A long while ago, I proposed a number of threads that I could write, and Kmoney requested this one. So, here goes:
Often enough, people tend to conceptually equate the Pharisees with the multiplication of rules. This is, of course, not entirely wrong. The Pharisees, given their legalistic tendencies, were very much renowned for multiplying rules. "Not only must you rest on the Sabbath, but you must not even flip the light switch to the 'on' setting!"
Nonetheless, this is not, I think, what makes Pharisaism a bad thing. Jesus probably multiplied rules as much as, if not more than, the Pharisees. The Pharisees, at least, restricted themselves to external behaviors. Jesus prescribed laws even for our very thoughts. When you think about it, this should possibly terrify you.
It's not enough for Jesus that you not commit murder. If you bear hatred for another human being and are unwilling to forgive, you are guilty. It is not enough not commit adultery. If you lust after a woman ("If I could, I would!"), you potentially merit Hell.
No, even though the Pharisees multiplied laws and rules, this is not, I think, what makes Pharisaism bad. The great flaw of the Pharisees was a self-righteous pride. A verse that always comes to mind is John 7:19:
"Did Moses not give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law?"
And consider, in the very next chapter, how the Pharisees surround the adulteress ready cast stones at her (not that they had any legal authority to do so). What was Jesus writing in the sand? Here, I can only agree with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: he was writing the sins of the Pharisees in the sand.
"Didn't Moses give you the law? But none of you, you very Pharisees who want to cast stones at this woman, keep the very law which you invoke as justification for wanting to kill her!"
The essence of Pharisaism is self-deluded pride. The Pharisee is so stricken with delusions of his own self-worth, his own goodness, that he could never bring himself to his knees and pray as the publican did:
"O God, be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13).
The very beginning to Christian faith is a keen awareness of one's own guilt, of one's own sinfulness. To become a Christian, one must be aware that one is in need of a Savior. Why? Because apart from a Savior, I am damned.
Yet how common is Pharisaism even in a so called Christian society, and even among Christians (especially, I think, among "respectable" protestant Christians)?
In this respect, the saying of Pope Francis should never fail to commend itself to us: "Who am I to judge?" If you are a Christian, you must never judge another human being. You must never wish or hope for anyone's damnation. You must always commend yourself and others, especially your worst enemies, to God's mercy.
To be a Christian is to wish and pray for good even for one's worst enemies, especially for those who have done you the greatest harm. Do you claim to be a Christian? Then consider your very worst enemy, and pray every day for God to bless him or her.
Because ultimately, at least with respect to yourself, you are worse, and nobody is in need of God's mercy more than you.
The opposite of Pharisaism is not anarchy: it's humility.
Often enough, people tend to conceptually equate the Pharisees with the multiplication of rules. This is, of course, not entirely wrong. The Pharisees, given their legalistic tendencies, were very much renowned for multiplying rules. "Not only must you rest on the Sabbath, but you must not even flip the light switch to the 'on' setting!"
Nonetheless, this is not, I think, what makes Pharisaism a bad thing. Jesus probably multiplied rules as much as, if not more than, the Pharisees. The Pharisees, at least, restricted themselves to external behaviors. Jesus prescribed laws even for our very thoughts. When you think about it, this should possibly terrify you.
It's not enough for Jesus that you not commit murder. If you bear hatred for another human being and are unwilling to forgive, you are guilty. It is not enough not commit adultery. If you lust after a woman ("If I could, I would!"), you potentially merit Hell.
No, even though the Pharisees multiplied laws and rules, this is not, I think, what makes Pharisaism bad. The great flaw of the Pharisees was a self-righteous pride. A verse that always comes to mind is John 7:19:
"Did Moses not give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law?"
And consider, in the very next chapter, how the Pharisees surround the adulteress ready cast stones at her (not that they had any legal authority to do so). What was Jesus writing in the sand? Here, I can only agree with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: he was writing the sins of the Pharisees in the sand.
"Didn't Moses give you the law? But none of you, you very Pharisees who want to cast stones at this woman, keep the very law which you invoke as justification for wanting to kill her!"
The essence of Pharisaism is self-deluded pride. The Pharisee is so stricken with delusions of his own self-worth, his own goodness, that he could never bring himself to his knees and pray as the publican did:
"O God, be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13).
The very beginning to Christian faith is a keen awareness of one's own guilt, of one's own sinfulness. To become a Christian, one must be aware that one is in need of a Savior. Why? Because apart from a Savior, I am damned.
Yet how common is Pharisaism even in a so called Christian society, and even among Christians (especially, I think, among "respectable" protestant Christians)?
In this respect, the saying of Pope Francis should never fail to commend itself to us: "Who am I to judge?" If you are a Christian, you must never judge another human being. You must never wish or hope for anyone's damnation. You must always commend yourself and others, especially your worst enemies, to God's mercy.
To be a Christian is to wish and pray for good even for one's worst enemies, especially for those who have done you the greatest harm. Do you claim to be a Christian? Then consider your very worst enemy, and pray every day for God to bless him or her.
Because ultimately, at least with respect to yourself, you are worse, and nobody is in need of God's mercy more than you.
The opposite of Pharisaism is not anarchy: it's humility.
