They were experts on Jewish law and helped to create the Mishnah, which is also known as the Oral Torah. It has six Sedarim (sections) and contains chapters called “Zedarim” (“Seeds"), Moed ("Festival"), Nashim ("Women"), Nezikin ("Damages"), Kodashim ("Holy things") and finally Tohorot ("Purities"). These laws may have been attractive to Jews during Roman occupation because it showed social cohesion despite who was running the country at the time. It also showed security while being oppressed at.
They also believed that the Pentateuch (First five books of the Torah) was written by Moses and these books, which are Genesis, Exodus Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers are the most holy and important.
They’re main focus was on the law and they believed that humans should have free will but God has chosen your path of life already. Another belief was that in the resurrection of the dead, angels and demons and finally they believed in the physical resurrection of the body in the messianic age. Hence why they did not cremate people.
Although the Pharisees were influential and were seen as role models they did not have a say in what went on in the Sanhedrin (Jewish court) or in The Tempe. The Sanhedrin and Temple were run by the Sadducees who were another group made up of aristocratic Jews. The Pharisees were allowed to sit in the Sanhedrin but they were not allowed to voice their opinion or made a decision on anything that happened there or had no influence in politics.
The information we have on the Pharisees comes from Josephus, the Mishnah and the New Testament.
Josephus is a religious scholar who studied Judaism in great depths. He joined and spent time with the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essences. He was taken hostage by the Romans and witnessed the destruction of the Temple and was later taken and freed in Rome. At the time Jews were labelled as troublemakers because of the terrorists called the Zealots. Josephus settled in Rome and started a family, He was so committed to being a roman that he even gave is children roman names. After all this, towards the end of his life Josephus decided to write down all that he had witnessed throughout his lifetime.
Josephus writes, “The Pharisees live thrifty, giving in to no luxury. They believe that to keep what God wished to counsel is worth fighting for”. This means that they will do anything to keep Gods laws, and that they do not live in luxury. Josephus also claims that the Pharisees are very community based when he says, “ Now the Pharisees love one another and practise consensus in their community.”
Josephus was bias toward the Pharisees because he spent so much time with them and was even a Pharisee himself. He was very local to them and fully respected them.
The bible completely contradicts all that Josephus says. The bible is rather negative about the Pharisees and says that they care more about perception in society than law. The bible is very critical of the Pharisees because they had many conflicts with Jesus and they did not believe that he was the Messiah and the true Son of God. And the Pharisees consequently killed Jesus.
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honour at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven." (Matthew 23:2-9) This means that Jesus thought that they were hypocrites and that built up laws that could not be followed.
The Mishnah was written by the Pharisees and therefore would have nothing negative to say about them. It also records some of the points of law on which the Sadducees differed from the Pharisees.
The Pharisees say: “We complain against you, Galilean Sadducee, for you write the name of the ruler with the name of God on the [same] page. And furthermore, you write the name of the ruler above and the name of God below, as it is written, ‘And Pharaoh said, “Who is God that I should listen to his voice and let Israel go?’” (Ex. 5:2). 89. This means that they didn’t see eye to eye and they did not let sinners touch the holy book because it would take away the sacredness. They also believed that they should not write the Lords name down because eventually the paper would be destroyed or burnt and this would damage his name.
To conclude the main religious ideas of the Pharisees were life after death, social status, resurrection and the belief in angels and demons. I believe that The Pharisees perhaps meant to obey God, but eventually they became so devoted and extremist in parts of The Law that they became blind to the Messiah when he was in their presence. They saw his miracles, they heard his words, but instead of receiving it with joy, they did all that they could to stop him - eventually to the point of getting him killed because He truthfully claimed to be the Son of God.