Was Jesus instructed or otherwise influenced by the Essenes?
Joseph Sievers of the Pontifical Biblical Institute This question has been answered affirmatively in a good number of books. One of the latest is by Barbara Thiering, an Australian researcher who in her book even includes a photograph of the supposed place of the crucifixion, not in Jerusalem but in Qumran. (1) She offers a timetable of Jesus’ life that is, as one reviewer noted, more precise than a Swiss railroad schedule: During Jesus’ trial the cock crowed at 3:05 am on Friday, March 20, of the year 33. At 8:55 am Pilate ordered Jesus’ Crucifixion. On Tuesday, June 6, of the year 30, at 6pm, Jesus got engaged to Mary Magdalene at Ain Feshcha near Qumran and married her there on Saturday September, 13, of the same year, at 6pm. Although this book has some of the trappings of scholarship, with frequent Scriptural references and quotations in Greek, its chronology and its “facts” are pure fantasy, with no basis in any historical sources. (2) A book that has made waves especially in Ger
