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Pharisees: a byword for hypocrisy?

Pharisees: a byword for hypocrisy?

Update: 2025-01-14
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The word hypocrite gets used with such regularity – and Jesus himself had form using the term.

How did the Pharisees became a byword for hypocrisy and is it fair? Was Jesus wrong about the Pharisees? Is the view of the Pharisees changing?

To discuss Giles Fraser is joined by Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University and co-author of ‘The Pharisees’, James Alison a Catholic Theologian and Dr Stephen de Wijze, a philosopher and Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at Manchester University.

Producer: Alexa Good
Assistant Producer: Linda Walker
Editor: Tim Pemberton

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Pharisees: a byword for hypocrisy?

Pharisees: a byword for hypocrisy?

BBC Radio 4