For Sadducees say there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but Pharisees confess both of them.
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Acts 23:8 Commentary
Standing before the council, Paul is in the midst of a divided assembly. Luke pauses the narrative to explain the theological fault line: "the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both." This single verse exposes both the bankruptcy of unbelief and the issue on which the gospel itself stands or falls.
The Sadducees as Persistent Opponents of the Gospel
Throughout Acts the Sadducean party are consistently identified as the chief enemies of the apostolic testimony, precisely because the resurrection of Jesus shatters their system at the foundation.
William KellyWe have seen all through the Acts of the Apostles that the Sadducees were as prominent in opposition after the resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Spirit, as the Pharisees had been while the Lord was on earth... The resurrection of Jesus was a death blow to their system, as it is to infidelity at all times. For it is God's intervention in power whilst the world goes on as it is, the pledge that the risen One will come and judge it.
Their unbelief was paired with worldliness; while less openly hostile to Christ during His ministry than the Pharisees, they fiercely resisted the apostles' preaching:
J. B. CroslandThe Sadducees were also a religious party, but they stood rather for the worldly side of the religious profession... 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... they were violently opposed to the power of the Spirit and the testimony of the resurrection as afterwards set forth by the apostles.
Paul's Appeal to Resurrection
Paul, perceiving the mixed audience, presses the very point on which Christianity itself rests. He does not first preach Christ's resurrection here, but the broader hope every God-fearing Jew once held:
William KellyPaul, therefore, perceiving that if one part of his audience were Sadducees, the other were Pharisees, avails himself of the truth held by the Pharisees... Here too it was of moment to press resurrection as a conditional truth of Christianity... Old Testament saints waited for it, not merely Israelites but those who were outside like Job... Christ personally becomes, as every believer in Christ knows, the seal of the truth of resurrection, for in His case it is not only the dead man raised but raised from among the dead.
Paul further identifies himself not merely as a Pharisee but as "a son of Pharisees" — meaning he came from a family loyal to the common faith of God's people, who "rejected free-thinking and held to the common faith of God's people" (William Kelly).
Three Things the Sadducees Denied — and What "Spirit" Means
The verse names three denied realities: resurrection, angel, and spirit. The word "spirit" here is shown to mean what we ordinarily call a ghost — the spirit of a man apart from the body — distinct from "angel" as another class of being:
Frederick W GrantHow common a use of the word "spirit" this is, we may see by the inspired statement of the Jewish views in Acts 23:8... There again the word "spirit" is taken as ordinarily applying (as our word "ghost," which is equivalent, does now) to the spirits of men apart from the body. Angels are given as another class... "if a spirit or an angel." In a Pharisee's mouth even our opponents allow the meaning of such words. And with their belief Paul links himself.
The Mixed Result of Paul's Move
Some commentators treat Paul's appeal with a measure of caution, observing that it produced division rather than gospel testimony, and rallied men to him on partisan rather than spiritual grounds:
F. B. HoleHe presented himself as a Pharisee, and as being called in question concerning the hope of resurrection. Without a doubt he was a Pharisee by birth and early training, and without a doubt resurrection lies at the very foundation of the Gospel... It rallied the Pharisees to his aid, while violently antagonizing the Sadducees. They were all true party men... Truth and righteousness did not count with them, but party did. The same kind of thing is very common today, and Christians are not immune from it.
William KellyNo doubt the apostle was not here preaching the gospel nor rendering that testimony to which his heart turned habitually. Christ resorted to no such measures when He was being judged; but it was surely righteous in itself if not according to the height of grace in Christ.
Summary
- Sadducean creed. They denied resurrection, angels, and disembodied spirits — a worldly, materialistic religion that left the soul with nothing beyond this life.
- Why they hated the gospel. The risen Christ destroyed their system at its root; resurrection is God's pledge that the risen One will judge the living and the dead.
- Three distinct objects. "Spirit" in this verse refers to the spirits of men apart from the body, while "angel" names a separate class of beings — both held by the Pharisees.
- Resurrection is foundational. Job, Old Testament saints, and every God-fearing Jew waited for it; Christ raised from among the dead is the seal of the truth.
- Party loyalty warning. The Pharisees rallied to Paul not for truth but for party, a danger believers today must still beware of.