very attempt to be justified by works
which appeared in the case of the Pharisees, only dressed in very
different guise to that in which the conditions of modern England
clothe it.

For the Pharisees of the Gospels were the later representatives of the
Hasidaeans, i.e. Chasidim or 'pious' folk, whom we hear of in the Books
of Maccabees[14]. The later religious development of Israel lay along
the lines of {10} rigid reverence for the law. In days then of general
laxity and a general prevalence of Greek customs, these pious
Israelites united themselves to promote the devout observance of their
law. Their relation to Maccabaean heroes and rulers varied, as
religious or political motives were uppermost in the Maccabaean house.
They themselves pursued one consistent aim. They came to be known as
the Pharisees, the separated or the separatists, the party who kept
aloof from everything common or unclean. As such they represented the
religious nation in its later development. They had the bulk of the
people, and especially the women, with them. They had consequently, as
Josephus tells us, an irresistible influence upon public affairs, and
especially upon religious affairs, and they held the social position
befitting the legitimate religious leaders of God's own people.

This position, with its accompanying reputation, they doubtless
deserved by their zeal for the law, and for the 'traditions of the
fathers' which hedged about or interpreted the law. But according to
the solemn witness of Christ and St. Paul, a disastrous lowering of the
best moral standard of the Old Testament scriptures had taken place
among them. The Mosaic law was, {11} of course, a matter mainly of
outward observance, and therefore would become a matter of rigid social
requirement within the area of such a body as the Pharisees. Nowhere
does public opinion act more strongly than in a close religious circle.
But the social requirement according to tradition came to be
substituted for that deeper spiritual relation of the 'holy nation' and
the individuals composing it to God and His will, which is the real
moral essence of the Old Testament. 'How can ye believe,' our Lord
said to them, 'which receive glory one of another, and the glory that
cometh from the only God ye seek not[15]?' This is the central moral
weakness of the Pharisaic position. A social or ecclesiastical
tradition had taken the place of the will of God. This social
tradition wa