*** SHOW NOTES (not fully edited or a transcript) ***

Lead:

Who are the Sanhedrin, Sadducees, and Pharisees? And what does this have to do with the truth claims of Christianity?

Intro:

If you are a skeptic about all this Christianity stuff, let me invite you to a courtroom scene…a bit of history. And after today’s Bible Segment I’ll share with you why I think this might be interesting to you.

So in yesterday’s reading Paul gets to Jerusalem and starts teaching in the Temple, and he is falsely accused of teaching something counter to Jewish law. There’s a riot, he’s arrested, and as he’s being hauled away he makes a speech. And one of his points is that before his conversion, he was actually one of the Pharisees out persecuting Christians (people of the “Way”) even unto death.

We left off with Paul being brought before the “council” (or “Sanhedrin” depending on your translation). And today I thought I might bring our All Our Minds segment to the fore so you’ve got some background of the players involved.

The Sanhedrin was the Jewish high court of the day. The two main parties, perhaps not unlike having two main political parties in the United States, were the Sadducees and Pharisees.

The Sadducees were the more politically savvy religious leaders. They were typically wealthy, often accused of being too cozy with the Romans, and you’ll recall that they only adhere to the Pentateuch — what we now of as the first five books of the Bible. Famously, they do not believe in an afterlife, let alone a coming Messiah who will resurrect from the dead. And this puts them at odds with the Pharisees.

The Pharisees were the highly religious Ph.D.s of the day — not only educated, but hardcore keepers and enforcers of all the rules. Elsewhere in the New Testament we read about Jesus getting in their business (as a group) for their religiosity while having rotten hearts. But broadly speaking they were nonetheless regarded as the most religious…except by the Sadducees.

So with that…

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Bible:

Passage: Acts 23-24
Translation: ESV (English Standard Version)
Verses: 62
Words: ~1445

All Our Minds:

So if you’re a skeptic — or even a Christian — I want to challenge you to consider Christianity as a religion grounded in history. We not only have historical accounts like the stuff we read that also have evidence in the writings of Josephus and other non-Christians, but the best explanation of the evidence for truth claims like the empty tomb or Jesus’ resurrection also have historical roots.

The bottom line

In other words, compared to ANYthing else, what you don’t find is a bunch of feel-good ideas that are simply opinions like whether or not vanilla is better than chocolate ice cream (it is!). If you are a truth-seeker, wouldn’t you expect truth of a Creator and his plan to redeem a broken world to also have evidence that we would know as history?

Wisdom:

Passage: Psalm 105
Translation: ESV (English Standard Version)
Verses: 45
Words: ~738

Love you!

-R

ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.

Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.

Sources and resources:

Thank you for supporting this ministry should you choose to use the Amazon affiliate links below.

Not used today, but one of my faves! —> Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2505.

#915: Acts 23-24 | Sanhedrin, Sadducees, Pharisees | Psalm 105