First Century Sects Essay

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From the brief introductions to the three different forms of Judaism in the first century CE it is clear that the sects contain a notable amount of differences; However, they also contain many commonalities among their beliefs and practices. Firstly, they all believe in a single God. Although this may seem quite obvious, it is significant in highlighting this as a definitive characteristic of Judaism as being monotheistic. It is also significant as it demonstrates coherency among the sects in that they all worship and devote themselves to one being opposed to multiple beings unlike other religions such as Hinduism. The sects’ devotion to one God/being is also significant in highlighting that none of the groups placed any devotion on Jesus. …show more content…
The reason for this being because the first temple was built in the Jerusalem by King David and Solomon in 1000 BCE. Solomon’s Temple was a symbol for the heart of Judaism all around the world and remained so through the first century CE and even today. After Solomon’s Temple was destroyed the second temple was built during the time of King Herod the Great. The second temple was an essential aspect of the Sadducees worship but not of the Pharisees or Essenes. All three of the sects valued the first temple as the holiest place on earth but the sects disagreed with the holiness of the second temple. The second temple was ruled by the Sadducees and was seen as being run in an unholy way, different to how the first temple was run, in the eyes of the Essenes and Pharisees. Therefore, all three of the sects believed that Jerusalem was the most holy city in the world and agreed that this was because of the Solomon’s Temple, however they disagreed on whether the second temple was considered as holy. The groups also disagreed on what the holiness of the city entailed. The Essenes believed that the city of Jerusalem was too holy to live in and that living in the city would corrupt it’s holiness, whereas the Sadducees and Pharisees disagreed and many of them lived within the