What are the differences in worldviews between the (a) Pharisees, (b) Sadducees and (c) Herodians.533-1 - 3 - 2

With thanks to CM:

“Pharisees are the legalists, the literalists. They, to a fault, tried to take every detail of the Law and make a burden out of it. They were the extremists.

Sadducees were the opposite kind, they were the modernists, the liberals. They did not believe in the resurrection, and did not believe in angels, and did not believe in the supernatural.”

With thanks to merriam-webster.com, “Definition of HERODIAN, a member of a political party of biblical times consisting of Jews who were apparently partisans of the Herodian house and together with the Pharisees opposed Jesus.”

With the exception of Revelation 2:6, “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” I see something of an equivalence between the church of Ephesus and the Pharisees. Revelation 2:4, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” Both were wrapped up in legalism. The Pharisees observed the letter of the law and were so busy performing blood sacrifices that they missed the finish work of the Lamb of God. Those in the church of Ephesus were so occupied with checking the validity of the claims of those in the early church that they seem to have lost sight of the glory of the son of God.

The church in Sardis could be somewhat likened to the Sadducees, both dead. The church of Sardis relates to the efforts in the Reformation which was never completed by those of the Protestant church. The Sadducees would perhaps be comfortable with some aspects of the Emergent Church, those that are redacting the Word of God.

Just as the Herodians represented a marriage between those Jews and the state, there is a correlation between the Herodians and the later marriage of the early church and Rome represented by the church in Pergamos. This brought much compromise into the church and led to the church in Thyatira, the Roman Catholic Church. The Herodians opposed Jesus and the RCC denies the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

It has been said that the greatest distance is the 18 inches between the brain and the heart. While I delve deeply into the Word of God, I tend to over think at times. This can lead to legalism. Conversely, and in my opinion, leading with the heart can result in following false faiths just because they feel good, subject for another time.