Jewish Sects

Just who were the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and the Zealots? What did they believe? Below, you can read all about them courtesy of the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible.

Pharisees
• Along with the Torah, they accepted as equally inspired and authoritative all material contained within the oral tradition.
• On free will and determination, they held to a mediating view that made it impossible for either free will or the sovereignty of God to cancel out the other.
• They accepted a rather developed hierarchy of angels and demons.
• They believed in the resurrection of the dead.
• They believed in the immortality of the soul and in reward and retribution after death.
• They were champions of human equality
• The emphasis of their teaching was ethical rather than theological.

Sadducees
• They denied that the oral law was authoritative and binding.
• They interpreted the Mosaic law more literally than did the Pharisees.
• They were very exacting in Levitical purity.
• They attributed everything to free will.
• They argued that there is neither resurrection of the dead nor a future life.
• They rejected belief in angels and demons.
• They rejected the idea of a spiritual world.
• They considered only the books of Moses to be canonical Scripture.

Essenes
• They strictly observed the purity laws of the Torah.
• They practiced communal ownership of property.
• They had a strong sense of mutual responsibility.
• Daily worship was an important feature along with daily study of their sacred scriptures.
• Solemn oaths of piety and obedience had to be taken.
• Sacrifices were offered on holy days and during sacred seasons.
• Marriage was not condemned in principle but was avoided.
• They attributed everything that happened to fate.

Zealots
• They opposed payment of tribute for taxes to a pagan emperor because they believed that allegiance was due to God alone.
• They were fiercely loyal to the Jewish tradition.
• They believed in violence as long as it accomplished a good end.
• They were opposed to the use of the Greek language in the Holy Land.