What would Judaism and Christianity have been like if the Sadducees (or Essenes) had prevailed rather than the Pharisees?

[meltzerboy]

In a technical sense, I can partially answer my own question. The Pharisees believed in a Messiah, a resurrection, a system of rewards and punishment in the afterlife, adoption of an Oral Law (which later became the Talmud) as equally holy to the written Torah Law. The Sadducees, more elitist and priestly, believed in none of these, but rather a literal interpretation of the Torah, and had a liberal attitude toward the incorporation of Greek and Roman practices into Judaism. In a more general sense, however, where would Judaism stand today if the Sadducees had survived as a religion beyond 70 A.D. (with or without the Pharisees), would Judaism have even existed up to the present time or would it have disappeared or fractured into several groups, and how might this have altered Judaism’s relation to Christianity? Further, would the Sadducees’ survival have had any impact on the development of Christianity? Same questions for the Essenes.

 

[GEddie]

The Sadduccees failed to survive the events of AD70 because they were centered on the temple and its priesthood; with the end of the temple in that year, they became redundant.

Even if a number of them had managed to survive physically, they would have been without power or significance in a Judaism without the temple. The Pharisees, who controlled the rabbinic system of the Diaspora, would still have been in command.

The Essenes were never influential beyond their remote community on the Dead Sea, which was destroyed in AD67. They would never have become a commanding part of post-temple Judaism.

ICXC NIKA.

 

[mathematoons]

I think such questions are moot, because the way history has unfolded is exactly the way God wanted it to unfold. You may be wondering why God wanted it to unfold as it did, but with this specific question, I would say that God likes this version of Judaism and Christianity better than whatever would exist in your scenario.

Alternate histories are just thoughts God decided not to act on.

 

[Hail_Linus]

In a technical sense, I can partially answer my own question. The Pharisees believed in a Messiah, a resurrection, a system of rewards and punishment in the afterlife, adoption of an Oral Law (which later became the Talmud) as equally holy to the written Torah Law. The Sadducees, more elitist and priestly, believed in none of these, but rather a literal interpretation of the Torah, and had a liberal attitude toward the incorporation of Greek and Roman practices into Judaism. In a more general sense, however, where would Judaism stand today if the Sadducees had survived as a religion beyond 70 A.D. (with or without the Pharisees), would Judaism have even existed up to the present time or would it have disappeared or fractured into several groups, and how might this have altered Judaism’s relation to Christianity? Further, would the Sadducees’ survival have had any impact on the development of Christianity? Same questions for the Essenes.

A scenario in which the Sadducees survive without Pharisees: The Sadducees probably would have died out eventually anyway. Something about them didn’t seem kosher. Christianity comes from the Pharisees. Without any Pharisees, Christianity would have would have a stronger argument in its claims that the chair of Moses was transferred to the chair of Peter.

If the Sadducees did manage to survive to the present they would not have any theological impact on Christianity. Jesus seems pretty clear that the Sadducees did not understand Judaism.

However, the Sadducees may have had a “cultural” impact on Christians. Perhaps the more important question is would the Seinfeld sitcom have been as successful if Jerry Seinfeld were a Sadducee? I can just imagine Seinfeld saying “What’s the deal with those Pharisees and their Black and White cookies. Is it really so difficult to decide on one color? Apparently this is a difficult task for the Pharisees. And don’t even get me started on the Christians and their immoral OREO cookies.” No I don’t think Seinfeld the Sadducee would be very funny.