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The rest of the sects in Palestine were of minor importance and definitely had fewer mem-
bers than the Pharisees, Sadducees or Essenes (e.g., Herford, Judaism in the New Testament Pe-
riod, pp. 127, 128).

These figures represent the startling truth that the overwhelming majority of Jews DID
NOT belong to the religious sects.

With the facts staring us directly in the face, it should not be difficult to understand why it
can be stated with absolute assurance that FAR LESS than 5% of the 3,000,000 Jews of Palestine
belonged to these religious sects.

Some Common People Were Religious

The majority of people, known as the "Am ha-aretz," the Common People, who were not
members of the religious sects, represented all classes and varying degrees of feeling in regard to
religion. It is definitely known that some of these Common People were not totally irreligious.
Some of them did hold to a form of religion, even though they did not belong to the accepted relig-
ious sects.

Since there were synagogues scattered throughout Palestine, it is altogether obvious that
those Jews who did attend had some form of religious conviction. Because the "ministers" in
charge of most of the synagogues were Pharisees, it is likely that much of the Pharisaical teaching
influenced them. However, these Common People WERE NOT PHARISEES! Most of the people
had no desire to practice the strict and disciplinary rules of the Pharisees. Nevertheless, some of
the people did attend the Pharisaic synagogues to hear the Scriptures expounded on the Sabbath or
on other occasions.

The Common People who did attend the synagogue services, however, were not required
to hold to the teachings of the Pharisees. The Pharisees exercised little real authority over the re-
ligious life of the people. If a person desired to attend the synagogue, he could; if he obliged him-
self to stay away, that was his prerogative. There was no coercion to attend Sabbath services, for
THERE WAS LITTLE EXERCISE OF ANY CENTRAL RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY WITHIN JU-
DAISM AT THIS TIME. "PHARISAISM HAD NO MEANS OF COMPELLING THOSE WHO
WERE NOT IN THEIR FELLOWSHIP TO CONFORM TO THEIR REQUIREMENTS" (ibid., p.
137).

"It is perfectly clear that the people at large did not share in the punctilious religious life
of the Pharisees, however much they might admire it. In Palestine, as in modern lands,
the proportion of those actively engaged in religious service WAS UNDOUBTEDLY
SMALL" (Mathews, History of New Testament Times in Palestine, p. 160).

It was only over the lives of the "pious" that the Pharisees saddled a harsh religion of
"do's" and don't's."

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