Pharisees and Sadducees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pharisees and Sadducees - Essay ExampleThe Pharisees were the flag be arers 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 carrier bag 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 didnt 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 237-8). They had a very firm belief that they are the chosen people by God and are the keepers of the lawfulness and the Messiah would come to them one day.harmonize 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 denyi ng 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 priestlike class. They also indulged themselves in diplomacy and making foreign relations.The Pharisees socially were common people, the course 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 didnt believe in angels and afterlife. T hey had a Literalist attitude towards the Holy Bible but didnt believe in the oral Torah, they laid vehemence 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 conglomerate freely with tax collectors and sinners, making Him ceremonially unclean (Luke 739). He ate and drank with them, and was called a skunk bear and a drunkard (Luke 734). He ate with ceremonially unclean hands (Luke 1138). He broke their Sabbath laws by healing people, and gleaning corn to eat (Luke 1314, Matthew 121-2). He forgave peoples sins, which to the Pharisees was blasphemy (Luke 521). He also freely criticised the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and self righteousness (Luke 1137-52). In the Pharisees eyes, Jesus was shamed of law breaking and blasphemy. The idea of Jesus crit icising them was an outrage (Luke 611). They also saw Him as a threat both to their popularity and their authority over the people (Luke 1317). Because of this they plotted to kill Him. Throughout His ministry they questioned Him, seek to catch Him in His answers in order to hand Him over to the Roman Governor (Luke 1153). (Retrieved from The Law and the Sabbath http//www.lastdays.org.uk/jesuspha.html 15 January 2009)