hirst after
righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemaker. They
combined the healing of the body with that of the soul. They declared
that the power to cast out evil spirits, to perform miraculous cures,
&c., should be possessed by their disciples as signs of their
belief.[420:8] The Essenes did not swear at all; their answer was yea,
yea, and nay, nay.[420:9] When the Essenes started on a mission of
mercy, they provided neither gold nor silver, neither two coats, neither
shoes, but relied on hospitality for support.[420:10] The Essenes,
though repudiating offensive war, yet took weapons with them when they
went on a perilous journey.[421:1] The Essenes abstained from connubial
intercourse.[421:2] The Essenes did not offer animal sacrifices, but
strove to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable
unto God, which they regarded as a reasonable service.[421:3] It was the
great aim of the Essenes to live such a life of purity and holiness as
to be the temples of the Holy Spirit, and to be able to prophesy.[421:4]

Many other comparisons might be made, but these are sufficient to show
that there is a great similarity between the two.[421:5] These
similarities have led many Christian writers to believe that Jesus
belonged to this order. Dr. Ginsburg, an advocate of this theory, says:

"It will hardly be doubted that _our_ Saviour himself belonged
to this holy brotherhood. This will especially be apparent
when we remember that the whole Jewish community, at the
advent of Christ, was divided into three parties, the
Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes, and that every Jew
had to belong to one of these sects. Jesus, who, in all
things, conformed to the Jewish law, and who was holy,
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, would
therefore naturally associate himself with that order of
Judaism which was most congenial to his holy nature. Moreover,
the fact that Christ, with the exception of once, was not
heard of in public until his thirtieth year, implying that he
lived in seclusion with this fraternity, and that though he
frequently rebuked the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, he
never denounced the Essenes, strongly confirms this
conclusion."[421:6]

The _facts_--as Dr. Ginsburg calls them--which confirm his conclusions,
are simply _no facts at all_. Jesus may or may not have been a member of
t