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Of course, Paul disavowed any association with the sect of the Pharisees (so often reviled
by "modern scholars" and theologians), right? Wrong!!!

At a much later time, Paul had the perfect opportunity to swear off "Pharisaism" once and
for all before the Sanhedrin. Instead, Luke relates this telling incident:

"Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called
out in the Sanhedrin, 'My brothers, I am a PHARISEE, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on
trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead'" (Acts 23:6, NIV).

William Dankenbring, of Triumph Prophetic Ministries (Church of God), and a long-time
teacher and researcher in the Churches of God (over 40 years), makes this observation about this
and other scriptures relating to Paul in his article entitled Who Were the Pharisees?:

"Obviously, Paul was not ashamed of his heritage as a law-abiding Pharisee. Nor did
Jesus rebuke the Pharisees for their teachings concerning the laws of Moses. Rather, He
acknowledged that they 'sat in Moses' seat,' something He never said concerning the Sad-
ducees or Samaritans. Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, wrote concerning the Sad-
ducees, 'The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels
nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all' (Acts 23:8)."

"Jesus never acknowledged the Sadducees as having any spiritual authority as interpreters
of the Law. Rather, on one occasion when they accosted Him, and questioned Him, He
replied with a very real 'put down':"

"'You are in ERROR because YOU DO NOT KNOW THE SCRIPTURES nor the
power of God' (Matt. 22:29, NIV)."

"Clearly, even the evidence from the New Testament itself shows we should be following
the teachings of the Pharisees as those teachings relate to the laws of God and the Torah
-- not the paganized Samaritans who knew not what they worshipped, or the Sadducees,
who did not even recognize the existence of angels and who denied the resurrection, and
who Jesus Christ said did not even 'know' the Scriptures!"

The NIV Dictionary of the Bible has this to say about the "PHARISEES (far'i-daez, Heb.
perushun, Gr. Pharisaioi)":

"The name 'Pharisee,'...means 'the separated ones, separatists,'..." and "...were also known
as the chasidim, meaning 'loved of God' or 'loyal to God.' It continues: "...the Pharisees
made these contributions to Judaism,...The first of these is Jewish legalism, which began
in earnest after the Babylonian captivity, temple worship and sacrifices had ceased, and
Judaism began to center its activities in Jewish Law and the synagogue [local worship
centres]. The rise of the Jewish scribes, who were closely associated with the Pharisees,
also gave great impetus to Jewish legalism. The Pharisees -- more of a fraternal order or
religious society than a sect [of about 6,000 at the time of Jesus according to Josephus] --
were the organized followers of these experts in interpreting the Scriptures; they formal-

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