This sect believed in the written law as handed down from the time of Moses; but not in the oral or traditional law. They rejected all the traditions maintained among the Pharisees. They not only denied the resurrection of the body, but even the existence of the soul after its departure from the body here on earth. They ignored the idea entertained of divine decrees, and held the belief that man is absolute master of his own actions, with the full privilege of acting as he pleases, either for good or evil. That God does not in anywise influence his creatures in the doing the one or the other; that man's prosperity or adversity in life depends entirely on his own acts, and that both are respectively the result of either his wisdom or his folly. The Sadducees received the Pentateuch as divine; but not the other books of the old testament. In the days of Josephus, the celebrated Jewish historian, the Sadducees were not very numerous, but supposed to have been the most wealthy among the people; and the more opulent joined them. We can easily reconcile this to our minds, as we observe in our times that the rich and the great are apt to prefer the pleasures and enjoyments of this life to any expectancy in a future state of existence. Hence they are found ready and willing to embrace such a system of religion as enables them to follow their own inclinations. These men do not wish to tax their minds with any uneasy reflections on the subject of retribution, or of the world to come, when they shall be called to account for their past conduct in this life. The Sadduccees were, however, not tolerated among the mass of the people, in consequence of their assertions, precepts, and doctrines, which were held by the community at large as impious, and, therefore, injurious to the happiness of society. At the destruction of Jerusalem, this sect became very insignificant--their name became nearly forgotten for many years--and subsequently the name was applied to the sect called Karaites, whom we shall notice hereafter, in reproach and disgrace. CHAPTER IV. The Samaritans. The Samaritans were originally heathens, consisting of persons from the several nations, to whom the king of Assyria gave the lands and cities of the Israelites when they were made captives by the said monarch. This sect was called Samaritans from the fact of their having been settled in the city of Samaria, the metropolis of the kingdom of Israel. When these people were first carried to Samaria, they adopted the idolatrous worship and customs of the surrounding nations from among whom they came. History informs us that Samaria was infested with lions, which the people supposed to be a judgment from heaven for their idolatrous and superstitious practices. The king of Assyria being of the same opinion with the rest of the people, sent a Jewish priest to instruct them in the Jewish religion, and to put away their idolatry.