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The After Life
According to Josephus, the Pharisees taught a resurrection:
"that every soul is imperishable, but that only those of the righteous pass
into another body, while those of the wicked are, on the contrary, punished with
eternal torment" -Josephus Wars 2.8.14
"they hold the belief that an immortal strength belongs to souls, and that
there are beneath the earth punishments and rewards for those who in life devoted
themselves to virtue or vileness, and that eternal imprisonment is appointed
for the latter, but the possibility of returning to life for the former" -Josephus Ant. 18.1.3
This is actually the Jewish doctrine of retribution and resurrection (Dan
12:2), testified to by all Jewish literature, and also by the New Testament, as the
common possession of any devoted follower of Judaism.
The Pharisaic views of the afterlife were in marked contrast with the views of
the Sadducees. In the Psalms of Solomon, the eschatological expectations of a
Messiah who would restore the fortunes of Israel are prominent. The Pharisees
looked for that day when the present evil age (esp. the wickedness of the
Sadducees) would be dissolved and the glorious kingdom of righteousness for a
righteous Israel would come. They believed that their own righteousness and zeal would
herald the coming of the Messiah.
The Pharisees differed from the Sadducees with respect to the future, for the
Pharisees and taught the resurrection of the dead. According to Josephus, the
Pharisees believed in the immortality of the soul and in reward and retribution
after death (Jos. Antiq. XVIII. i. 3; War II. viii. 14). In the same passage he
speaks of the soul moving into "another body."
These teachings were rejected by the Sadducees (who believed in Sheol; see
Matt 22:23) mainly because such teachings were not found in the written Torah, and
therefore were foreign imports.
The subject of the resurrection was such a hot issue with the Pharisees and
Sadducees that even Paul cleverly refers to the question of the resurrection of
the dead in his trial before the Sanhedrin (Acts 23 : 6ff.).
The ultimate triumph of the Pharisaic view of the resurrection is very
apparent in the Mishnah where it gives a strong assertion that:
"he that says there is no resurrection of the dead prescribed in the Law.. has
no share in the world to come" -Sanhedrin 10:1