Page 19 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

In fact, wealth seems to have been the number one “belief” of the Sadducees. Modern archaeologists
have uncovered a few ancient Sadducee homes, describing them as “the most opulent discovered to
date in Jerusalem.”

Who were the Pharisees and Sadducees?

Essenes

A third faction called the Essenes emerged because some spiritual leaders felt that the religious leaders
in Jerusalem had corrupted God’s truth given in Scripture and had corrupted the Temple in Jerusalem.
This group of leaders moved out of Jerusalem and lived a monastic life in the desert to the east and
south of Jerusalem known as Qumran. The Essenes were scholars of the Old Testament books and
practiced very strict rituals including ritual washing and careful hand copying of the Scriptures. It was in
1947 that a Bedouin shepherd stumbled into a cave in Qumran and found jars containing manuscripts
describing the beliefs of this sect. More importantly, he discovered parchment fragments of the earliest
known copies of the Old Testament. This material has confirmed the authenticity of the Bible we have
today.

Here is a chart comparing the beliefs of the three religious factions during Christ’s day.

Sadducees Pharisees Essenes

Social Class Priests, aristocrats Common people [Unknown]

"Disciples of the "Teacher of
Authority Priests
Wise" Righteousness"

Application of
Emphasis on
Practices priestly laws to "Inspired Exegesis"
priestly obligations
non-priests

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