Did the Rabbis Hijack "Biblical" Judaism?
Was Rabbinic Judaism a corruption of Biblical faith, or the reason Judaism survived? Explore the Pharisees, the destruction of the Temple, and the historical roots of Rabbinic tradition, and why many have gotten this wrong.
I once read a pamphlet from a fairly large Messianic congregation. Their literature stated, emphatically, that they did not observe the Rabbinic tradition. The implication was that Rabbinic tradition was inherently wrong or that it is a monolithic doctrine to reject.
I found it ironic.
As I read on, I took note of how much Rabbinic tradition they actually kept without realizing it: the Liturgical cycle, reading from a Torah scroll, the very synagogue they met in, the upcoming holiday celebrations they advertised, and more. The claim and the practice did not match.
If you have not encountered this before, this theological assumption holds that Rabbinic Judaism hijacked the Biblical faith of the first century. It is a pillar of Replacement Theology, and one Messianic Judaism tends to press.
But does history support the claim?
A Different Take
We've explored how, in the first century, "Judaism" was not a singular expression. There were shared aspects, for sure, but in Israel alone, sectarianism led to arguments on the specifics of how to serve G_D.
By some counts, there may have been nearly two dozen groups midway through the first century. The more popular are the Sadducees, the Essenes, the Zealots, and the Pharisees.
If you throw the Samaritans into the fray, arguments arose over who counted as part of the covenant people.¹
A real question was who held the true authority.
The Sadducees
The Aristocratic Sadducees² governed the Temple system and held a significant seat of power. They accepted the written Torah but held no stake in an oral tradition. Therefore, they did not believe in a resurrection of the dead³ or an elaborate afterlife.
But their system depended on the favor of the Romans and a standing Temple. Without these, their power would collapse. And it eventually did.
The Essenes
The Essenes⁴ chose withdrawal. Maybe former priests themselves, they were convinced the Jerusalem priesthood was corrupt, and the age was near its end. Their solution was to pull back to the wilderness to await the destruction.