Sadducees

A small group of priests who controlled the temple at Jerusalem. The Sadducees were one of about two dozen Jewish religious groups active during the 1st century AD. They were religious conservatives who felt threatened by Pagan influences due to Roman and Greek occupation of Israel.

The Sadducees came primarily from large land-owning aristocratic families and priestly families. Many were involved in the sacrificial cult of the Second Temple. For most of the Hasmonean period, and probably until the year 70 AD, they were politically powerful. The Sadducees recognised the authority of the written Torah and viewed the sacrificial cult as the primary form of worship. They viewed the priests as the only authoritative representatives of Jewish law. They did not believe in the immortality of the soul, and denied that there was a divine reward/punishment system in a life after this life.