A Day In The Life Of A Pharisee Religion Essays

A Day In The Life Of A Pharisee Religion Essays A Day In The Life Of A Pharisee Religion Essay A Day In The Life Of A Pharisee Religion Essay To be a good Jew is to hold a vision and end to accomplish the ultimate degree of sanctity in the eyes of God. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew, and during his life-time at that place emerged many different groups whose ultimate end was to follow and set into pattern what God expected of his people. Among these, there stood three major groups known as the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. In effort to be a painstaking first century Jew, in comparing to the other groups, I feel as though the Pharisees hold the most appealing place in footings of populating a echt and legitimate spiritual life. During the clip of first century Judaism, many groups conformed to his instructions nevertheless many made an effort to dispute his judgement. Steping into the Hasmonean period, sometime before 135 BCE, in footings of societal category, the Pharisees arose as a group more applicable to a common people nevertheless it did consist of a few priests ( Sanders, 44 ) . Sing my topographic point in society in the twentieth Century, I believe it would be accurate to presume that in Jesus life-time, I could put myself among the common mans instead than portion of the elite. This minor item plays a portion in my determination of taking the Pharisees as an appealing group to be portion of. Granted the fact that they are of my societal standing, they would be able to associate to my demands best therefore we would portion many of the same spiritual and political positions. In a manner, during the Hasmonean Dynasty, the Pharisees could be described as spiritual instructors of the jurisprudence . Theologically, the Pharisees shared common Judaic orthodoxy ( Sanders 44 ) , believing in Israel as the chosen state, the jurisprudence in which was given to Moses, and the construct of penitence and forgiveness. As these beliefs were shared among the mean Jews of the clip, it makes sense as to why a first century Jews, every bit good as myself, would turn to the Pharisees as spiritual instructors. The Hebrew word for Pharisees is Perushim, intending those who have a inclination to retreat or to divide themselves. One could presume this name could associate to the Pharisaic manner of life which dictated a rigorous separation from all dross and dirty nutrients ( Isaacson 24 ) . However it could correlate with the world that the Pharisees do non portion one uniform position on things ; therefore there were two groups of Pharisees, The Shammai and the Hillel. Inevitably, amongst these two groups there were dissensions. The Shammai stood on the conservative left flying side of the spectrum while The Hillel held a more broad place. Basically, the Shammai followed a more rigorous and avid observation of the jurisprudence. They were powerful up until 68 BCE and they educated blue, affluent households over a longer period of clip. The Hillel became more widely known after 68 AD. They appealed more to the involvement of those in lower categories because they demanded preparation and d id non hold such a actual apprehension of the jurisprudence. In my sentiment it is inevitable for differences to happen among different categories of society particularly sing similar traditions. However the two groups of Pharisees still managed to set their differences aside and allow exogamy. This is a premier illustration of something that Jesus would promote people to make, and because the Pharisees could admit this, is another ground why as a first century Jew I would happen them an admirable group to follow with. Equally good as being sacredly linked with the in-between category people of society, the Pharisees continued the tradition of Scribes and the work forces of Great Assembly ( Isaacson 240 ) . Merely as the Scribes did, the Pharisees believed in the authorization of unwritten tradition every bit good as the Torah. They besides maintained the impression of hereafter every bit good as believing that God would direct a Messiah to make peace over the universe. In malice of this, it is of import to understand that the society of Judea developed over clip and the Pharisees helped steer this development by making new Torahs every bit good come oning the temple and temple. Harmonizing to Josephus they practiced the highest ideals both in their manner of life and in their discourse ( Sanders, 44 ) . The Pharisees did non neglect to understand the importance of Laws already formed by their predecessors but they initiated alteration in the developing Judea society by adding new Torahs for the people every bit good as taking a non-literal attack to Biblical Law. They closely followed the philosophy of immortality hence Torahs such as an oculus for an oculus were explained in an attack that could be more comparable to the current fortunes of the people. In their attempt to make new Torahs for more modern twenty-four hours society, they formed a pureness regulation in respects to the Mosaic Law. This is a jurisprudence in which one is required to bathe in order to take drosss before come ining the temple. The Pharisees instructed people to rinse their custodies before the Sabbath and holy repasts, and this finally led Jews to rinse their custodies before every repast in order to rinse away drosss. Because of their dedication to the religionism of the people, the Pharisees were good liked amongst Hebrews that populated their communities. It is said that although the Jews made particular regulations for them to follow, they did non coerce them on everyone else ( Sanders 44 ) . I can appreciate that the Pharisees were overall seeking to break the Jewish community nevertheless they did non seek to implement their traditions on others. In the 2nd century the Pharisees improved the Judaic Temple with the development of the temple every bit good as the enforcement of unwritten traditions to those who resided within their communities. The Pharisees greatly appreciated the written jurisprudence nevertheless they held near to them the unwritten instructions of their bow male parents. As a instructor to the people, the Pharisees did non inquiry that which was passed down to them ; they merely interpreted these traditions and passed it down orally to the people. The Pharisees wished to encompass the whole people peculiarly through instruction. It was their desire and purpose that everyone in Israel achieve sanctity through the survey of the Torah ( The Maccabees 93 ) . The Pharisees cared about the temple development as a whole in a manner that fit the demands of current society. Not merely did the Pharisees non hinder their thoughts on the Jews of the clip, they respected that society is ever altering. With this, the P harisees created the temple to be a topographic point that fit into the life of a common man. As a Jew at the clip, I could turn to the Pharisaic motion to assist me understand and pattern my religion in a manner that I could outdo relate to. Along with the Pharisees, the Sadducees were among the earliest groups to organize during the Hasmonean dynasty. For the most portion, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were seen as resistance to each other politically and sacredly. The word Sadducee is believed to hold originated from Zadok, Solomon s High Priest. This description seems justifiable given the fact that the Sadducee s consisted of members of the blue, conservative, elect standing of society. The Pharisees were more popular as they attracted the common mans of society, the Sadducees were a minority that held great power over Kings and embraced Hellenization, coercing Grecian civilization upon society. One of the biggest struggles between these two groups involved the fact that the Sadducees rejected the philosophy of immortality. The Sadducees took a actual attack to the written jurisprudence, following it word for word where as the Pharisees were unfastened to reading of the Torah. The Sadducees did non believe in aft er life hence non seeing the importance of the unwritten jurisprudence. As a consequence, they rejected new Torahs and inventions which the Pharisees introduced in response to historical necessity ( Isaacson 240 ) . In respects to the temple, the Sadducees viewed it as untouchable, finally denying the Pharisaic effort to develop and incorporate new thoughts into the temple. Evidentially the two groups were at changeless dissension with each other and this lead to tenseness within the 2nd temple epoch. Finally, a civil war broke out during the Hasmonean dynasty ostracizing the Sadducees as a whole go forthing merely the Pharisees to to the full retrieve. Given these facts I would non hold wanted to be a Sadducee due to their involuntariness to accept that society is everlastingly altering and hence observation of the jurisprudence needed to alter with it. I do non happen it appealing that they were merely considerate to the demands of those higher up in society and possibly this is why they were unable to recover power afterwards.