Abstract: Chapter 16 Josephus and the Jewish Sects Albert I. Baumgarten, Albert I. BaumgartenSearch for more papers by this author Albert I. Baumgarten, Albert I. BaumgartenSearch for more papers by this author Book Editor(s):Honora Howell Chapman, Honora Howell ChapmanSearch for more papers by this authorZuleika Rodgers, Zuleika RodgersSearch for more papers by this author First published: 30 October 2015 https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118325162.ch16Citations: 2 AboutPDFPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShareShare a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Summary "Sect", in modern usage, implies an aberrant or deviant group, in explicit dissent from some orthodox or established "church". That is not what Flavius Josephus intended in his discussion of the Jewish sects: Pharisees, the Sadducees, or the Essenes. For him, these three "philosophies" were the heart of legitimate Judaism: the "Fourth Philosophy" was an aberrant and deviant accretion. Furthermore, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were close to the seats of power, and sometimes in power. Even when they were not in power, they behaved more like modern political parties (disagreeing with the policy and actions of their rivals, but not seceding from the central institution of their time-sitting together in the same Sanhedrin, Acts 23:6–9). This chapter proposes redefining the term sect so as to be appropriate to Josephus's haireseis or philosophies. References Atkinson, Kenneth and Magness, Jodi. 2010. "Josephus' Essenes and the Qumran Community." Journal of Biblical Literature 129: 317–342. Web of Science®Google Scholar Baumgarten, Albert I. 1984. "Josephus and Hippolytus on the Pharisees." Hebrew Union College Annual 55: 1–25. Web of Science®Google Scholar Baumgarten, Albert I. 1994. "Josephus on Essene Sacrifice." 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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511520297 Google Scholar Bergmeier, Roland. 1993. Die Essener Berichte des Flavius Josephus. Kampen: Kok Pharos Pub. House. Google Scholar Broshi, Magen. 2005/2006. "The Essene Sect and Religious Movements in the Second Temple Period: Sociological Definitions." Megillot 4: 13–23 (in Hebrew). Google Scholar Chalcraft, David J. 2007. " Max Weber on Sects and Voluntary Associations with Specific Reference to Second Temple Judaism." In Sectarianism in Early Judaism: Sociological Advances, edited by David J. Chalcraft, 26–113. London: Equinox. Google Scholar Cohen, Shaye J. D. 1979. Josephus in Galilee and Rome: His Vita and Development as a Historian. Leiden: Brill. Google Scholar Cohen, Shaye J. D. 2010. The Significance of Yavneh and Other Essays in Jewish Hellenism. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. Google Scholar Coser, Lewis A. 1974. Greedy Institutions: Patterns of Undivided Commitment. New York: Free Press. 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Mason (2001) contains an important treatment of the Pharisees passages in Josephus's Life, along with an analysis of the account of Josephus's search for the best way to live as a Jew, which included his year with the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes, his three years with Bannus, and then concluded with Josephus's decision to return to the city and live as a Pharisee. Dawson (2009) is a thorough discussion of the difficulties associated with sect and sectarianism in the social sciences. Klawans (2012) offers a vigorous defense of the ways Josephus's comments on the sects cohere with what we know from other sources from Second Temple Judaism, stressing the fact that Josephus was correct to emphasize differences in belief, because belief mattered at the time more than we have become accustomed to think (compare Shemesh 2009). Two substantial works on the Pharisees are Mason (1991) and Sanders (1992). Mason (1991) is an exhaustive analysis of all the places where Josephus discussed the Pharisees, with extensive comments on key terms and the ways they appear in all of Josephus's works. Mason elaborates there his proposal that Josephus was uniformly hostile to the Pharisees. Sanders (1992) specifies what Josephus meant by calling the Pharisees the "first school" and being influential in Jewish religious life. He takes issue with previous generations of scholars who concluded that the Pharisees ran Jewish life; instead, he argues that they were no more than influential. Sanders was challenged by Deines (2001). Mason (2008, 84–96) takes up the crucial aspects of information about the Essenes. Two sides of the debate concerning the Qumran-Essene connection are Atkinson and Magness (2010) and Baumgarten (2004), with Atkinson and Magness supporting that connection and Baumgarten challenging it. The most recent study in the long line of works on the Testimonium Flavianum is Feldman (2012) (see also Chapter 22 by Whealey in this volume). A fundamental analysis of the historical circumstances that led to the rise of ancient Jewish sectarianism can be found in Baumgarten (1997). Google Scholar Citing Literature A Companion to Josephus ReferencesRelatedInformation
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-10-30
Language: en
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