OVERVIEW: NT RELIGIOUS / POLITICAL GROUPS
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Overview of New Testament Religious / Political Groups
a) When we follow the life of Jesus and the history of the early church, we discover the existence of a wide variety of religious parties and political groups. The Gospels do not present to us a unified, Jewish composed religion based on the same faith and teachings as the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets. Instead, we are presented with different flavors of a religion known as Judaism - which, although it had similarities with Old Testament teachings, was mainly composed of self-righteous religious traditions and the uninspired teachings of men.
b) In his monumental work Antiquities (history) of the Jews, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37 to 100 A.D.) lists at least four main non-Christian religious sects of first century Judaism. They are the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes and a sect founded by Judas the Galilean (the Zealots). Only two of these groups are specifically called sects in the Bible - the Pharisees (Acts 15:5) and the Sadducees (Acts 5:17). One sect is only reference - the Zealots (Acts 5:37). Specific religious parties not called such by Josephus but which are discussed in the New Testament include the Sanhedrin, the disciples of John the Baptist, the elders, the Herodians, the scribes, and the High Priest (with other priests). Each group claimed a monopoly on the truth (either religious or political) and argued with one another over the correctness of their respective views.
c) The most important divisions among Jewish religious groups had to do with debates over three primary areas of God's law: Marriage, Sabbath and Religious Festivals, and the Temple and Purity.
d) It may seem, by reading the New Testament that a great number of people belonged or associated with a particular party or group. At no time, however, did any group or sect constitute a majority.
The End ...
1. Overview of New Testament Religious / Political Groupsa) When we follow the life of Jesus and the history of the early church, we discover the existence of a wide variety of religious parties and political groups. The Gospels do not present to us a unified, Jewish composed religion based on the same faith and teachings as the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets. Instead, we are presented with different flavors of a religion known as Judaism - which, although it had similarities with Old Testament teachings, was mainly composed of self-righteous religious traditions and the uninspired teachings of men.
b) In his monumental work Antiquities (history) of the Jews, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37 to 100 A.D.) lists at least four main non-Christian religious sects of first century Judaism. They are the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes and a sect founded by Judas the Galilean (the Zealots). Only two of these groups are specifically called sects in the Bible - the Pharisees (Acts 15:5) and the Sadducees (Acts 5:17). One sect is only reference - the Zealots (Acts 5:37). Specific religious parties not called such by Josephus but which are discussed in the New Testament include the Sanhedrin, the disciples of John the Baptist, the elders, the Herodians, the scribes, and the High Priest (with other priests). Each group claimed a monopoly on the truth (either religious or political) and argued with one another over the correctness of their respective views.
c) The most important divisions among Jewish religious groups had to do with debates over three primary areas of God's law: Marriage, Sabbath and Religious Festivals, and the Temple and Purity.
d) It may seem, by reading the New Testament that a great number of people belonged or associated with a particular party or group. At no time, however, did any group or sect constitute a majority.
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