Posted on 12/25/2001 10:35:40 AM PST by Wiley Sr
Why Watch Pharisees By C. E. Carlson
What better time than the birthday of Jesus Christ to examine the Pharisees, as He did. Jesus had much to say about this sect that had established control over spiritual life in Judea and was even able to manipulated the leaders of the occupying Roman Legion. The noun Pharisee occurs at least 87 times in the New Testament. They are invariably in conflict with Jesus. However, any use of this word has mostly been eliminated from the teaching of seminaries and pulpits of America's churches and the professing Christian media .
What is a Pharisee and WHY don't we hear about them any more? Webster defines Pharisee: "One of the members of a school or party among the ancient Jews noted for the strict formal observance of the rites and validity of traditions of the elders. Pharisee interpretation provided the standard of observation and belief for the great majority of the Jews from the 1st century A.D. Pharisaic: Hypocritical, self righteous and censorious of others" -- Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd edition, 1950.
Jesus confronted the Pharisees daily, as we believe all true followers of Christ should do. No longer an exclusive Jewish term, the pharisaic influence can be found in every church and synagogue in America, busily reshaping Christianity into its own image.
Every mention of "Pharisees" occurs in the New Testament, forming the center of conflict swirling around Jesus, His disciples and followers. The Pharisees stalked and persecuted them throughout their missions. Along with the 78 verses where they are mentioned by name, the Pharisees are also named by the pronouns "they" or "them" in many more verses. They are the object of Jesus' debates in several complete chapters of Matthew, John and Luke which provide accounts of the ongoing conflict and plot against his life.
The name Pharisee occurs 54 more times than the infamous name of Judas, and twenty times more often than the name of Pontius Pilot. It is without a doubt the most infamous name in the New Testament, second only to Satan. Jesus consistently denounced them as associates of Satan and his lies.
Yet the word "Pharisee" has been pointedly ignored and all but forgotten in modern Christendom. It may be the most avoided word found in the Bible. Many church pastors and most televangelists are capable of preaching the year through without ever mentioning the word Pharisee, except in passing over it like an extinct and irrelevant species. Bible study courses rarely mention who the Pharisees were, and why Jesus pronounced upon them so harshly. Could it be that any celebrity Christian who wants keep his TV contract knows that he must never suggest that the Pharisee's war on Jesus has anything at all to do with us, or that this anti-Christ sect may have survived to this day ?
The word "Pharisee" has not yet been removed from any Bibles we know of. Though we believe this too might soon be attempted. Most Bible commentaries and concordances avoid any serious treatment of who the Pharisees are and what they believe. One example is the concordance in the new, very popular Thompson Study Bible which is supposedly designed to help readers understand the scriptures. Amazingly it contains only one of the 78 sites about Pharisees found in Strongs, the accepted standard. The 1962 edition contained four of the 78. It appears that the publisher is progressively phasing the wordout of our Christian vocabulary.
Jesus denounced this most powerful and destructive faction of anti-Christianity as damned, calling them a "generation of vipers" and "sons of Satan." However, most study Bibles and courses omit all but a casual mention of the Pharisees.
The purpose of Pharisee Watch is to bring to light the ongoing influence of the Pharisees on our modern society and how they continue the attempt to control our lives. Jesus clearly shows us how they controlled Judea during His time. Needless to say we do not think Pharisees have gone away or they would not still be tampering with The Faith. Webster's definition spotlights Pharisaism as modern Judaism. This is proudly echoed by many rabbinical sources, who are quite arrogant of their station. They would move heaven and earth to discourage thousands of pastors and televangelists from teaching what Jesus has told us so clearly.
The granddaddy of all the Pharisee censors is the powerfully promoted Scofield study Bible, first printed in England in 1908, but sold in America. It contains hundred of notes about the "rapture in the last days" and the return of the ancient tribe of Israelites to the Holy land. The latest version of Scofield has even advanced "anti-Semitism" to the status of a "sin." Each of the four successive editions have further advanced the claim of the self-proclaimed Jews to the real estate known today as the State of Israel. However, Scofield hardly contains a note about the hundreds of verses recording Jesus' daily conflict and the plotof his death by the Pharisees.
The first mention of Pharisees occurs in Matthew 3:7 when they appear in number at the Jordan River where John the Baptist proclaimed the coming of the Messiah. John's encounter is vividly recorded in Mt. 3:7: "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" 3:8, "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance." King James Edition online: (http://www.genesis.net.au/~bible/kjv/matthew/) Genesis Network
One early exchange between Christ and the Pharisees occurred in Matthew 12 where Jesus called them "an evil and adulterous generation"in a powerful exchange that fills most of the chapter.
Matthew 23 primarily highlights Jesus' condemnation of the Pharisees. Verses 31-34 read: "Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city" (King James version).
How can such a discourse be ignored during the entire careers of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jack Van Empe and dozens more like them? They have made a career of promoting Israel, regardless of the moral cost.
Luke 21 and John 8 contain more of the incessant confrontations of Jesus with the evil ant-Christ sect. We suggest every skeptical reader look up and read each of the 78 situations in Strongs containing the word "Pharisee." Ask your own pastor when he last preached on what Jesus meant. Every follower of Christ should ask himself, "Why is almost all mention of the most powerful and evil cult to appear in the New Testament avoided and shunned by Christian leaders today?"
If you agree with us, we ask you to help to give every follower of Christ an opportunity to learn about Pharisee Watch. (http://www.whtt.org/pharisee.htm) Toward the strait gate (Mth. 12:7) C. E. Carlson Directors and Advisors, We Hold These Truths
Listen to WHTT Internet Radio conference, anytime on our site. Learn why many professing Christians support war, repression and torture without even knowing why they do it. Read SHERRY'S WAR, free on our site, hard copies are available from WHTT. (http://www.whtt.org/pharisee.htm), a must for all pastors.
If you agree with us do not wait, volunteer to be a Cloudseeder. You can help from wherever you are with no cost but your time. We Hold These Truths (www.whtt.org) 4839 E. Greenway Road, #151 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 480 947 3329
LOL
There were lots of Pharisees, including many who believed in Christ. Of the latter, the two named in the Gospels are Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramathea. Paul (Saul) was also a Pharisee and did not give up that title, even after he started evangelizing the Gentiles.
A Pharisee is a particular sect that believes G-d cares about our behavior. They started codifying and encouraging their behavioral approaches after the Babylonian Exile because they were concerned that apostasy had caused the Exile and wanted to avoid a repeat. As history has shown, they failed.
Jesus did attack the leaders of the Pharisees, although study of Pharisee and Jesus' own teaching styles suggest that Jesus Himself was a Pharisee. There was good and bad among Phariseeism and it appears that Jesus attempted to keep the good while rejecting the bad. Matthew 5:20 states (NIV):
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.This suggests that Jesus did not see Phariseeism as all bad.
Jesus attacked the Pharisees on two fronts. One was hypocracy. They called for certain behaviors but did not do them. In addition, they focused on trivial details of the Torah (Law) and ignored important provisions. The most striking example of this was their claim that you could declare your posessions "corban" (dedicated to G-d) and thereby avoid taking care of your parents. Thus, in Biblical language, "Pharisees" is a synonym for "hypocrites." Note that, when challenging the Pharisees, Jesus did not challenge their love of Torah. Rather, he challenged their incomplete approach to it. Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.' (Emphasis mine.) Pharisees were also known for going farther than the Torah required. For example, men were supposed to give the Sabbath over to the worship of the lord and do no labor. Labor hadn't been defined, but was clearly intended to focus on income-producing work. There had never been any law against healing on the Sabbath, nor preparing food such as picking grain for the purpose of eating it. Clearly the Pharisees were trying to put "fences" around Torah. They felt that, if they kept a stricter law than G-d called for, they could be sure that they wouldn't violate the law that G-d had established. If they stayed far away from the sin, they could make a mistake and still not sin. It's kind of like staying far away from the edge of a clif. You can still stumble and not fall over the edge.
Jesus condemned this focus on Torah itself. Torah was given so men could focus on G-d. Torah is a life-giving gift for the Christian as much as for the Jew. But the purpose of Torah is to give this life and to encourage people to live for G-d. The minute they start living for Torah they fail to live for G-d and defeat the purpose of Torah.
I hope this helps.
Shalom.
Every day at one time or another was probably dedicated to some pagan diety. What's yer point? Do you think that God is just waiting for us to step out of line down here so He can ZAP us for our sin? If we were celebrating those pagan holidays as they were originally set up, and paying homage to those gods-which-are-no-gods, then you might have a point. I think you're a lot more uptight about it than God is.
And THAT, my friend, is the spirit of the Pharisee!
As for who is "mostly responsible for Christ's death", I suppose it depends on your understanding of Christian theology. Christ has some harsh words for Peter when he tries to prevent it. Paul says we would all be most unfortunate if it hadn't occurred. Christ's death is necessary, so I don't know if blame is really an appropriate consideration.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.