Folia Theologica 18. (2007)
László Boda: Whether John the Baptist Could Have Been Educated at Qumran? - Johs and Bannus
JOHN AND BANNUS 57 get in conflict with the Pharisees as did Jesus for the sole reason that the Baptist started its public activity in Perea beyond the Jordan. And, on the other hand, he was imprisoned by Herodes Antipas within short time and, then, decapitated. John the Baptist appeared near the Jordan as a true prophet who was more than the dream-reader oracles of Essenians, who grew out of the caste-system of Qumran's inhabitants and their way of life restricted by meticulous rules of impurity or the Messianic illusion of Teacher of the Truth. He knew that the true prophets taxed the leaders of the people with their faults very frankly, even under penalty of death. Although he was educated by the Essenians for some time and he might have been very familiar with certain their theses (especially with some texts of Isaiah), yet, he left the fortified monastery of Qumran, following a retired preparation of 7 to 10 years, at his age of thirty and vent to the other side of the Jordan. As soon as during his period of preparation, he took over, or even, intensified the asceticism of Essenians. During his public activity, he recognized the real Teacher of the Truth in Jesus of Nazareth, his relative. The people's feeling that he was a true prophet was sealed with John the Baptist's blood when he was executed. The priesthood of Sadducees paid their attention to the Church (including the church tax) while the Pharisees and scribes observed the rules of Tora. On the other hand, the community of Qumran dealt with the prophets much more intensively than did it the other religious lines. This dexnonstrates best, at which of the "three schools" presented by Josephus Flavius was John educated and from who could he receive the Isaiah's paper rolls. Any attempt to give any other picture were remained in vacuum. It could not be hermeneutically placed with proper authenticity either in physical or spiritual respect in the overall picture (e.g. in an assumed "desert" of Perea). It is obvious that the term "wilderness" represents Qumran and its surroundings (approximately up to En Gedi).
