Essene Christianity
For the Essenes, love means peace and freedom. As Jesus taught, love is God, and God is love. They did not believe that anyone is born in sin. All human beings are born through love with a pure heart. At times, we experience fears which we have to learn not to act on, but our true nature is love. For us, this is one of the most important differences between Essene Christianity and what would later become the institutionalised church.
When Christianity was institutionalised, much of the esoteric teaching was lost. The Essenes taught that there can never be separation from God, because everyone is part of a whole. Institutions have taught that God judges us as good or bad, approves of us or disapproves. The Essenes have taught that judgement does not exist in the realm of love and God. It is a function of the earthly mind, as a reaction to fearful ideas.
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Christianity was born in the rich tradition of Essene and Jewish faith, and Jesus was to the Essenes an example of living in harmony with God. But they did not believe that Jesus, or any other prophet, could ever be God. God is the energy that allows consciousness to exist. It is unconditional love. This means that God does not recognise judgement. There can never be separation from God, because all consciousness is made together with God: ‘God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them’ (Genesis 1:27).
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A connection to God is an inner experience that is there to anyone who is open to explore it. For Jesus and the Essenes, acts of kindness, charity, and peace are expressions of love that come from one’s inner peace with God and themselves. That is why the Essenes devoted themselves to both contributing to others and developing their own inner world of faith.
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