The Sadducees Were the First Rush Fans

We know very little for certain about the Sadducees – one of the three prominent religious groups among the Jewish people at the time of Jesus – and most of what we know about them comes from people who opposed them (so we have to read it with a cautious eye...). 

But the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells us that they rejected the concept of fate, opting instead for free-will. “And as for the Sadducees, they exclude fate and say that there is no such thing, and that the events of human affairs are not at its disposal. But they suppose that all our actions are in our own power, so that we are ourselves the cause of what is good, and we suffer what is evil as a result of our own folly.”  (Antiquities XIII, 173)

And in the New Testament (Acts 23: 8) we discover the idea that the Sadducees rejected the concept of angels (and presumably demons as well).

Based on that I believe that the Sadducees were, in fact, the first Rush fans.




There are those who think that life is nothing left to chance,

A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.

A planet of playthings,

We dance on the strings

Of powers we cannot perceive.

"The stars aren't aligned

Or the gods are malign"-

Blame is better to give than receive.

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;

I will choose a path that's clear-

I will choose Free Will.

There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,

The cards were stacked against them- they weren't born in lotus-land.

All preordained-

A prisoner in chains-

A victim of venomous fate.

Kicked in the face,

You can't pray for a place

In heaven's unearthly estate.

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;

I will choose a path that's clear-

I will choose Free Will.

Each of us-

A cell of awareness-

Imperfect and incomplete.

Genetic blends

With uncertain ends

On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet.