An Apologetical Explanation of the

Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes

Who were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenes?

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”  (Mt 3:7)

A dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided.  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.  (Acts 23:7-8)

These three groups were sects within first-century Judaism, each with somewhat divergent viewpoints on Jewish traditions, theology, and what constituted the required observance of the Mosaic Law.  The Pharisees and the Sadducees represented two prevailing attitudes among the Jews as they dealt with keeping their faith amid the pagan oppression of Roman rule.

The Pharisees’ response was to set themselves apart from the Gentiles, or non-Jews, with pious religious observances and rituals that were more elaborate than those prescribed by the Law of Moses.  The doctors of the Law wrote many volumes of interpretations of the Law, refining the Mosaic texts down to the tiniest details to keep themselves pure from the influence of idolatrous cultures.  The Pharisees took this religious isolation to extremes, however, creating a religious tradition that was burdensome to the faithful in which external rituals and practices became more important than the spirit behind them.  (cf. Mt 23:4-7) Christ’s criticism of these excesses incurred the wrath of many Pharisees, some of whom conspired to have him arrested and put to death.  (Cf. CCC 574, 578-582, 588)

The Sadducees held some doctrines that disagreed with the Pharisees and sought common ground with Gentiles.  They held only the Pentateuch, the first five books of Scripture, as inspired writings and did not believe in the spirit world or life after death.  Their compromising attitude won them important positions in government.  (Cf. Mk 12:18-27; CCC 993)

The Essenes are not mentioned in Scripture, although there is some speculation that St. John the Baptist and even Christ himself may have spent some time with them.  They lived a somewhat ascetic life near the Dead Sea and may have been responsible for hte ancient manuscripts discovered in the mid-twentieth century known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.  They lived the Jewish laws and customs closely except for the Temple sacrifices and practiced a baptism of repentance in preparation for the Messiah.

The Catechism addresses this question in paragraphs 579 and 993.

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