The Differences Between Sadducees and Pharisees

Josephus made no attempt to disguise that the pharisees and sadducees argued a great deal. The possibility of life after death was only one of the areas of disagreement between the two groups. One which was noted by later rabbis was a dispute over the date of the pilgrim festival of pentecost. A literal meaning of the biblical text, as favoured by theSadducees ensured they would almost never consider as correct the day chosen by other jews for the celebration of the feast. Such differencesof approach could have very practical consequences.