Religious Groups Flashcards
which four major groups occur in the new testament?
Pharisees
Sadducee
Zealots/ revolutionaries
Essenes
what were Pharisees?
the largest group within Judaism
how were Pharisees viewed
in modern Christianity they were referred as ‘bad guys’ however at the time they were looked at as highly devout
what were the Pharisees focused on
interpreting the Torah and making it relative to their lifes
what did the Pharisees believe in
they believed in the resurrection from the dead but they didn’t believe that the temple was pure enough and they wanted to reform it
what were Sadducees
they were Jerusalem-based and very influential in the council of the jews
facts about sadducees
- they had secure positions under the roman rule so they didn’t contribute to the rioting
- they collaborated with the Romans
What ideas did the Sadducees reject
- they rejected the oral traditions- only the first five books of the OT
- they didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead- they mocked the idea
what did the essenes represent how did they view the temple
they represent the radical wing of Jewish life and thought.
they viewed Jerusalem based priesthood and temple as hopelessly corrupt
how did Essenes live/ worship?
they worshiped without normal sacrifices
lives in monasteries
live by very strict rules
they hated the rich
what did Essenes believe
there would be a war between ‘sons of light’ and of ‘darkness’
they believed that God would bring about this war
what was the main belief of Zealots
‘No king but God’ they didn’t want an Emperor
What did their (zealots) leader claim to be and what was the result of this
their leader claimed to be the messiah
as a result, the Roman army often killed both leaders and followers
how were zealots described
zealots for the torah were willing to act violently
how did the romans act towards the zealots
a number of Roman acts were deliberately or accidentally highly provocative
the romans were inhabiting what they thought was their land
