The Essenes: Their History and Doctrines; The Kabbalah Its Doctrines, Development and Literature

1864 and 1863. The text is comprised of two essays, one on The Essenes, the second on the Kabbalah. The Essenes is a sect or order of Judaism, found in ecclesiastical histories and Cyclopaedias, and is derived from the short notices of Philo, Pliny, Josephus, Solinus, Porphyry, Eusebius and Epiphanius. In this essay the author strives to give an impartial statement of the doctrines and practices of the Essenes and to show their relationship to both Judaism and Christianity. The Kabbalah is a system of religious philosophy or theosophy that has captivated the minds of some of the greatest thinkers of Christendom in centuries past. With this writing, the author’s aim is to provide an elementary guide for those who wish to be initiated into the mysteries of this theosophy.