The Pharisees hold a unique place in the Gospels as critics of Jesus and his teachings. Their name means “separation,” and they held themselves apart as models of perfection in the law. They were ...

For the past several weeks, Matthew’s Gospel has been unrelenting in his attacks on the Pharisees. They are presented as faithless husbandmen in a vineyard they try to seize for their own. They are ...

In Mark 14, the scene is tense. Jesus stands before an assembly of the high priest, all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. False witnesses rise and tell tales meant to condemn Jesus, but ...

No one wants to be like the scribes and Pharisees. When Jesus talks about these people in the Gospels, it’s almost never in a positive light. In fact, they normally serve as a warning, as a teachable ...

Pharisees were religious zealots who were very legalistic in nature. They would often expound the Scriptures in the synagogues and pray before people. They appeared very pious and in people’s eyes, it ...

Pope Francis is being urged by experts to take greater care when referring to “hypocritical” Pharisees, a stereotype that fueled centuries of bad blood between Catholics and Jews. Catholic-Jewish ...

At his general audience on Aug. 11, 2021, Pope Francis delivered a talk titled "Catechesis on the Letter to the Galatians: 4. The Mosaic Law" Among other things, the pope said, "The Law does not give ...

History often saddles people with reputations that are undeserved. Take Florence Nightingale. The biographical facts show conclusively that she was pushy, domineering, and bitchy to an appalling ...

Giles Fraser and guests hear from Jonathan Aitken, notoriously labelled a hypocrite, to explore how the Pharisees became a byword for hypocrisy. Show more The word hypocrite gets used with such ...