1. Session 1 – Ancient Judaism Information is taken from: http://www.bible.ca/d-jewish-sects- pharisees-sadducees-essenes-zealots.htm In this first session we will be looking at Judaism from the time of Christ, what the different groups were and what their beliefs are (many still influencing today) Much of the information for this class was taken from the link below:

2. Jesus said that "Salvation is of the Jews!" (John 4:22) And we need to remember that we serve a Jewish Messiah and Savior and this is different than dealing with Islam As Christians, we owe a great debt to the Jewish people St. Paul recorded in Romans 15:27 "For if the Gentiles have shared in their (the Jews) spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things."

3. The Sacred Scripture The Prophets The Patriarchs Mary, Joseph, and Jesus Christ of Nazareth The Twelve Disciples The Apostles Consider what the Jewish people have given to Christianity: The lost Jewish people (despite some views) still has a future prophetically

4. During the time of Christ there are several different “movements” or “sects” of Judaism active in the region Aside from the Bible, Josephus is the only other primary source for the Pharisees and Sadducees at the time Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots We will spend a moment looking at each of these New Testament sects of Judaism

5. The Sadducees were evidently a small group which attained power only occasionally through a high level official. The Sadducees They favored the status quo and the interests of the governing class. Rabbinic tradition has them arguing with the Pharisees over purification rituals. The Sadducees may well have been correct in questioning these Pharisaical dogmas.

6. At least three suggestions have been offered for the origin of the party of the Sadducees : 1) descendants of Davids high priest Zadok (or Sadok) or some other priest by that name 2) Sadducee is derived from a word that means righteous, thus righteous ones; 3) F. F. Bruce believes the name derived from a word meaning members of the council

7. We have a few scattered references to them in the Gospels, including the fact that they controlled the high priesthood in apostolic times: Acts 5:17 Acts 5:17: “Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation”

8. Some beliefs of the Sadducees : No divine providence Free will God is not “in control” of the things going on Because they play down the divine providence, that means humans free will is going to be greatly emphasized, this is not right or wrong, we are just giving you an idea of what that group believed

9. They accepted only written law (OT) as authoritative Acts 23:8 “ For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.” No resurrection or life beyond the grave Josephus concurs that they denied the immortal duration of the soul This is one thing they got right, the idea of Sola Scriptura even at that time

10. Unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees, Essenes are nowhere talked about in New Testament or the Jewish Talmud, however Philo, and Pliny the Elder do mention the group, and Josephus gives a detailed description of them, along with sources later on. When we consider the term radical, the Pharisees nor Sadducees do not fit this description, but the Essenes Jews do The Essenes

11. Because of the wealth of information from Josephus and the records from Qumran, we have more knowledge of the Essenes than Sadducees or Pharisees. You may not think you’ve heard of the Essenes and their communities, but most Christians have The texts of the dead sea scrolls were copied and stored by a community of Essene Jews at Quram

12. the first year the initiate lived entirely outside the Essene community but lived the Essene life The name Essenes could mean holy ones or pious ones. Although others think it may mean healers Initiation into the Essene group was quite the lengthy process, it took three years and had three stages to it

13. The second and third years, the initiate participated in their purification washings but remained outside the community After successfully doing those things, he was “Added” to the fellowship We know a lot about their beliefs: Deterministic: They believe in fate, that everything happened for a reason and is determined beforehand (this stands in contrast to the Sadducees

14. They believed that the soul was “set free” at the point of death “coming forth from the most rarefied ether they are trapped in the prison-house of the body…but once freed from the bonds of the flesh, as if released after years of slavery, they rejoice and soar aloft” (The Jewish War, tr. G.A. Williamson, Penguin, 1959, page 374). Their philosophy was very dualistic

15. One thing we do not have evidence of is their belief in the resurrection of the body. In this aspect they do appear more Gnostic with the idea of needing to be “freed” from the physical They believers that souls/spirits are eternal, and that God would judge the wicked souls They did believe in the law of Moses and held to those traditions, although they did add their own interpretations

16. For example, they not only refrained from cooking on the Sabbath but would not even move a cooking utensil or even relieve themselves Some other views they held: Obedience to elders was important to the Essene communities, you were excommunicated if you disrespected them. They also took this to the extreme where a young person couldn’t touch an elder

17. Communalism: Josephus says A that those who come to them must let what they have be common to the whole order Ritualistic: Their daily ritual involved rising before sunrise, prayer, work until midday, purificatory bath and common meal, work until evening and a second common meal Common meals were so sacred that the priest would pray before and after, and no one would talk during the meal

18. They refused even to handle a coin with the image of a man on it, believing it was idolatry even to look at it Celibacy is often identified with the Essene Jews, but we have evidence for groups who were celibate (like Catholic Monks) and groups who were not Hopefully you are starting to understand why we say they’re the ones who would classify as radicals among Jews of the day

19. Apocalyptic: The Essenes were very focused on the apocalyptic (with a lot of focus given to Angels) Paul may have been addressing them in Colossians 2:18-23. Colossians 2:18-23: “Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind…

20. 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?

21. 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” The thought that the end was coming soon, and because of that interpreted the prophets as speaking about their time, they believed in an Armageddon like ending Some suggest Jesus was an Essene

22. The Case Against the Essene Jesus The idea of Jesus being an Essene (Gnostic type) Jew has become more popular Here is the quick Biblical case against it: 1. The elders became unclean if they were touched by a younger person Matthew 19:14: “But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me”

23. 2. Touching a coin with a mans image was idolatry to the Essenes Jesus didn’t avoid money, Biblically speaking it seems that people supported him financially (Luke 8:1-3) Jesus spoke on money many times, and never said this to his followers Jesus talks about the poor women who gave all the money that she had in a positive way (Mark 12:41-44)

24. Matthew 17:24-27 tells us that Peter and Jesus paid the temple tax of two coins Matthew 22:17-22: “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, The most well known example:

25. “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.” 3. Essene Jews were Vegetarian and couldn’t touch meat The first problem is the miracle Jesus performs to feed the crowed (bread and fish)

26. Luke 24:42-43: “So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.” Even if you say Jesus didn’t eat the fish when he did that miracle (still a problem that he fed everyone else it) there are several other passages that you can’t get around Jesus eats lamb with his disciples for the Passover dinner (Luke 22:8-15)

27. 4. Couldn’t touch wine While there is some debate on this issue, there is a good chance Jesus did Matthew 11:19: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” A popular miracle we all know about is Jesus turning water in to wine

28. Matthew 26:12: “For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.” 5. They couldn’t touch oil 6. Essenes had strict Sabbath rules The Sabbath comes up during the ministry of Jesus quite a few times Jesus does many things on the Sabbath that an Essene Jew could NEVER do

29. Matthew chapter 12 talks about the disciples picking grain on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees get on Jesus’ case and he tell them it’s okay (and that he is Lord of the Sabbath) In the same chapter Jesus does something that he does several other times too, he performs a miracle on the Sabbath Mark 2:27: “And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

30. 7. The apparent belief that there is no resurrection of the body Jesus had something to say about that: John 2:19-21: “Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.” Jesus was not an Essene Jew

31. The Pharisees We don’t know exactly who they are and where the group came from, but we do know so about the group from these sources We have three sources for this group of religious leaders during Jesus’ time The New Testament Josephus Rabbinic Writings

32. Paul tells us that the Pharisees were very religious, firm believers in revelation and the law, morally pure and zealous for their beliefs, etc. The two people we have the writings of who claim to be Pharisees is Paul and Josephus Josephus was more of a nominal Pharisee and doesn’t seem to take it very seriously, while Paul was the opposite

33. Paul talks about it in Philippians 3:5: “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee” Josephus’ purpose was to impress the Romans with the Jews and to praise those who keep stability in society (Pharisees) While the Pharisees and Sadducees are religious groups, they are also very political in nature

34. The Pharisees influence on history and the Jewish people was extremely limited, but the time when they were powerful was important (around the time of Christ) Also keep in mind that the writings of “Pharisees” (in rabbinical tradition from hundreds of years later) may not accurately represent what the Pharisees believed that Jesus was dealing with

35. The Pharisees reached the height of their power in the first century B.C. and still wielded considerable power in Jesus’ day Th word Pharisee could mean either separate ones (separate from ordinary citizens in their dedication) or it could mean interpreters (which also makes sense) Beliefs: when it came to the topic of free will, they were in the middle of Essenes and Sadducees (providence and free will)

36. In this respect, we would call the Pharisees liberals and the Sadducees conservatives.. They believed in the authority of not just the OT but also the oral traditions They believed in resurrection: Acts 23:8. Though they were not interested in seeing Jesus’ claims for resurrection come true They believed that souls were either punished or rewarded after this life

37. They believed bad souls go to eternal prison (Hell) but the good souls have a chance to live again We know they have many non-biblical views about the Sabbath because of the amount of times Jesus clashed with them on the topic (we gave examples earlier) They were comprised of upper class citizens, Josephus says there were about six thousand of them (which is a huge number)

38. They were well respected, according to Josephus people considered them to be the most accurate interpreters of the Law Paul's appeal in Philippians 3:5 tell us that the way of life for a Pharisees was well- known and respected among the Jews The evidence indicates that it was an achieved position (Pharisee) not something that was hereditary and passed down

39. Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13 mentions this name/title Luke 6:15 “Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot;” Zealots Josephus lists them as a fourth sect, but they were not a religious group as much as they were a political group who fought against and spoke against the Roman rule. Because of this we won’t spend time on them

40. Mark 2:27: “And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Memory Verse