Bible Question: who were the Sadducces and Parisees |
Bible Answer: The Sadducees and the Pharisees are two of the most well known Jewish sects during Christ's time. Here are some generalities: The Pharisees were strict observers of the Law. They would be more along the lines of what we would consider very conservative. The Sadducees were much more pluralistic and more of what we would think of as very liberal. Just like liberals and conservatives today, they didn't think too highly of one another. The Sadducees had the greatest political control. (Caiaphas, the high priest, was a Sadducee, and as a result had financial control of the commerce in the temple.) One of the big differences in opinion between Pharisees and Sadducees was the idea of the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees just didn't believe in it. Christ tended to be more critical of the Pharisees because they knew the Law (the Old Testament) very well, but tended to bend it to their own ends. The Sadducees were generally pretty neglectful of scripture. They even practiced a bit of paganism. (When they found the ossuary of Caiaphas, a coin fell out of the skull of one his relatives. That was a Greek practice of putting a coin in the mouth of the deceased in order to pay for passage across the River Styx.) The word Pharisee is derived from the Greek word perusim which means "separated ones." The word Sadducee is derived from the Greek word saddiq which means "the righteous." The sects date back to 130 BC or so, but know one really knows where they came from. I hope this helps. --Doc |