each virtue to be covered) a (minimal) section of notes, and an index. He combines historical accounts, archaeological findings and his own paraphrase translations of source documents (designed to make the text more readable to a general audience).

Its more a meditation on a way of life and an assertion on how to live, than a scholarly assessment of the Qumran community's accomplishments. As he admits, "I have attempted to draw from [tne Scrolls] some of the most meaningful, graspable and spiritually suggestive passages and to construct a series of ten disciplines from the ancient world that are relevant to contemporary life." (p5-6). It is also though, more a secular approach then a religious, for of his enumerated virtues, not one is primarily 'religious' in nature -that is, relating to the vertical dimension of life (there are for instance, no virtues associated with prayer, or sacrifice, or conversion and repentance)- though this is not necessarily in itself a weakness, more an observation.

What is missing fro the text is a precaution against taking any one virtue to the extreme, or warnings about taking a virtue (or virtues) out of context, or even an analysis of the weakness of the virtue in isolation, or what part of a broken life the particular virtue fills, although this weakness is mitigated, as after the first "Simplicity" every virtue builds on the one preceding it. The implicit conclusion is that the fullest expression of any one virtues requires the living out of all the virtues.

These are, then, not necessarily the traditional virtues of an institutional monasticism (Christian or otherwise), and readers should be aware that this is not a Christian presentation or understanding of the enumerated virtues, but one that springs from a lifetime of scholarship on the sectarian documents of the Jewish sect of Essenes found at Qumran. Hanson's book has many worthwhile insights and does provide the outline of a program for right living, but it should not be taken in isolation, apart from the (written, oral, social and emotional) resources of a supportive community, but it is a good first step.