Sadduceeism

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Sadducee +‎ -ism.

Noun

Sadduceeism (usually uncountable, plural Sadduceeisms)

  1. The practices, beliefs, or characteristics of the Sadducees.
  2. (archaic) Perceived skepticism regarding the supernatural or divine, especially angels, resurrection and witches; moderate atheism.
    • 1681, Joseph Glanvill, “Preface”, in Saducismus Triumphatus, page ii:
      That though Philosophical Discourses to justifie the common belief about Witches, are nothing at all to them, or those of their measure; yet they are too seasonable and necessary for our Age, in which Atheism is begun in Sadducism; And those that dare not bluntly say, There is NO GOD, content themselves (for a fair step and Introduction) to deny there are SPIRITS or WITCHES.
    • 1860, Israel Perkins Warren, Sadduceeism: A Refutation of the Doctrine of the Final Annihilation of the Wicked, page 4:
      The doctrine, then, which is populary known as “annihilationism,”—which denies the immortality of the soul, and teaches that it perishes at death with the body, is in its main features SADDUCEEISM.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.