Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism

Stone's study provides a different model through which to conceptualize the various groups of ancient Judaism:social organizations concerned with the preservation of important teachings. Scholars will find the book insightful, for it presents an opportunity to reconsider the structure and role of ancient Jewish groups. * Jason Maston, Houston Baptist University, Religious Studies Review *
Stone writes concisely and precisely, without methodological fireworks, and the book is therefore a pleasure to read. Bibliographic referencing, coverage, and overall structure are exemplary. Given its approachable style, this book would lend to fruitful debate in classrooms and should not be out of place on advanced student reading lists. * Lindsey A. Askin, H-Net *
Stone's book should be a rewarding read for everyone interested in esotericism and sectarianism in Jewish antiquity and the impressions those trends left on the Jewish and Christian intellectual traditions. * Joshua Ezra Burns, Aries *
The study is an excellent example that engages the methods of sociological sciences and biblical studies in a constant discourse with ancient sources. Stone's expertise and erudition is on display throughout the study, and the footnotes are packed with excellent corollary discussion topics. * Jame Tucker, Ancient Jew Review *
Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism offers considerable food for thought for those interested in ancient Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as early Christianity and Greco-Roman mystery cults. * Jocelyn K. Burney, Reading Religion *
In this ground-breaking book, Michael E. Stone challenges traditional conceptions of 'esoteric' and 'esotericism,' and compels us to re-examine the way religious groups in ancient Judaism functioned as secret societies. This book is a must-read for every scholar of early Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as all those interested in apocalyptic writings, secret societies, and western esotericism. * Lorenzo DiTommaso, Professor of Religions and Cultures, Concordia University, Montréal *
Michael Stone, one of the most respected scholars of the period, offers here an insightful reading of esotericism in Jewish circles in the Second Temple period. He situates the phenomenon in the wider context of the Hellenistic world, which knew many groups with strictly controlled admission requirements and rituals that protected the secrecy of their rites and beliefs. Building upon the well-known case of the sectarians of the Dead Sea Scrolls, he argues that practices of secrecy played a role in many more Jewish groups and such practices surface in a wide range of Jewish literature of the period. His reading will enlighten general readers but also provoke specialists to consider the significance of the various forms esotericism more carefully. * Harry Attridge, Sterling Professor of Divinity, Yale Divinity School *
In this brilliant new study, Michael Stone does what he does best: He has chosen a topic that has already received a fair amount of attention...and gives it a new twist. Instead of going with the familiar labels of 'sectarian' versus 'mainstream/normative,' Stone chooses to focus on 'secrecy' as his operating category. The Yahad Community at Qumran, the Essenes, and Philo's Therapeutae were all secret societies concerned with the cultivation and transmission of esoteric knowledge and practice. With unparalleled erudition, Stone draws on various academic fields of study, with which he remains in constant conversation. The result is another creative, insightful, and beautifully written work from one of the premier scholars alive today. When Stone has introduced new categories and ways of thinking in the past, others have followed suit... Another triumph. * Matthias Henze, Isla Carroll and Perry E. Turner Professor of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism, Rice University *