Study Questions: Jewish Sects in the time of Jesus; Apocalypticism
1.Compare and Contrast Pharisees, Saducees, and Essenes in respect to the following:
1) Belief in afterlife/bodily resurrection
2) Attitude to oral law
3) Attitude to Jerusalem Temple
2.Explain: “Happy People Do Not Write Apocalypses” (Fredriksen, 81)
3.Be able to discuss Ehrman’s points in the following quote:
“Jesus was a Jewish man living in the first century of the Common Era in the Roman territory of Galilee. If we want to know about his life, we have to learn about his world….”[social and political context of first century Palestine] “ is more relevant for understanding the historical Jesus than for understanding the traditions that circulated about him in other parts of the Mediterranean some decades later.”
4.Question: Prophecy vs. Apocalypticism. Discuss differences in style, content, and world view. Give dates (by century) for each type of revelation; Give at least one extant example by name of each type.
5.Describe socio/political conditions that led to rise of sectarianism in the centuries from the 1st c. BCE through 1st c. CE.(end date was 70 CE). Describe basic characteristics of Pharisees, Saducees, Essenes, Fourth Philosophy (=zealots, and sicarii) Galillean Charismatics
6.Identify:
Zadok/Zadokite line
apocalypticism
1.
ReplyDelete1) The Sadducees believed that death is final and didn't believe in a bodily resurrection. They held views that predated the Hasmonean Priesthood. The Essenes believed in a final between good and evil in which they would prevail but Wylen doesn't make the claim that they believed in an afterlife. The Pharisees did, however, believe in a bodily resurrection.
The Essenes did believe that the there would be a coming of the Kingdom of God but I'm not sure if that bodily resurrection is part of this.
ReplyDelete2. "Happy People Do Not Write Apocalypses"
ReplyDeleteDuring times of Jewish oppression and/or exile, stories of a great event that would change the world arose. These stories basically foretold the end of the world as it was known. Often the world would be 'reborn' as a 'perfect' world. When the Jews were oppressed, they wrote stories about how God would save them from their oppression. These stories showed that God was upholding his 'everlasting' promises to the Israelites. These stories are referred to by Fredriksenas 'apocalyptic description[s] of the joyful future that awaits'. This future is meant to replace the 'terminally terrible' present. Thus, these stories are only written in times of terror. If the present times were joyful or happy, people would need to be told that times would get better. They wouldn't have to look forward to anything because it would seem that they have already be saved and are receiving blessings for good behavior. All of this is to say that the priests and rabbis were looked to for guidance. In times of oppression, citizens would look to the people who were their mentors for answers. These answers, in the form of apocalyptic stories, said that everything would be even better than it was. They were the beginning of ideas like 'it always gets darkest before dawn' meaning basically that after the worst, you receive the best.
1. 2) What became known as the oral law was created by the Pharisees as a way to follow the written law or Law of Moses. They were ways of doing things meant to allow others to remain faithful to the Law of Moses. The Sadducees followed the Law of Moses but rejected the oral law created by the Pharisees. Their focus seemed to be more on sacrifices. However, it is important to note that the Sadducees rejected all written authority that was not within the Torah. The Essenes observed Jewish laws, but hated those who did not agree with their beliefs, but it is unclear what their view toward the oral law was.
ReplyDelete3) Attitude to Jerusalem Temple
ReplyDeletePharisees - focused more on the relations with the synagogue compared to the temple.
Sudducees - members of the Jewish aristocracy who were connected with Jewish preisthood. They emphasized the need to be involved in cultic worship as written in the Torah. They disregarded the regulation of daily activities, while focusing on religious sacrifices.
Essenes - Temple worship was lead my one of the two messiahs. (Priestly and kingly) They had a very strict caste system within the Temple.
Nicolette...
ReplyDeleteThe Essenes went off to live in communes in the wilderness because they shunned the Temple as illegitimate and refused to take any part in it.
Troy, note that the Essenes or whoever wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls left a kind of Pesher interpretation of Scripture in which they read scripture (such as Habbakuk) as a code referring to present and future events. This is different from Pharisaic oral law, but it does involve reinterpreting the sacred biblical texts to refer to present and future events.