“The Sadducees do not allocate ‘Fate’ any role in human affairs, and they deny both immorality of the soul and resurrection; the Essenes ascribe all human actions to the power of fate and believe in both immortality and resurrection; the Pharisees adopt a middle course, ascribing power to both fate and human free will, and believing in immortality and resurrection.” [1]
The debate about God’s providence and man’s
freewill has existed from before the time of Jesus Christ. The Sadducees believed that God did not
intervene in the affairs of man and that all consequences were the result of
each man’s own action. This was an
attractive position to espouse since the Sadducees were in the upper class of
society. The Sadducees controlled the
operation of the temple, socialized with the ruling Herodians, and accumulated
great wealth from their status and position.
They resisted any person or group that endangered their status, which
was the earthly motivation that brought Jesus before Pontus Pilate.
At the other extreme were the Essenes who
ascribed all outcomes to “fate”. This
attitude led the Essenes to distance themselves from the greater society. Although some Essenes lived in Jerusalem, a
large majority lived in a communal dwelling around Qumran on the Dead Sea. The Essenes believed that they were the true
priests, the descendants of the Zadok priesthood who would reign with the
Messiah when he was revealed. The
Essenes felt minimal obligation to impact the society around them so they moved
to Qumran and awaited the coming of the Messiah.
The Pharisees “adopted a middle course,
ascribing power to both fate and human free will”. In other words, the Pharisees attempted to
reconcile the providence and complete control of the Creator with the knowledge
that mankind is accountable and will be judged for our actions. Since man is accountable for our actions, Pharisees
called individuals to “live sensibly, righteously
and godly in the present age,” (Titus
2:12).
It should not be surprising that this debate
continues into the present as the finite mind of man attempts to reconcile the
infinite nature of God. However, our understanding should not negate our obedience or good works. Believers should not be like the Sadducees crediting blessing and success to our own actions. Nor should believers be like the Essenes, completely removed from the world, taking no action to manifest the kingdom, only waiting until the end. Believers need to be performing the "good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Eph 2:10), acknowledging that our freewill operates within the providence of God’s overall plan. The specific interaction of the two remains a
mystery shrouded within the cloud of the Creator.
Have a blessed week, Scott
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