Pharisees And Sadducees
A wise man will learn from the past, and profit from that knowledge.
When Christ went among the Pharisees and Sadducees he condemned both parties. The Sadducees were the "modernists" of their day. Their progenitors were called Hellenizers because they thought Judaism too narrow and sought the advantages of Greek life and culture. Their aim was more political and social than religious. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were zealous religiously. They were legalists who put stress on outward appearance and formal correctness. Their zeal for the law was such that they began to make laws of their own, in the form of traditions. The time came when they could not distinguish between law and tradition.
All are aware that parties divisions, exist among the children of God, today. Liberal, anti, modernist, are oft-hurled epithets.
Most readers will have no trouble seeing the similarity between the attitude of the liberals and modernists of today, and the Sadducees of the past. We "antis" have viewed with sadness (and, many times, animosity) the trend to divest God's word of Authority, to imitate and compete with the denominations, exhibited by the "Hellenizers" of today.
But what about us, brethren? I view with alarm the growing trends among us. In an effort to halt digression we have used every weapon at our disposal. And, in the heat of battle, we have contrived some of our own. If twisted passages of scripture could win a point in debate then they were twisted. After all, we were in the right!
Some decided to present these forced conclusions in book form to be distributed among us. These books have been taught in classrooms and preached from pulpits in an effort to "indoctrinate" us in what "our side" believes. The effort has succeeded too well! We now have our "smaller catechisms," our creed books to guide us in "the Faith."
Our "traditions" of a few decades past have now become law, and — woe to the one who fails to "wash his hands."
Wake up, brethren! We are modern day Pharisees.
We have been condemning the "other guy" so long that we have lost sight of our own "digressions." Stop long enough to take an honest appraisal of yourself.
We need to cease "proving" our practice by the Bible and start practicing what the Bible says. Let's get back to "speaking where the Bible speaks" instead of forcing the Bible to speak where we speak.
This generation will have much to answer for in the Judgment: divisions; hatred between brethren; parties (and you must belong to one of them); souls being lost because men can't determine which church of Christ really is of Christ.
Yes, it's easy to place the blame for our troubles on the modern Sadducees; but, remember, Christ condemned the Pharisees, too.
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