Abstract
Largely due to their portrayal in the gospels, there Pharisees are much maligned in Christian interpretation. They are caricatured as exemplars of hypocrisy, seekers of status, and oppressors of the humble pious poor. While much has been done to address these stereotypical representations that emerged from religious polemics, the current volume seeks to provide a nuanced and holistic understanding of this religious group.
The collection of twenty-five essays arose from a conference held at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, but as part of the 110th anniversary celebrations of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, The volume opens with a ‘prelude’ essay, ‘Interpreting the name “Pharisee”’ by Craig Morrison (pp. 3-19). Here Morrison cautions against the ‘etymological fallacy’, and notes a scholarly turn against attempts to understand the characteristics of the movement through the possible derivation of the term ‘Pharisee’. Instead, the trajectory is towards ‘towards considering how the name is used in particular texts and genres and by different authors’ (p. 19). The next section, ‘Historical Reconstructions’ brings together twelve essays that survey what is known of the Pharisees from their possible origins until the emergence and dominance of rabbinic forms of Judaism. In his discussion of the quest for the origins of the Pharisees, Babota advances cautionary conclusions. It is noted that based on different source material it has been suggested that the Pharisees emerged at virtually any point ‘between the sixth and first century BCE’ (p. 39). Only two possible fruitful settings are identified as accounting for the possible origin of the movement. First, scribal activity in the transmission and shaping of religious writings, and second, a socio-political setting that might explain the Pharisaic influence on Hasmonean rulers (p. 40). The remaining essays in this section probe the portrayal of Pharisees in various literary and contextual settings.
Part two contains ten essays that look at the history of reception of the Pharisees in a variety of settings ranging from early Christian heresiological texts to the more modern contexts of film, modern scholarship, and Catholic religious textbooks. The coverage of nearly two millennia of reception history attest to the interdisciplinary nature of the volume and its goal to provide. Thoroughgoing understanding of the portrayal of Pharisees. The final section contains two essays which look at possible future prospects in studying and understanding the Pharisees. The volume is concluded with the address of Pope Francis to the Pontifical Biblical Institute on its 110th anniversary.
Given the breadth of material and the range of temporal horizons surveyed in this volume, it is difficult to provide an overall assessment. This collection is obviously a rich resource for a range of scholarly questions, and as such it will be consulted widely. Its purpose is to strive not to allow any preconditioned biases into assessments of the Pharisees. Rather, the goal is to let texts and contexts speak for themselves and independently of each other. The contributors are aware that many of these texts have their own perspectives and biases. However, by laying these side-by-side it is possible to better appreciate the richness of these varied portrayals of the Pharisees, and in the process to hopefully challenge and overcome some of these inimical biases.