Sadducees, << SAD yoo seez, >> were members of a religious group of Jews that was active in Judea, in Palestine, until A.D. 70. The Sadducees gained influence in Judea after Judea became part of the Roman Empire in 63 B.C. They opposed a group of Jews called the Pharisees in religious beliefs and practices. Unlike the Pharisees, they accepted only the written law of the Hebrew Bible, and refused to recognize the Oral Law as binding upon them. In addition, the Sadducees did not believe in immortality, as the Pharisees did. They said that the soul died with the body. They also believed that all people had free will and were responsible for whatever good or evil befell them. See also Pharisees ; Sanhedrin .
