Do Any Christians Actually Know Anything About the Sadducees and the Pharisees?

[Jenny A]

I was the kind of kid who got in trouble for asking unanswerable questions of the adults in charge.  I once asked a Sunday school teacher who the Sadducees and the Pharisees were.  After some meaningless answers about they were hypocrites or bad people, she admitted she really didn't know.  (Sorry Mrs. Scneidder and thanks for admitting it).  I asked the question again at home and was told no one really knows.

We don't know all that much but we do know more than Jesus didn't like them, or they didn't like Jesus.  So if you are Christian or were raised Christian please chime in, and tell me what you know.  Yes it's cheating to look them up first.

[Chad32]

As far as I know, they were people who followed the letter of the law, without following the spirit of the law. However there are a handful of stories about people getting killed for not doing exactly what they're told, so it seemed the pharisees were just trying to take the commandments as serious as those stories.

Some guy gets stoned to death for picking up sticks on the wrong day of the week. Lot's wife gets turned into salt for looking back. A guy gets killed for touching the ark of the covenant as it was about to fall off the wagon. Moses doesn't get into the promised land because he banged on a rock instead of just talking to it. The list probably goes on. Is it any wonder the religious leaders were so focused on obeying the exact letter of the law?

[Wyrd of Gawd]

I was the kind of kid who got in trouble for asking unanswerable questions of the adults in charge.  I once asked a Sunday school teacher who the Sadducees and the Pharisees were.  After some meaningless answers about they were hypocrites or bad people, she admitted she really didn't know.  (Sorry Mrs. Scneidder and thanks for admitting it).  I asked the question again at home and was told no one really knows.

We don't know all that much but we do know more than Jesus didn't like them, or they didn't like Jesus.  So if you are Christian or were raised Christian please chime in, and tell me what you know.  Yes it's cheating to look them up first.

The Sadducees were Jews who believed in traditional Jewish beliefs.  The Pharisees were Jews who had adopted Persian religious beliefs, such as belief in angels, demons, resurrections, devils, ghosts.  The Jesus character was essentially a Pharisee since he believed in all of those things.  The spin is to make Jesus an Essene, but Essenes are not mentioned in the Bible.  Most of the Christian beliefs are a mixture of Greek & Persian.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

As far as I know, they were people who followed the letter of the law, without following the spirit of the law. However there are a handful of stories about people getting killed for not doing exactly what they're told, so it seemed the pharisees were just trying to take the commandments as serious as those stories.

Some guy gets stoned to death for picking up sticks on the wrong day of the week. Lot's wife gets turned into salt for looking back. A guy gets killed for touching the ark of the covenant as it was about to fall off the wagon. Moses doesn't get into the promised land because he banged on a rock instead of just talking to it. The list probably goes on. Is it any wonder the religious leaders were so focused on obeying the exact letter of the law?

All of the stories emphasize the basic rule of believing and obeying without exception.  If you don't comply you get slapped upside the head.

[Chad32]

This is true. Unquestioning obedience is the major theme of the bible. Anything less is of the devil.

[Minimalist]

Probably not.  Most xtians don't know shit about much of anything.

However, as Lewis Black once noted...."if you have any questions there are jews who live among you......"

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsou...senes.html

Ancient Jewish History:

Pharisees, Sadducees & Essenes

BTW, given that the pharisees did believe in an afterlife and in god rewarding or punishing based on conduct you would think they would be the natural allies of jesus and his bullshit, wouldn't you.  Yet the Pharisees are repeatedly denounced and the Sadducees are barely mentioned in the NT , as even the jesus freaks admit:

http://biblehub.com/topical/s/sadducees.htm

Except on one occasion. (Matthew 16:1,4,6) Christ never assailed the Sadducees with the same bitter denunciations which he uttered against the Pharisees.

Perhaps the reason is that by the time these fuckers got around to inventing their gospel bullshit the Sadducees were but a dim memory whereas the Pharisees were calling the shots?   Without the temple ( d. 70 ) the Sadducees had no raison d'etre.

[brewer]

They were just the rhyming names in a Sunday school bible song. Blah blah blah blah Pharisees, Blah blah blah blah Sadducees. If I remember right the tune was a rip off of Lizzy Borden took an ax. I could be wrong.

[vorlon13]

I think my Sunday school teachers were subtle about it, but Jews that were around before Jesus were OK, and the ones Jesus ran afoul of and got hisself crucified by weren't so good.

And then the ones that didn't get on board with Jesus, well, they had their chance.

As for Sadducees and Pharisees, I recall hearing the terms, but it's been over 50 years since Sunday school for me, I'm lucky to remember about unleavened bread.

[Randy Carson]

I was the kind of kid who got in trouble for asking unanswerable questions of the adults in charge.  I once asked a Sunday school teacher who the Sadducees and the Pharisees were.  After some meaningless answers about they were hypocrites or bad people, she admitted she really didn't know.  (Sorry Mrs. Scneidder and thanks for admitting it).  I asked the question again at home and was told no one really knows.

We don't know all that much but we do know more than Jesus didn't like them, or they didn't like Jesus.  So if you are Christian or were raised Christian please chime in, and tell me what you know.  Yes it's cheating to look them up first.

Jenny-

This article will provide a good overview.

http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/p...he-gospels

[Jenny A]

I was the kind of kid who got in trouble for asking unanswerable questions of the adults in charge.  I once asked a Sunday school teacher who the Sadducees and the Pharisees were.  After some meaningless answers about they were hypocrites or bad people, she admitted she really didn't know.  (Sorry Mrs. Scneidder and thanks for admitting it).  I asked the question again at home and was told no one really knows.

We don't know all that much but we do know more than Jesus didn't like them, or they didn't like Jesus.  So if you are Christian or were raised Christian please chime in, and tell me what you know.  Yes it's cheating to look them up first.

Jenny-

This article will provide a good overview.

http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/p...he-gospels

I think you missed the point.  Anyone can look them up.  I've done that myself.  The question is, What did you know BEFORE I asked the question?