The gospel of the world from the Essenes

The Gospel of the world from the Essenes is a text attributed to Edmond Bordeaux Secchi . Because of the name “ gospel, ” it is often perceived as a New Testament apocrypha , although it does not fully correspond to the signs of such. Often cited among vegetarians , as it preaches the refusal to eat meat and a raw food diet .

Content

Discovery and Publication History

Manuscripts in Aramaic and Hebrew, according to Seckey, were found in 1923 in the Vatican library and in the Benedictine monastery of Montecassino , then in the Old Slavonic language in the Habsburg library in Vienna. However, the originals by the researchers were never found either in the Vatican or in Vienna, and the library in Montecassino was destroyed during the Second World War. The first book was published first in 1937, where the text was dated to the first century AD. e., then - in 1977, where the title was dating from the third century. The second and third books were published in 1974, since, according to the author, difficulties arose in the translation of the original. The fourth was published after Seckey's death by his wife Norma in 1981.

Translation into Russian

In Russian, all four parts of the book were published in 2005 by Sattva Publishing House. The first book was translated from English by Tatyana Danilevich, the second and third by Sergey Ilyin, the fourth by Mark Drachinsky.

Structure and Content

Book one

Contains conversations of Jesus with a group of listeners about the truth and about life in accordance with the laws of Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother, as well as instructions on proper nutrition that is good for the body, and on ablutions needed to cleanse the body and spirit.

Book Two

The following book presents fragments containing the esoteric teaching on the harmonious combination of the three paths to Truth - the path of consciousness, the path of nature and the path of experience.

Enoch's vision, the oldest of revelations
From the Book of Moses from the Essenes: Ten Commandments
Communion
From the book of Jesus from the Essenes: a sevenfold world
Fragments identical to the Dead Sea Scrolls
From the book of the Teacher of Righteousness of the Essenes
Fragments from the Gospel of John the Essenes
Fragments from the Revelation of the Essenes

Book Three

The third part contains an explanation of the divine Law presented in poetic form, as set out in the previous parts.

Sevenfold Vow
Essenes worship
Angel of the sun
Angel of the waters
Angel of the air
Angel of the earth
Angel of life
Angel of joy
Mother Earth
Power angel
Angel of Love
Angel of wisdom
Angel of eternal life
Labor angel
Angel of peace
Heavenly father
Sacred law
Angels
Brotherhood
The trees
Stars
Moon
Psalms of Praise and Thanksgiving
Cry
The prophecies

Book Four

The fourth part is a kind of conclusion of the previous parts and includes ideas about the structure of the world, its beginning and end.

Essenes Communion
The gift of life in humble grass
Sevenfold world
Sacred streams

The gospel of the world as an apocryphal text

A text called the apocryphal gospel, as a rule, implies compliance with the following features :

has a Christian orientation;
contains additional information about the characters and events that are known in the canonical books of the New Testament;
corresponds in literary form, genre affiliation and name to the works of the New Testament canon.

The "Gospel of the world from the Essenes" does not contain any information about the life and sermon of Christ, known from the corpus of the texts of the New Testament . Instead of the traditional Christian concept of the Trinity as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, this text tells of a different “trinity”:

"188 Only through love, Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother and the Son of Man become one."

There is also no mention of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, despite the fact that this event is the focus of all Christian beliefs. A concept appears about a certain Mother of the Earth, about which there is no information in the books of either the Old or New Testaments, since the Jews did not personify nature, perceiving it only as a creation of God, which is also known from the Old Testament (Exodus 20: 4-6). Also, the “Gospel of the world" is at odds with traditional Christian ideas about Baptism as cleansing from sins. The Epistle of the Apostle Paul (4: 5) says the following:

"One Lord, one faith, one baptism."

That is, a person receives baptism once, which symbolizes a new birth and purification. In the gospel of the world, Jesus says something completely different:

"142 Repeat your baptism with water every day of your fast until you see that the water flowing out of you has not become clear like foamy water."

Researchers note the similarities between the description of cleansing practices in the “Gospel of the world” (for example, verses 137 to 140) with the description of practices in Hatha Yoga , a document dating from the 15th century. Ideas for healing through proper nutrition and bathing are also a trend of a later time.

Regarding the following sign, the “Gospel of the world from the Essenes” mentions only one character from the canonical books of the New Testament - Jesus Christ . However, almost nothing was said about Him either: it does not speak of His Divinity, His purpose with which He was embodied, and whether He was embodied at all. Jesus is presented exclusively as a messenger of God with the knowledge of the Truth and the ability to work miracles. There are borrowings from the canonical Gospels, but often these paraphrases are used in a different context. For example, the parable of the prodigal son (verse 290 to 322) is clearly different from the parable of the same name in the Gospel of Luke (15: 11-32) and has a different meaning. Given the similarity of the fragments in the “Gospel of the world” (verses 103 to 114) and in the Gospel of Matthew (6: 17-18) , which refers to fasting, the very meaning of fasting is different. There are clear contradictions to the words of Jesus Christ in the canonical gospels.

For example, in Matthew (10: 28), Jesus Christ tells the apostles:

“And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but souls who cannot kill; but fear more of him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ”

And in the Gospel of the Essenes, Jesus says:

"533 And everything that kills your bodies also kills your souls."

Further, in the Gospel of Matthew (15:11) :

“Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a person, but that which comes out of the mouth defiles a person.”

And thoughts that defile his heart come out of man. And in the "Gospel of Peace":

"583 Therefore, be careful and do not defile the temples of your bodies with various abominations."

In the Gospel of Matthew (18: 8-9) :

“If your hand or your foot seduces you, cut them off and throw them away from you: it is better for you to enter life without a hand or without a leg than with two hands and two legs to be cast into eternal fire; and if your eye seduces you, tear it out and throw it away from you: it’s better for you to enter life with one eye than to be cast into the fiery hell with two eyes.

And in the "Gospel of Peace":

"33 Truly, I tell you, if you violate at least one of these laws, if you harm at least one member of your body, completely perish in your terrible disease, and there will be sobbing and gnashing of teeth."

The commandments in Jesus' conversation in the “Gospel of Peace” (verses 466 to 705) also differ from the commandments given in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 5-7 Ch. ). Although this text is called the “gospel”, it does not correspond to the canonical gospels in literary form, since it does not contain a description of the ministry of Jesus Christ, His death on the Cross, and the Resurrection . Contains a discrepancy with the historical context itself: Jesus in the gospel of the world tells the audience:

“Do not look for the law in your books with scriptures, for the law is life, the scriptures are dead.”

However, according to the testimony of historians, the Essenes honored the Law of Moses and devoted every Saturday to the study of Scripture. The affirmation of Jesus would not have caused them understanding and response. Christ in the Gospel of John (5:39) also speaks directly of Scripture and shows that it does not contradict him:

“Search the Scriptures, for through them you think you have eternal life; but they testify of Me. ”

And yet (5: 45-47) :

“Do not think that I will blame you before the Father: there is the accuser Moses on you, on whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. If you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? ”

This passage confirms that Scripture was known to every Jew and served as a source of revelation about the Messiah . Therefore, the words of Jesus in the "Gospel of the world" cast doubt on the historicity of the document and its authenticity.

Literature

Metzger B.M. New Testament. Context, formation, content / Per. from English (Series "Contemporary Biblical Studies"). - M.: Bible and Theological Institute of St. Apostle Andrew, 2006.
Smirnov E.I. History of the Christian Church (St. Petersburg, 1915) / K. E. Skurat, Father Superior George (Tertyshnikov). - 10th ed., Rev. and add. - Sergiev Posad: Moscow Orthodox Theological Academy, 2007.
Emelyanov A., prot. Introduction to the Four Gospels: Textbook. allowance / prot. A. Emelyanov. - 2nd ed., Rev. and add. - M.: Publishing house PSTGU2010.