That Pharisee-Essene question

[RabbiKnife]

Just remember in real life that you don’t get to hit restart if you catch a round in you branium…

And you have to carry all your own ammo as you go…

[DavidGYoung]

Suggestion: The reason there is a school of thought that Jesus was an Essene is that we have a wealth of information about the lives of the Essenes and so it is easy to draw parallels. The extent of our knowledge of the Pharisees of the same era is much more limited. As a result, the adage that nature abhors a vacuum comes into play.

To put it another way, if it had not been for Josephus, most scholars who express an opinion on the topic would regard Jesus as having been a Pharisee.

I presume I am oversimplifying this. If so, how?

[Fenris]

Suggestion: The reason there is a school of thought that Jesus was an Essene is that we have a wealth of information about the lives of the Essenes and so it is easy to draw parallels. The extent of our knowledge of the Pharisees of the same era is much more limited.

The extent of our knowledge of the Pharisees of the same era is not limited. The Talmud was written by Pharisees. Observant Jews today study that. I don't understand why you think our knowledge is limited.

[RabbiKnife]

Anything to fit a narrative