Basic HTML Version
From Garner Ted Armstrong's new book
~REAL
JESUS
THELEAVEN
OF THE PHARISEES
The Pharisees were an exclusive re/igious sect that outdid even the Temple priests in their comp/ex
rituals and extensive ablutions. But their self-righteous spiritual orientation c/ashed head-on with
the philosophy of the new teacher from Nazareth.
he Pharisees and Sadd ucees
were rival religious organiza–
ons. Though normally deeply
divided, they could find lemporary
a lliance in their ha tred of Jesus. His
popularity with the common fol k–
made very obvious by their own
lack of popular appea l and lhe
growing scope and power of His
ministry- made Jesus a significant
rival.
These religious leaders, like mos t
religious leaders from time imme–
morial. inspired more superst ilious
fear than sincere loyalty in their fol–
lowers.
The religious situa tion in first–
century Palestine was not lhal dif–
ferenl from lhe way il is today. Most
people were not members of a reli–
gious group. The average Jew lhen
was like the average modern Ameri–
can, Briton, German, or French–
ma n. He probably had a cerlain
form of piety, attended the Temple
occasiona lly at one of lhe festivals,
and perhaps even tilhed in a good
year. But the average Jew was not a
Pharisee, Sadducee, or Essene, any
more than the average Israelí is ul–
tra-Orthodox.
The average Jew was what la ter
by
Garner Ted Armst rong
rabbinic litera ture referred lo rather
disparagingly as
am ha 'arets
("per–
son of the land"). He was consid–
ered to have a certain small amount
of piety or religious scruples without
being overbothered with religion.
He had sorne definite views about
certain aspects of religion- so long
as they didn' t affect how he lived .
After all, it wasn' t easy to make a
living and, as for a ll peoples al all
times, a short weight ora little water
in the wine was eas ily overlooked.
Of course, many were very honest
and conscientious individuals, yet
still did not claim any religious af–
filiation.
A Minority Sect
It has been a standard myth that the
Pharisees were an overwhelmingly
dominant force in Pales tine in Jesus'
time. This erroncous view is based
on late rabbinic lilcralure, bul re–
cent studies- especia lly those by the
well-known scholar Jacob Neusner–
have shown that rabbinic Juda ism
was a post-70 A.D. phenomenon
which sprang direclly from Pharisa–
ism and therefore tended to exag–
gerate its historical significance.
Judaism before A.D. 70 was much
more pluralistic than is commonly
believed, comprised of a variety of
different groups and sects, many of
which disappeared in the Jewish
war against the Romans.
In the decades following the de–
struction of Jerusalem, rabbinic Ju–
daism developed and became the
dominant religious inHuence on
Jews (though again, the average Jew
was still the
am ha'arets
who basi–
cally ignored the detailed regu–
la tions proclaimed by the rabbis).
Later rabbinic Judaism became To–
rah-centered. Study of the law and
legal disputations were common ac–
tivilies of the rabbis and their disci–
ples.
But Pharisaism differed in many
ways from the later rabbinic Juda–
ism. The Pharisees were not a group
formed lo sludy the Torah. They
were an organization oflaymen who
agreed lOobserve certain
purity
laws
so 1ha t lhey could imitate the priesls
in lhe Temple. In o ther words, lhey
tried lo make their home into a
model of lhe Temple and their lable
inlo a model of lhe altar. They were
a
table Jellowship
group. Even
1hough they were concerned about
such things as Sabbath observance,
4
From the book
The Real Jesus
by Garner Ted Armstrong.Copyright @ 1977 Garner Ted Armstrong.
Pubfished by Sheed Andrews and McMeel, lnc., Shawnee Mission, Kansas.