J. B. Crosland · Beware!

The Sadducees were also a religious party, but they stood rather for the worldly side of the religious profession; to them fell the high offices of the temple, with a leading part in public affairs (Acts 4, 5). Their beliefs were less exacting and their practice was less strict than those of the Pharisees. As regards their beliefs they “say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit” (Acts 23:8; Matt. 22:23 ). It is natural, therefore, that while they did not come into such constant and open conflict with our Lord as the Pharisees did, they were violently opposed to the power of the Spirit and the testimony of the resurrection as afterwards set forth by the apostles. As regards their practice, unlike the more strictly constituted Pharisees, they accommodated themselves easily to the secularising influence of the Greeks and Romans. To “take nothing of the Gentiles” was not their ideal; no harsh restrictions for them!