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Acts 23 notes that the Sadducees reject belief in resurrection, angels, and spirits, highlighting their sharp differences with other Jewish groups. This perspective corresponds with some elements of Sirach, which urges people to enjoy life and give generously before death, since no pleasure or reward is expected afterward.
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Sirach 14:1
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
13 Do good to friends before you die, and reach out and give to them as much as you can. 14 Do not deprive yourself of a day's enjoyment; do not let your share of desired good pass by you. 15 Will you not leave the fruit of your labors to another, and what you acquired by toil to be divided by lot? 16 Give, and take, and indulge yourself, because in Hades one cannot look for luxury. 17 All living beings become old like a garment, for the decree from of old is, "You must die!" 18 Like abundant leaves on a spreading tree that sheds some and puts forth others, so are the generations of flesh and blood: one dies and another is born.
Date: 195-175 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Acts 23:8
New Testament
6 Then when Paul noticed that part of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, he shouted out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead!” 7 When he said this, an argument began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) 9 There was a great commotion, and some experts in the law from the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
Date: 75-85 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The case against there being any future life at all was maintained distinctively by the Sadducees. They seem to have denied any resurrection, perhaps believing that body and soul would perish together at death. However, since we know about them through their opponents, the Pharisees and their successors the rabbis, it is possible that they did not after all hold such an extreme position. They believed, after all, in the Torah, the first five books, in which there might seem to be some kind of a shadowy post-mortem existence. The document that most closely reflects the Sadducean perspective of the afterlife is the Wisdom of Jesus ben-Sirach, sometimes known as ‘Ecclesiasticus’ ..."
Wright, N.T. & Bird, Michael F.
The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians
(pp. 549-550) Zondervan Academic, 2019
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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