Pharisees and Sadducees - Essay Example

The Pharisees were the flag bearers of the Mosaic law (The Torah). They also fought with Judas Maccabeus for the cause of religious freedom. It is said that they increased in numbers and had considerable clout during the Roman period, and as a result they became the most popular party. A number of Pharisees gave stress on the formal aspects of religion but didn't pay much heed to the spiritual (cf. Matthew 23). Nevertheless they do believed in the existence of angels, demons, the resurrection of the body, and the existence of heaven and hell (Acts 23:7-8).

They had a very firm belief that they are the chosen people by God and are the keepers of the Law and the Messiah would come to them one day. According to the 'Random House Dictionary of the English Langauge' 'Sadducee' is a member of an ancient Palestinian sect that differed from the Pharisees chiefly in interpreting the bible literally, rejecting oral laws and traditions, and denying an afterlife and the coming of the Messiah. It is believed that the term possibly derived from the founder, Zadok.

They were the leading party of the rich, wealthy, aristocrats and the priestly class. They also indulged themselves in diplomacy and making foreign relations. The Pharisees socially were common people, the figure of authority in them was the 'Disciples of the Wise' they had a selective attitude to Hellenism, as regarding their attitude to hasmoneans they were opposed to usurpation of monarchy, they believed in free will, angels and afterlife, they believed in Sophisticated scholarly interpretations of the Bible, written Torah and also advocated application of priestly laws to non-priests.

In contrast to them the Sadducees came from the background of Priests and aristocrats, the figure of authority in them were the priests, they were for Hellenism, opposed usurpation of priesthood by non-Zadokites , they advocated free will but didn't believe in angels and afterlife. They had a Literalist attitude towards the Holy Bible but didn't believe in the oral Torah, they laid emphasis on priestly obligations.The Pharisees as well as Sadducees followed the Luni Solar Calendar.Within the ministry of Jesus the Pharisees had many confrontations with him, as their beliefs were entirely opposed to what the Jesus preached.

Jesus openly violated many of their oral laws. "He mixed freely with tax collectors and sinners, making Him ceremonially unclean (Luke 7:39). He ate and drank with them, and was called a glutton and a drunkard (Luke 7:34). He ate with ceremonially unclean hands (Luke 11:38). He broke their Sabbath laws by healing people, and gleaning corn to eat (Luke 13:14, Matthew 12:1-2). He forgave peoples' sins, which to the Pharisees was blasphemy (Luke 5:21). He also freely criticised the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and self righteousness (Luke 11:37-52).

In the Pharisees' eyes, Jesus was guilty of law breaking and blasphemy. The idea of Jesus criticising them was an outrage (Luke 6:11). They also saw Him as a threat both to their popularity and their authority over the people (Luke 13:17). Because of this they plotted to kill Him. Throughout His ministry they questioned Him, trying to catch Him in His answers in order to hand Him over to the Roman Governor (Luke 11:53)." (Retrieved from 'The Law and the Sabbath' http://www.lastdays.org.uk/jesuspha.

html 15 January 2009)