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orion-list Pacifism of Essenes deconstructed




Thanks to Russ Gmirkin for the continued informative analysis 
concerning the lack of basis for pacifist Therapeutae or 
Essenes in Philo.  It adds detailed support to the correctness 
of the thesis of Christophe Batsch that the "peaceful Essenes" 
is, as Batsch put it, a modern "mythe historiographique".

There is a curious phenomenon that constructions of thinking
continue with momentum even after an original basis or reason
for the construction becomes known to be a mistake and is 
acknowledged to be in error.  To what extent has the "peaceful 
Essene" notion influenced the way other things in our field have 
been viewed--texts, interpretation of Qumran archaeology, etc.?  
To what extent will the legacy of these influences retain momentum
even if the "peaceful Essene" construction is acknowledged to
be of no known historical validity or usefulness?

Greg Doudna


For private reply, e-mail to Greg Doudna <gd@teol.ku.dk>
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