ad sunk into a state
of the grossest degeneracy. They were now divided into sects, two of
which, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, are frequently mentioned in the
New Testament. The Pharisees were the leading denomination, being by far
the most numerous and powerful. By adding to the written law a mass of
absurd or frivolous traditions, which, as they foolishly alleged, were
handed down from Moses, they completely subverted the authority of the
sacred record, and changed the religion of the patriarchs and prophets
into a wearisome parade of superstitious observances. The Sadducees were
comparatively few, but as a large proportion of them were persons of
rank and wealth, they possessed a much greater amount of influence than
their mere numbers would have enabled them to command. It has been said
that they admitted the divine authority only of the Pentateuch, [10:1]
and though it may be doubted whether they openly ventured to deny the
claims of all the other books of the Old Testament, it is certain that
they discarded the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, [10:2] and
that they were disposed to self-indulgence and to scepticism. There was
another still smaller Jewish sect, that of the Essenes, of which there
is no direct mention in the New Testament. The members of this community
resided chiefly in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, and as our Lord
seldom visited that quarter of the country, it would appear that, during
the course of His public ministry, He rarely or never came in contact
with these religionists. Some of them were married, but the greater
number lived in celibacy, and spent much of their time in contemplation.
They are said to have had a common-stock purse, and their course of life
closely resembled that of the monks of after-times.

Though the Jews, as a nation, were now sunk in sensuality or
superstition, there were still some among them, such as Simeon and Anna,
noticed in the Gospel of Luke, [10:3] who were taught of God, and who
exhibited a spirit of vital piety. "The law of the Lord is perfect
converting the soul," and as the books of the Old Testament were
committed to the keeping of the posterity of Abraham, there were "hidden
ones" here and there who discovered the way to heaven by the perusal of
these "lively oracles." We have reason to believe that the Jews were
faithful conservators of the inspired volume, as Christ uniformly takes
for granted the accuracy of their "Scriptures." [11:1] It