Gospels discovered in the the 1940s reveal a pre-Christian Judaism of Gnostic character. The Dead Sea Scrolls essentially are mystical documents. It appears the Scrolls' Essene authors of 130 B.C- 70 A.D., like the Nag Hammadi Gnostic authors of the Apostolic Age, experienced visions of an esoteric nature, and that the Scrolls possess an inner, hidden meaning.