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84 Is Judaism the Religion of Moses?

Some of these priests were in the Sanhedrin and were willing to re-establish the religious
life of the people, in accordance with the directions in the Law. But the new laymen, who had now
also become teachers of the Law because of their independent study, were not willing to give up this
new power they had acquired. Human reason insisted that they were as competent to teach the peo-
ple as the priests.

Lay Teachers Reject Sole Authority of Priests to Teach!

When the Sanhedrin was re-organized after Antiochus Epiphanes, the lay teachers exhibited
more power than ever before. The priests, who were under a ban of discredit before the Maccabean
Revolt, were even more so afterwards. The lay teachers repudiated the claim that the priests had an
exclusive right to be in authority.

Lauterbach says that these lay teachers "refused to recognize the authority of the priests as a
class, and, inasmuch as many of the priests had proven unfaithful guardians of the Law, they would
not entrust to them the religious life of the people" (Rabbinic Essays, p. 209).

This privilege, of assuming the role of the priests, was not a complete usurpation of every
prerogative of the priests. They still were the only ones allowed to perform the ritualistic Temple
services, etc. No lay teacher ever thought of taking over this exclusive position of the priests.

But from the time of the re-establishment of the Sanhedrin, after the Maccabean Revolt, the
lay teachers became the important RELIGIOUS LEADERS.

Sanhedrin Faces Many New Problems

The establishment of the Sanhedrin was recognized as a necessity in order that there could
be a resumption of some form of the religion of Moses.

"The members of this Sanhedrin took up the interrupted activity of the former teachers, the
Sopherim, and, like them, sought to teach and interpret the Law and to regulate the life of the
people in accordance with the laws and traditions of the fathers. But in their attempt to
harmonize the laws of the fathers with the life of their own times, THEY ENCOUNTERED
SOME GREAT DIFFICULTIES" (Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, p. 105).

The people were keeping so many new customs, not observed by their forefathers, that the
members of the Sanhedrin became perplexed over what to do.

It was not easy to find support from the Scriptures which might condone some of the prac-
tices of the Jews at this time. The members of the Sanhedrin began to look for ways of
JUSTIFYING the people, rather than following the Scripture commands to correct them (Deut.
32:1-47).

"Many new customs and practices for which there were no precedents in the traditions of the
fathers, and NOT THE SLIGHTEST INDICATION IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, were

The Berean Voice September-October 2002