The Pharisees Were Not Who You Think They Were | Dr. Amy-Jill Levine

You hear the word Pharisee and you think hypocrite.

Legalist.

The bad guy Jesus had to put in his place.

Dr. Amy-Jill Levine says almost everything you have been told about them is wrong.

The only Pharisee from whom we have actual written records is Saint Paul.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee.

Gamaliel, the one who defended Peter and John in Acts, was a Pharisee.

And Paul never stopped identifying as one.

So who were they really?

According to Dr. Levine, the Pharisees were the liberalizers of their day. The ones making faith accessible to regular people. The ones saying you do not have to be a priest in the temple to live a holy life.

They were not the villains of the gospel story.

They were something else entirely.

Episode drops tomorrow 6 AM EST.

Do not sleep on this one.

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