International Journal of Cultic Studies Vol. 4, 2013 45
resistance or reintegration. I substantiate this
framework with examples from several Marxist
theorists and from the three case studies of
communal groups.
The Three Communes
For the purposes of this study, I limited the
analysis to three communal religious groups: the
Essenes in Qumran (100 BCE–68 CE), the
Anabaptists in Munster (1534–1535), and Jim
Jones’ Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana
(1976–1978). These three communes are
separated by more than two thousand years of
history. Nonetheless, they possess a startling
number of similarities. In short, all of these
groups exhibited the basic tenets of communism
while also exhibiting a fervent and devout
religiosity. Furthermore, these three communes
experienced a great deal of tension with the
dominant social order, and all eventually came
to violent and catastrophic ends.16
The Essenes
The Essenes arose in a period of great social and
religious unrest in Israel (ca. 100 BCE–68 CE).17
The last half of the second temple period saw the
fall of the Hasmonean Kings18 to the Roman
Empire, the birth and death of Jesus of Nazareth,
the Jewish Wars, and the eventual destruction of
the Second Temple in 66 CE.
The Essenes were intensely critical of the state
of the world around them. They determined that
the political and religious leaders, such as the
Temple priests in Jerusalem, were illegitimate.19
They formed communities, such as Qumran,
where they attempted to escape the corrupted
world. In these places, they practiced a highly
communal lifestyle. In fact, Josephus, the
Judeo-Roman historian, considered the Essenes
“communists to perfection.”20 Members had to
16 These three groups represent what Bent Flyvbjerg called
“extreme cases.” I selected these cases for “getting a point across
in a dramatic way” (Flyvbjerg, “Five Misunderstandings about
Case-Study Research,” p. 229).
17 VanderKam, An Introduction to Early Judaism, pp. 164–165.
18 The Hasmonean state (140–63 BCE) refers to a period of time in
Jewish history when a series of rulers known as the Hasmoneans,
or the Maccabees, controlled Israel. This line of rulers gained
some degree of independence from the then-dominant Seleucid
Empire (VanderKam, p. 24–25).
19 Crossan and Reed, Excavating Jesus, p. 200 VanderKam, p.
164.
20 War, II (trans. Josephus, The Jewish Wars, 1970/1959), p. 125.
hand over their personal possessions to the
community prior to acceptance into it, in
addition to any social distinctions they may have
held previously.21
The obsession with ritual purity and the large
number of religious texts found in
archaeological work at Qumran revealed the
religious devotion of the Essenes.22 One of
these texts described an eschatological battle
between the “sons of light” and the “sons of
darkness.”23 Eventually this battle would take
place pitting the Essenes against the Romans.
Archeological evidence does show that some
sort of skirmish took place between the two
sides the result of this battle, however, did not
end the way the Essenes predicted (as a victory
for the sons of light and a new world order).24 In
short, although Israel did receive a new Roman
world order, the Essene experiment came to an
abrupt end with the destruction of the Qumran
community by the Romans in 68 CE.25 That
community would not be the last group,
however, to exemplify this form of religious
belief.
The Anabaptists
The Anabaptists rose out of the political and
economic decay of feudalism in Europe, and the
vacuum of spiritual guidance left in the wake of
the religious fervor of the Protestant
Reformation.26 The Anabaptist movement was
based on the insight of self-proclaimed prophets.
Thus, Anabaptism was not a unified movement
rather, it consisted of a number of small sects,
each with a prominent prophet or disciple, who
followed roughly the same precepts. These
precepts included an emphasis on brotherly love
(as found in the early church), and the
Anabaptists used this concept as a template to
apply to the current social world. Most of these
groups displayed a great deal of unease toward
private property and, thus, raised the communal
use of goods and mutual aid to a high level of
21 VanderKam, pp. 191–192.
22 Crossan and Reed, pp. 197–199.
23 The War Scroll, 1, pp. 3–10 (as printed in Reddish, Apocalyptic
Literature).
24 Crossan and Reed, p. 200.
25 VanderKam, p. 165.
26 Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium, p. 252 Estep, The
Anabaptist Story, p. 11.
resistance or reintegration. I substantiate this
framework with examples from several Marxist
theorists and from the three case studies of
communal groups.
The Three Communes
For the purposes of this study, I limited the
analysis to three communal religious groups: the
Essenes in Qumran (100 BCE–68 CE), the
Anabaptists in Munster (1534–1535), and Jim
Jones’ Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana
(1976–1978). These three communes are
separated by more than two thousand years of
history. Nonetheless, they possess a startling
number of similarities. In short, all of these
groups exhibited the basic tenets of communism
while also exhibiting a fervent and devout
religiosity. Furthermore, these three communes
experienced a great deal of tension with the
dominant social order, and all eventually came
to violent and catastrophic ends.16
The Essenes
The Essenes arose in a period of great social and
religious unrest in Israel (ca. 100 BCE–68 CE).17
The last half of the second temple period saw the
fall of the Hasmonean Kings18 to the Roman
Empire, the birth and death of Jesus of Nazareth,
the Jewish Wars, and the eventual destruction of
the Second Temple in 66 CE.
The Essenes were intensely critical of the state
of the world around them. They determined that
the political and religious leaders, such as the
Temple priests in Jerusalem, were illegitimate.19
They formed communities, such as Qumran,
where they attempted to escape the corrupted
world. In these places, they practiced a highly
communal lifestyle. In fact, Josephus, the
Judeo-Roman historian, considered the Essenes
“communists to perfection.”20 Members had to
16 These three groups represent what Bent Flyvbjerg called
“extreme cases.” I selected these cases for “getting a point across
in a dramatic way” (Flyvbjerg, “Five Misunderstandings about
Case-Study Research,” p. 229).
17 VanderKam, An Introduction to Early Judaism, pp. 164–165.
18 The Hasmonean state (140–63 BCE) refers to a period of time in
Jewish history when a series of rulers known as the Hasmoneans,
or the Maccabees, controlled Israel. This line of rulers gained
some degree of independence from the then-dominant Seleucid
Empire (VanderKam, p. 24–25).
19 Crossan and Reed, Excavating Jesus, p. 200 VanderKam, p.
164.
20 War, II (trans. Josephus, The Jewish Wars, 1970/1959), p. 125.
hand over their personal possessions to the
community prior to acceptance into it, in
addition to any social distinctions they may have
held previously.21
The obsession with ritual purity and the large
number of religious texts found in
archaeological work at Qumran revealed the
religious devotion of the Essenes.22 One of
these texts described an eschatological battle
between the “sons of light” and the “sons of
darkness.”23 Eventually this battle would take
place pitting the Essenes against the Romans.
Archeological evidence does show that some
sort of skirmish took place between the two
sides the result of this battle, however, did not
end the way the Essenes predicted (as a victory
for the sons of light and a new world order).24 In
short, although Israel did receive a new Roman
world order, the Essene experiment came to an
abrupt end with the destruction of the Qumran
community by the Romans in 68 CE.25 That
community would not be the last group,
however, to exemplify this form of religious
belief.
The Anabaptists
The Anabaptists rose out of the political and
economic decay of feudalism in Europe, and the
vacuum of spiritual guidance left in the wake of
the religious fervor of the Protestant
Reformation.26 The Anabaptist movement was
based on the insight of self-proclaimed prophets.
Thus, Anabaptism was not a unified movement
rather, it consisted of a number of small sects,
each with a prominent prophet or disciple, who
followed roughly the same precepts. These
precepts included an emphasis on brotherly love
(as found in the early church), and the
Anabaptists used this concept as a template to
apply to the current social world. Most of these
groups displayed a great deal of unease toward
private property and, thus, raised the communal
use of goods and mutual aid to a high level of
21 VanderKam, pp. 191–192.
22 Crossan and Reed, pp. 197–199.
23 The War Scroll, 1, pp. 3–10 (as printed in Reddish, Apocalyptic
Literature).
24 Crossan and Reed, p. 200.
25 VanderKam, p. 165.
26 Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium, p. 252 Estep, The
Anabaptist Story, p. 11.
