by mortification of the body, the performance of acts of charity, meditation, and the total abnegation of self. These he supposed to be sufficient to secure the object in view, without having recourse to the offices of the priests, or to the rites of an elaborated religious system. By other peoples, the existence of a clear moral relation between man and God was fully recognised, especially by those connected with the Hamitic or Semitic stock. The Persians, whose relationship to the Chaldeans was far from being merely political, sought escape from the way of generation by the practice of a high morality, the object of which was to secure the attainment of a condition of spiritual purity in this present life. In the last chapter it has been shown that the ideas embodied in the Zarathustran cult exercised considerable influence over Hebrew thought, as revealed in a portion of the Old Testament Scriptures. That influence is still more marked in the writings which seem to date from the period which intervened between the minor prophets and the establishment of Christianity. In the Apocrypha, as a late writer asserts, "the antagonism between matter and spirit, the impurity of the whole material world, and the evil influence of the corruptible body upon the human soul, are proclaimed as unquestionable truths." The same testimony as to a later period is borne by the late Dean Milman, who says that the Zendavesta is "by no means an improbable source in which we ought to discover the origin of those traditional notions of the Jews, which were extraneous to their earlier systems, and which do not appear to rest on their sacred records. It is undoubtedly remarkable that among the Magian tenets we find so many of those doctrines about which the great schism 1 "Christian Theology and Modern Scepticism," by the Duke of Somerset, p. 62. 6 in the Jewish popular creed, that of the traditionists and antitraditionists, continued for several centuries. It has already been observed that in the later prophetic writings many allusions, and much of what may be called the poetic language and machinery, is strikingly similar to the main principles of the Magian faith. Nor can it be necessary to suggest how completely such expressions as the children of light,' and the children of darknesss,' had become identified with the common language of the Jews at the time of our Saviour; and when Jesus proclaimed himself the 'Light of the World,' no doubt he employed a term familiar to the ears of the people, though, as usual, they might not clearly comprehend in what sense it was applicable to the Messiah, or to the purely moral character of the new religion." It would seem, however, that there were sects by whom the ideas embodied in the teachings of Zarathustra were especially embraced. Such, doubtless, were the Essenes, who were said to have first arisen on the western shores of the Dead Sea, spreading from thence throughout Palestine, and it is advisable to treat of this little-known sect before entering upon the proper subject of the present chapter, especially as the founder of Christianity is sometimes thought to have belonged to it. The works of Philo Judæus and Josephus are usually said to be the chief source of our knowledge of the Essenes. The former, in his tract "On the Virtuous being also Free," tells us that originally they were poor and destitute, ignorant of all traffic, commercial dealings, and navigation, and refusing to act in any employment connected with war, or as makers of warlike weapons. They lived in villages apart in order to escape the contamination of cities, and they were all "free, aiding one another with a reciprocal interchange 1 "History of Christianity," vol. i., p. 68 seq. of good offices," and having all things in common. They met in synagogues on the seventh day to hear the scripture expounded. Their sacred books, says Philo, present an infinite number of instances of the disposition devoted to the love of God, and of a continued and uninterrupted purity throughout the whole of life, of a careful avoidance of oaths and falsehoods, and of a strict adherence to the principle of looking on the deity as the cause of everything which is good, and of nothing which is evil. They also furnish us with many proofs of a love of virtue such as absence from all covetousness of money, from ambition, from indulgence in pleasures, temperance, endurance, and also moderation, simplicity, good temper, the absence of pride, obedience to the laws, steadiness, and everything of that kind; and lastly, they bring forward as proofs of the love of mankind, good will, equality beyond all power of description, and fellowship."1 Elsewhere, Philo refers to the community of goods and fellowship among the Essenes in terms such as would lead us to suppose that they led a monastic life, and he dwells with admiration on the fact that although "they repudiate marriage, and at the same time they practise continence in an eminent degree," yet they perpetuate their community. "They are all full grown men," says Philo, "and even already declining towards old age, such as are no longer carried away by the impetuosity of their bodily passions, and are not under the influence of the appetites, but such as enjoy a genuine freedom, the only true and real liberty."" The account given by Josephus of the Essenes and their doctrines is much fuller than that preserved by Philo. He describes their monastic life under the rules 1 Works of Philo Judæus (Bohn), vol. III., p. 523 seq. 2 Fragments, ditto, vol. IV., p. 220. 3 See Whiston's Translation, "Wars of the Jews," Bk. II., chap. of chastity, obedience, and silence. Spending much of their time in labour, they ate and drank seldom and with sobriety. Their garments were white, and these they used until they were completely worn out or torn to pieces. Two things only were they allowed to do without consent of their superiors-to succour the distressed, if they were worthy, and to give food to those who were in need. They studied the medicinal properties of herbs and stones, and doubtless acted as physicians to the poor. They were mild in their manner, peaceable and trustworthy, and they declined to confirm. what they said by an oath. Those of their members who were found out in any heinous sin were banished from the society, the judgment pronounced being unalterable, but the sentence was always strictly just. They were very superstitious in many of their customs, and were extremely strict observers of the seventh day. Josephus says that the Essenes lived the same kind of life as the Pythagoreans, and their doctrines concerning the soul appear to have been such as Pythagoras is said to have derived from the Egyptians. Thus, they taught 'that bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are made of is not permanent, but that the souls are immortal, and continue for ever; and that they come out of the most subtile air, and are united to their bodies as in prisons, into which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement, but that when they are set free from the bonds of the flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward." This is really the doctrine of the descent and ascent of souls already explained, although there is no positive evidence that the Essenes received the doctrine of transmigration.1 1 Josephus remarks of the Pharisees-"They say that all souls are incorruptible, but that the souls of good men are only removed into other bodies, but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment." Dean Milman makes the following pertinent remarks on the doctrines held by the Essenes :-"The main principles of their tenets seem evidently grounded on that wide-spread Oriental philosophy, which, supposing matter either the creation of the Evil Being, or itself the Evil Being, considered all the appetites and propensities of the material body in themselves evil, and therefore esteemed the most severe mortification the perfection of virtue. The reverence for the names of the angels points to the same source. There is one ambiguous expression in the account of Josephus, which, taken literally, would imply that they worshipped the sun." This, no doubt, is the prayer that the sun might shine upon them, used by them at daybreak. The words of Josephus are" Before sun-rising they speak not a word about profane matters, but put up certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers, as if they made a supplication for its rising." Elsewhere the holiness and purity of the sun's light are referred to, ideas which are strictly Zarathustran. That the Essenes were not a purely Jewish sect is shown by the fact that they did not offer sacrifices at the Temple at Jerusalem; not, as says Josephus, because they had more pure lustrations of their own, but rather, as Dean Milman suggests, because they abhorred the taking of animal life, a feeling which led them also to abstain from the eating of flesh. This notion was peculiarly eastern as was the use of lustrations. The latter custom was prevalent among the Persians, and its existence among the Essenes confirms the idea that the peculiarities which distinguished them from the other Jews were derived from the followers of Zarathustra. Josephus makes no mention of the existence of mysteries 1 "History of the Jews," 4th Ed., vol. II., p. 113. |