New Testament Cultural Groups

There are many different cultural groups of people that I learned about through my studies of the New Testament. The different groups are the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the

Essenes, the Zealots, the Scribes, the Samaritans, and the Herodians. I’ve learned many things about all these different groups and all about their culture.

The pharisees are known as the separated ones. The pharisees were very vigorous to keeping the law, as well as waiting for the coming messiah who would bring righteousness to the land. They were more focused on the law and put more emphasis on religious practices such as: tithing, sabbath observance, and food purity laws. What set them apart was the fact that they focused on external formalities.

The Sadducees were Hasmoneans

PLACES OF WORSHIP

There were many places of worship in the New Testament. The Jerusalem Temple, the

Sanhedrin, the Synagogues. These places of worship depends on what sect you were a part of.

Many places were only welcoming to specific sects.

The Jerusalem temple was of great pride to the Jews in a national and religious way.

Herod had promised to rebuild it and make it greater than any temple and during the lives of

Jesus was in full construction. The Temple was remarkably wealthy due to the amount of tithes coming in and the sacrifices. The law was stipulated that Jewish men were to travel to the temple each year on three pilgrimage festivals.

The Sanhedrin were a group of men who were keenly invested in the success of

Jerusalem. They were elders that joined together to form a high council and consisted of the

Pharisees and priests. They worked to give a fair trail to law disagreements and consisted of 70 members, this was considered the appropriate amount for a counsel.

When the Jews had no Temple their worship continued. They were put in a position where they needed to figure it out without all temple so public meetings with study,