Who Were the Essenes? - Dr. Steve Mason

Today I was honored to speak with Dr. Steve Mason, professor emeritus of Ancient Mediterranean Religions and Cultures at the University of Groningen. Dr. Mason provided a scholarly overview of the Essenes and discussed the topic of the possible influence that the Essenes may have played in the early Jesus movement, while sharing how to not make false assumptions or connect dots without sufficient evidence. Many thanks to Dr. Mason for his lifelong contributions toward these critical topics, and for his presentation here today. I am looking forward to digging deeper into this subject! ______________________________________ Dr. Mason's books may be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Mason/e/... Dr. Mason's page on the University of Groningen website is: https://www.rug.nl/staff/s.mason/ ______________________________________ Our prior interviews may be seen here:    • Harmonic Atheist - Interview with Dr. Stev...      • Harmonic Atheist - Dr. Steve Mason address...      • Harmonic Atheist - Dr. Steve Mason: Joseph...   ______________________________________ Check out Dr. Mason on MythVision! https://www.youtube.com/@MythVisionPo... _________________________________________ ** Please subscribe to my other channels ** (many more channels and videos coming soon!) https://linktr.ee/harmonicatheist _________________________________________ Tim may be reached by email at: harmonicatheist@yahoo.com _________________________________________ Your support for my channel, Harmonic Atheist, is very appreciated. Monthly   / harmonicatheist   One time PayPal: paypal.me/harmonictim Venmo: @harmonicatheist GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tim-s... Thanks! --Tim _________________________________________ Ending music by Eyal Raz, "Friends"    • Friends   _________________________________________