January 4 - Sects?

January 4 – Sects?

Before I go further into Christian History, I think I’d like to take one day to explain some of the different Jewish sects that were in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus and existed when the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Yesterday I mentioned that these different factions couldn’t come to an agreement on how to defend the city – so, they lost.

We recognize two of these groups from scripture – the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees were comprised of the aristocrats, they were the high priests and fully supported Roman occupation of Judea relying on Rome to take care of the government. They were wealthy and very conservative.

The Pharisees, on the other hand, upheld the Law. They worked on its interpretation and for the most part interpreted scripture and the Law sensibly. This would have been the middle class party. They were nationalists and even a few were Zealots, not wanting to have anything to do with the Romans.

The Pharisees and Sadducees made up the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling council in Jerusalem. The two groups despised each other. One of the few times they ever came together on a decision was when they prosecuted Jesus.

We hear of the Essenes because of their association with the Dead Sea Scrolls. This group believed that the ruling groups were corrupt and believed that they should set themselves apart. Before Christ’s birth, they had been in existence for nearly 150 years and were a respected group of Jews. No one joined the Essenes, you could only be born to the group. They could trace their ancestry to Zadoc, who came from Aaron’s priestly lineage. They kept themselves quite separate and holy, hoping to make a new covenant with God. They observed Temple law and set up an alternative Temple at Qumran until the original could be purified and restored.

The Essenes believed that God was no longer bound to the Temple in Jerusalem, but drawn to the worship of the Essenes. Wherever there were Essenes gathered, there could be a Temple. This was the first time the idea of the Church being more than just a building, but a community of worshippers became popular. (Johnson, 1976)

There is every probability that John the Baptist was an Essene monk.

The Essenes were divided in regards to pacifism. Several were also Zealots and despised Roman occupation of Judea. The monastery at Qumran was the site of a very bloody battle during the war of 66 – 70 AD. (Chadwick, 1993)

The last group we might look at would be the Zealots. These were nationalists and could be found in nearly every group that we’ve already mentioned (maybe not the Sadducees – too much money and comfort to spend their time on fighting against Roman rule).

In Matthew 10:3-4, we read that even among the Twelve, there was a Zealot – named Simon. These were the people that stirred the rebellion against Rome, believing that God would restore national rule to the Jews once again.


Chadwick, H. (1993). The Penguin History of the Church. Vol 1, The Early Church. London, England: Penguin Books.

Johnson, P. (1976). A History of Christianity. New York, NY: Touchstone - Simon & Schuster.