Wow, I literally just went over this yesterday in my Bible history course. Ok, here we go.

If you look at Luke 1:7, you see that John's mother was barren, so she could be taken as elderly and his father was called a righteous man in an age where some (the Essenes especially) considered the priesthood in Jerusalem to be corrupt. If we believe that John's parents were elderly, then John may have been orphaned at a young age. The Essenes grew their community at Qumran mainly by two methods: initiation and 'adoption' of children.

In Luke 1:80, we see that John was in the wilderness for a while. The Essene community at Qumran was located near the Door of Achor in the Judean wilderness. In Luke 3:3 we see that John performed baptism for the forgiveness of sins. The Essenes did so too, but the Essenes also performed daily washing while John's baptism was a one time deal.

John was in conflict with the temple authorities, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, going so far as to call them a "brood of vipers" and asking "who warned you of the coming wrath?" in Matthew 3:7-10. The Essenes, as I previously said, believed the priesthood in Jerusalem to be corrupt and unholy. They anticipated a great battle between the "son's of light" and the "son's of darkness", and you can take a wild guess as to who's who in that situation.

However, John does have some splits from the traditional Essene doctrine. John is described as having eaten locusts and wild honey while in the wilderness. The 'wild honey' mentioned may actually be a honey-like substance made from dates, but the Essenes only ate meals that were prepared for them and were clean.

John's ministry was openly evangelistic; open to anyone who wanted salvation; VERY public and he did what the Essenes would certainly never do: he sent people back to their homes so that they could live changed lives while continuing their daily routine. The Essenes were exclusive, isolated and had a long initiation process and would keep initiates at Qumran.

Perhaps the biggest argument against John being an Essene was one of silence. Josephus, a well-known historian mentioned John and the Essenes in his works, but never put John in the same category as the Essenes. Plus, the New Testament writers never, not once, mentioned the Essenes by name.

My thoughts? Eh, I think that at one point maybe. He might have been raised at Qumran where he was indoctrinated. I think that he split from the Essenes when he felt his calling from God.

All of my knowledge on this subject comes from my cool Bible History teacher Mr. Jesse Bankhead. If this source is not appropriate, will one of the mods contact me so that I can then contact my teacher for a better citation.