Essenes

The Essenes were a messianic sect existing during the time of the Second Temple. Newly joining members would take an oath that included the commitment to practice piety towards Deity and righteousness towards humanity, to maintain a pure lifestyle, to abstain from criminal and immoral activities, to transmit their rules uncorrupted and to preserve the books of the Essenes and the names of the Angels. Their theology included belief in the immortality of the soul.